With the Providence, Rhode Island Police Department hit by a drug scandal in its ranks, state Rep. Roberto DaSilva, a Pawtucket Police lieutenant, stated he would like all public safety personnel to undergo random drug tests annually.
According to The Call, the East Providence representative notes he wants to bring together the labor unions representing police, firefighters, rescue workers and correctional officers to fashion a system that is “fair to the employees and protects the public.”
The Rhode Island affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union stated it will oppose the bill that DaSilva is likely to introduce.
The Fraternal Order of Police lodge representing Providence Police officers rejected Providence Mayor David Cicilline's request for all police officers in the city to undergo random drug tests. The mayor has since backed off from his demand.
According to comments DaSilva made to The Call, “every officer I have talked to, from the highest-ranking officer to the lowest-ranking officer, people from other departments, have given me a positive response.
“In fact,” DaSilva noted in a written statement, “they said they would welcome it to prove to members of their communities that they are beyond reproach.”
“If you have nothing to hide,” DaSilva commented, “then you should have no problem with this.”
According to DaSilva, the idea behind the random drug tests is to use it as a tool to get an officer who is having trouble with illegal drug use or abuse of controlled substances the assistance he or she needs.
One of the officers involved in the Providence scandal allegedly provided information about police activities to his brother, an alleged cocaine dealer. (workersxzcompxzkit)
At the present time, police officers and firefighters are required to submit to drug testing only when they are first hired, according to DaSilva.
Podcast/Webcast: Claim Handling Strategies
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http://www.workerscompkit.com/gallagher/podcast/ Claim_Handling_Strategies/index.php
Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws vary. You should consult with your insurance broker or agent about workers' comp issues.
©2010 Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law. If you would like permission to reprint this material, contact Info@ ReduceYourWorkersComp.com.
The family of a Winnipeg woman with Down syndrome is launching a legal fight against the rules governing Employment Insurance (EI), claiming they discriminate against the disabled.
According to The Canadian Press, the 32-year-old woman worked for nine years at a clothing store in Winnipeg, manning the change room, folding clothes and tidying up. When the store shut down for four months during renovations, she was laid off with the majority of the other staff.
However, unlike many of her colleagues, the woman didn't qualify for EI. Her family claims because of her disability it was difficult for her to accumulate enough hours to meet EI's requirements. Her family, with the support of Legal Aid Manitoba's Public Interest Law Centre, is asking a Federal Court judge to declare those rules unconstitutional and a violation of her charter right to equality.
The woman worked 574 hours in the year prior to being laid off in the spring of 2007, but Employment Insurance states Manitoba workers need 700 hours to qualify for benefits.
“We are taking advantage of disabled people who are just trying to be productive members of society and live up to their potential,” her mother said.
Though the employee paid thousands of dollars into the EI program over her nine years at the clothing store, she wasn't eligible to receive a dime when she got laid off.
The family took their case to the Board of Referees, the first level of appeal for people who are turned down for EI. The board rejected the claim mainly because it doesn't have the power to consider charter challenges. Now, the family has asked an EI umpire — almost always a Federal Court judge — to review the case.
They argue that, just as there are different rules for workers in various parts of Canada with varying levels of unemployment, there should be different rules for people with intellectual disabilities who are not on a level playing field with able-bodied workers. (workersxzcompxzkit)
Ottawa is expected to file its rebuttal in the coming months and a hearing could happen as early as the fall.
Podcast/Webcast: Occupational Health Strategies
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WC Calculator: http://www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com/calculator.php
Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws vary. You should consult with your insurance broker or agent about workers' comp issues.
© 2010 Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law. If you would like permission to reprint this material, contact Info@ ReduceYourWorkersComp.com.
In a recent claims audit, one of the claims was about a morbidly obese woman who when getting up from her desk, tripped and fell through the sheet-rock wall next to her desk. Granted most obese employees would not be heavy enough to fall through a wall, but
obesity is reaching the same epidemic level in the workplace as obesity in the general population.
Duke University Medical Center Study
A study published in April 2007 in the Archives of Internal Medicine is often cited in discussions of the relationship between obesity and workers' compensation. The reason the Duke University study is used so much in the discussion of obesity and workers' compensation is:
1. the large scale scope of the study [the equivalent of 11,728 health care and university employees] which eliminated most of the variances in data reliability, and
2. the long time frame of the study – eight years – January 1, 1997 through December 31, 2004, and
3. the astonishing impact of obesity on the cost of workers' compensation claims
The Data
The obese class III employees, defined in the study as the employees with a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or greater, were compared to employees who were at the recommended weight – BMI of 25 or lower. The following numbers came out of the study:
· For each 100 full time obese employees, they had 11.65 claims per year, while for each 100 full time employees with the recommended weight had 5.8 work comp claims per year.
