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Compensation & Benefits

Stop ‘who said what’ lawsuits: Draft policy disavowing oral pay agreements

12/09/2008

Oral agreements concerning compensation and bonus payments can be enforced in court, and that can lead to tricky “who said what” legal problems. Those are problems you can easily prevent with the help of good legal counsel.

Florida workers’ comp premiums to drop again

12/09/2008

The workers’ compensation premiums Florida employers pay are set to drop for the sixth time in the past five years, and by a record amount. Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty approved an 18.6% rate cut.

Florida Supreme Court sides with employees in fee dispute

12/09/2008

It just became more expensive for employers and their workers’ compensation carriers to handle workplace injuries. The Florida Supreme Court has ruled that attorneys representing injured workers are entitled to “reasonable attorneys’ fees,” which can far exceed those set by the workers’ compensation statute.

‘Sunshine Troublemaker’ puts heat on school districts

12/09/2008

Encouraged by a victory in Polk County Circuit Court, Lakeland resident and public-records gadfly Joel Chandler submitted public records requests to the state’s 67 school districts demanding the names, addresses, ages and telephone numbers of every person covered by the districts’ health insurance plans.

Quit or fired? Answer affects whether you pay unemployment

12/09/2008

How an employer handles an employee who doesn’t show up for work can mean the difference between paying unemployment compensation and not being liable.

Check the medical documentation: FMLA doesn’t automatically apply to ER visits

12/09/2008

You don’t need to give employees FMLA leave just because they have a discharge sheet from a hospital emergency room. The real question is whether the medical condition that prompted them to visit the ER was a serious health condition.

Understand, prepare to follow the new revised FMLA regulations

12/09/2008

The long-awaited revised and updated final rules of the U.S. Department of Labor interpreting the FMLA will go into effect on Jan.16. HR specialists should read the new regulations and then review them with an employment attorney. Also, they should promptly develop special training on new rules and procedures for supervisors and employees alike.

Be prepared to grant FMLA leave for diagnosis of serious health condition

12/09/2008

Routine doctors’ appointments such as checkups or annual physicals aren’t considered eligible for FMLA leave, but appointments aimed at diagnosing a condition may be. Employers that know the employee is seeing a specialist as part of the followup to an auto accident, for example, are on notice that the employee may need to take FMLA leave …

With flu season approaching, can we force employees to stay home from work?

12/09/2008

Q. Flu season is coming and we are concerned. If employees have the flu or show flu symptoms, can we require them to stay home long enough to make sure they are no longer contagious? Would we have to pay them for time away?

Florida staffing company owes NY workers $113,000

12/09/2008

Star One Staffing, based in Coral Gables, has agreed to pay $113,000 in back wages and damages to 70 Filipino workers to settle charges brought by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.