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Two costly cautionary tales that made recent headlines should send a chill up your spine and then running to double and triple check your wage and hour compliance. In one case, an Indiana trial court has awarded $42.4 million to current and former Indiana state employees who were required to work 40-hour workweeks from 1973 until 1993, even though other state employees holding the same positions were required only to work 37.5-hour workweeks for
August 3
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Proposed legislation by the House Committees on Education and Labor, Ways and Means, and Energy and Commerce known as America's Affordable Health Choices Act earned rave reviews from lawmakers in a news release announcing the measure, but was resoundingly panned by proponents of the employer-based system. The legislation, which includes both an employer and individual mandate to cover 97% of the population by 2019, doesn't fully address the root cause of why the nation's health
August 3 -
You know the job market is tight when people are sending companies their resumes in baby shoes and pizza boxes. But those are just a couple of the kooky and creative ways job seekers are using to get your attention, according to news from Office Team. The firm receently asked pros like you to recount the most unusual thing they have seen or heard an applicant do to stand out from the crowd. Following
July 31 -
As members of Congress pressure one another to discard ideas for reforming the nation's health care system, they also might want to seriously consider how to incorporate a recent success story into any final legislation. Roll Call Executive Editor Mort Kondracke suggested in a column that the 2003 Medicare prescription drug law could serve as a model for health care reform. 'Passed amid rancor and predictions of catastrophe, the law has proved to be an
July 31 -
I'm a bit puzzled by the latest survey results from Colonial Life, and I'm hoping you pros can help me out. The insurer finds that employers overwhelmingly believe it is for employees to understand and appreciate their benefits -- fully 92% of pros surveyed say it's very important to their business. Okay, that's great.
July 30 -
Massachusetts has emerged as a model for creating universal health care coverage at the federal level, but a former insurance executive now running for governor of the Bay State warns that the experiment isn't working. Charlie Baker, who recently stepped down as CEO of Harvard Pilgrim, noted in his blog for the nonprofit health plan that as a result of merging the individual and small group insurance markets, individual premiums plunged an estimated 25% while
July 30 -
Okay, I know the economy isn't exactly going like gangbusters, but there have been a few teeny glimmers of hope in recent weeks in stabilizing markets, rising home sales and moderating job losses. However, about half of us are still Negative Nellies, according to a recent survey from Stewart and Partners.
July 29 -
Published reports suggest that the idea of taxing employer-provided health insurance is losing ground, though still on the bargaining table. Sen. Kent Conrad (D.-N.D.) has noted that such a proposal appears to be unpopular with voters. Indeed, a recent Quinnipiac University poll of 3,063 people found that 63% of the respondents opposed a tax on employer-provided health benefits, while 55% favored limiting tax deductions for families earning more than $250,000 a year.
July 29 -
Daily Diversion readers: As the Employee Benefit News/Employee Benefit Adviser family mourns the loss of EBA Editor Robert L. Whiddon, DD will cease production this week. We will resume posting on Tuesday, July 28. The staff sincerely thanks the benefits community for their outpouring of condolences and offers of support at this difficult time.
July 21 -
A new survey by PBM Prescription Solutions and a UnitedHealth Group finds that many consumers don't get that generics are a health care rarity just as effective as the more expensive alternative, but without the sticker shock. Many Americans have an idea in their minds that the most expensive drug (or the one they see advertised on TV by their favorite celebrity) is the most effective one. Not so, says Jacqueline Kosecoff, Prescription
July 20