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Insurance

Don’t just ban smoking on-Site; help employees quit

06/01/2007

Even if you ban smoking at work, nicotine-addicted employees will still manage to find a place to light up. And trying to hire only nonsmokers could create legal troubles. So what’s the best way to cut your high health costs related to smokers? Actively help them quit …

6 ways that smaller businesses can make wellness worth it

06/01/2007

Employers can raise deductibles and co-pays only so much before employees begin to doubt the value of their health benefits. So, organizations are looking for other ways to get meaningful savings as health costs continue to rise. Enter the employee wellness program …

Educate employees about the value of disability insurance

06/01/2007

Thirty percent of employees between the ages of 35 and 65 will become disabled for at least 90 days at least once during their working years … That means you can count on a steady stream of short-term disability insurance claims. Do you know how much those claims cost your organization? Almost half of employers do not …

IRS sets higher HSA levels for 2008

06/01/2007

The maximum contribution to health savings accounts (HSAs) for employees with single coverage will rise to $2,900 for calendar year 2008, up from $2,850 this year …

Identify health problems before they become chronic

06/01/2007

Here’s more incentive to ramp up your organization’s disease-management and wellness efforts: A new study predicts that chronic conditions will account for the greatest health care cost increases over the next several decades …

Another reason to enforce violence policy: To avoid workers’ compensation liability

06/01/2007

Policies forbidding threats, fighting and other kinds of violence promote a harmonious and safe workplace, but there’s another good reason to ensure employees aren’t doing each other bodily harm. If you don’t take concrete steps to stem horseplay or outright aggression, you just might pay the price in higher workers’ compensation premiums …

Read the fine print—and the large print, too

06/01/2007

A contract’s a contract, the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio held when it denied CBG Biotech, Ltd., a Columbus-based solvent recycling company, a preliminary injunction against its health care provider, United Healthcare …

Whistle-Blower fired over fire

06/01/2007

An Ohio employer got burned after it fired an employee two days after he told an insurance inspector about a malfunctioning fire alarm …

Resigning for newfound faith doesn’t justify unemployment compensation

06/01/2007

New York employees who quit their jobs for good cause are generally eligible for unemployment compensation payments. But does a newfound faith requiring no Sunday work justify quitting? …

What to expect from New York’s new Workers’ Comp Reform law

06/01/2007

Although the Workers’ Compensation Reform bill recently signed into law provides just a skeletal outline of what New York’s workers’ comp program will one day look like, both business and labor groups are cautiously optimistic …