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Compensation & Benefits

Set mileage minimums on company cars? Be alert to employees who pad the odometer

11/01/2006

File this one under "unintended consequences": In an effort to save money, the Fairfax County, Va., government established 4,500 miles as the annual usage minimum for keeping a county vehicle. Employees who fall below the limit lose their cars …

Employee: Leave! Encourage workers to use vacation time

11/01/2006

As the year-end approaches, take an inventory of employees who haven’t taken their vacations yet, and suggest they book a getaway. Vacation skipping has become an epidemic …

U.S. Workplace Becoming More Gay-Friendly

11/01/2006

This year, 138 major corporations earned a perfect 100-percent score in the Corporate Equity Index, a measure created by the gay-rights Human Rights Campaign to track employers’ policies toward homosexuals …

Paying employees for healthy lifestyles helps trim premiums

11/01/2006

The city of Maple Grove, Minn., found a sure-fire way to convince its employees to adopt healthier lifestyles: It pays them to do it …

Head off rising costs: Explore reasons for high claims

11/01/2006

You can look forward to smaller increases in health-plan costs for 2007, even though medical and prescription drug-plan costs are still expected to run at more than twice the rate of general inflation, according to the 2007 Segal Health Plan Cost Trend Survey …

Tardiness Can Count as ‘Misconduct’ That Bars UI Benefits

11/01/2006

Under Florida law, employees who are fired can’t collect unemployment compensation if you fired them for "misconduct."  Unfortunately, the law doesn’t clearly define misconduct …

Health/Safety fears justify employee’s refusal to work

11/01/2006

Florida employees who refuse to work because of health or safety reasons can still receive unemployment benefits  …

Retailers’ lower drug prices may stem soaring premiums

11/01/2006

Employers may end up the unintended victors in a potential prescription-drug price war in Florida. When Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest retailer, announced recently that it would sell generic drugs for just $4 per prescription, it didn’t take long for Target, the second-largest retailer, to follow suit …

Gov. Perry creates Health Care Technology Partnership

11/01/2006

Gov. Rick Perry recently issued an executive order creating the Texas Health Care System Integrity Authority, a new public-private partnership that aims for better use of information technology in the health care industry …

Texas workers’ comp offices aim to handle complaints faster

11/01/2006

The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI), Division of Workers’ Compensation, recently changed its complaint resolution process by going paperless. To improve its response time to complaints, the workers’ comp office will begin using an automated workflow system …