While workers’ compensation managed care is widely viewed as a means of controlling expenses, the results are sometimes quite different from what is expected. In fact, in many cases the consequences are not only unintended but also undesirable and costly to employers.
Under a new law, employers who are already covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act (50 or more employees) may need to expand their list of employees who qualify for unpaid time off, and the amount of unpaid time that employees can take off has more than doubled in some cases.
How many of the employees whom you manage are responsible for managing others? If you expect them to become as hands-on as you, you have to spend some time up front talking with each of them to prepare them.
For people who have even heard of it, “fiduciary duty” is usually a term reserved for bankers, chief financial officers, and members of boards of directors. However, all employees owe a duty of loyalty to the organizations they work for, even if they do not handle money or make major decisions.
Many HVACR industry members see state-mandated certification courses as an unnecessary drudgery for renewing tradesmen/contracting licenses; however, graduates of Southeastern Building Trades Associates Inc. (SBTA) continuing education classes see the process as mind-expanding and state-of-the-art learning.
Amid a faltering economy, and with primaries for the 2008 elections now in process, the political landscape grows more uncertain for businesses and employers. In the coming months, four issues currently under consideration in Congress loom particularly large because of their potential impact on companies.
As always, in long tail coverage such as
Workers’ Compensation, there are challenges that cloud the future. The Workers’
Comp outlook for 2008 is one of caution and concern. Here is an assessment of
what employers can look forward to in the year ahead and even beyond.
Despite revisions to the Fair Labor Standards Act in 2004, determining how to properly classify workers remains an ongoing struggle for many companies. That is evident from the amount of money the U.S. Department of Labor has collected from businesses that failed to properly compensate their employees for overtime.
Rewards are a powerful method for encouraging good job performance. Good work may not be repeated and employees can upset customers when managers don’t recognize, encourage, and reward them for job performance that meets or exceeds customers’ expectations. But rewards must be used effectively.
If your employee is involved in an accident while working, you can be held liable. Where a company knew or had a reason to know that a driver of its commercial vehicles could create a risk of harm to others, it creates a “negligent entrustment.” And the stakes can be high.