- The obese employees had work comp claims at twice the rate of non-obese employees.
· For each 100 full time employees, the obese employees had 183.63 lost workdays while the non-obese employees had 14.19 lost workdays.
- The obese employees lost 13 times as many days from work as the non-obese employees.
· For each 100 full time employees, the medical cost for obese employees was $51,091 while the medical cost for the non-obese employees was $7,503.
- The obese employees medical cost was nearly seven times higher than the medical cost of the non-obese employees.
· For each 100 full time employees, the indemnity claim cost for the obese employees was $59,178 while the indemnity claim cost for the non-obese employees was $5,396.
- The obese employees work comp indemnity cost was eleven times higher than the indemnity cost of the non-obese employees.
What Can the Employer Do?
Short of firing all of your obese class III employees, and other employees with a BMI index greater than 25 but less than 40, there are several steps you can take as an employer to lower the cost of your workers' compensation program (also, the following ideas will have a positive impact on your health insurance program and/or wellness program).
1. A weight reduction program can be offered through your human resources office. The program participation should be voluntary and the participation in the program should be a private matter. If you encourage the employees to be active in the design of the weight reduction program,
2.
A healthy workplace food culture is a subtle but effective way of encouraging weight reduction. You can replace the soda and candy vending machines with water bottles and healthy snacks. If you have a company cafeteria, the meal options can be limited to healthy foods lower in calories, fats, sugars, and salt.
3. Encouraging physical activity at work can be as simple as making the stairways appealing to the employees by a new coat of paint, new carpeting, motivational signs and slowing the speed of the elevators. You can ban car parking near the office building to have the employees walk a greater distance. You can encourage bicycling to work by allowing the bicyclists to park the bikes close to the office building. Also, encourage employees to take a walk during their lunch break.
4. A fitness program that includes healthy meals information, health improvement seminars, company-sponsored softball or volleyball team, health assessments, smoking cessation and exercise classes will encourage obese employees to obtain a healthier weight.
5. A web-based program for tracking individual progress has been shown to motivate employees to stay on their weight reduction program. You can set up a simple program that the employees can download to track their weight loss.
6. The company intranet can be used to post motivational posters, weight loss guides, cooking light and meal preparation guides, exercise programs, discount to local gyms and health clubs and any other materials you can think of that will assist the obese employees in their efforts to lose weight.
7. Weight loss companies like Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers jump at the opportunity to provide free seminars on their programs to a group of employees. You can take it a step further by offering to subsidize part of the cost of their programs or arrange for the weight loss company to give a group discount to your employees.
8. Health club memberships can also be arranged for your employees with a group discount. Your company can take it even a step further by offering to cover part or the entire discounted price.
9. Health insurance premium discounts when offered as an incentive for weight loss have been shown to have a significant motivational impact on employees to lose weight. Talk to your health insurance company about how they can price employee coverage to reward those employees who have a healthy lifestyle.
10. On-site or off-site fitness centers can be added to your wellness program. If you have the space available add a few treadmills, stair steppers and other exercise equipment. If the space is not available, contract with a local YMCA or local gym for your employees to use their equipment. (workersxzcompxzkit)
Summary
To keep your walls safe from obese employees who might fall through them and to lower your cost for workers' compensation, help your overweight employees battle their weight problem. The cost to assist your employees to obtain a healthy weight is significantly less than the cost of not doing so. Not only will your company save money on your workers compensation cost, you will also save money on your health insurance program.
Author Rebecca Shafer J.D., President, Amaxx Risks Solutions, Inc. has worked successfully for 20 years with many industries to reduce Workers’ Compensation costs, including airlines, healthcare, manufacturing, printing/publishing, pharmaceuticals, retail, hospitality and manufacturing. She can be contacted at: RShafer@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com or 860-553-6604.
Podcast/Webcast: Occupational Health Strategies
Click Here:
WC Calculator: http://www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com/calculator.php
Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws vary. You should consult with your insurance broker or agent about workers' comp issues.
© 2010 Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law. If you would like permission to reprint this material, contact Info@ ReduceYourWorkersComp.com.
A captive insurance company is an insurance company owned by the parent company or a group of businesses (hereafter referred to as the parent company) for the purpose of insuring its own risk. The primary business of the parent company is normally outside of the insurance field. By the parent company setting up its own insurance company, the parent company utilizes the captive insurance company as a risk management technique to better manage the associated cost of insurance, whether it is for workers' compensation, liability, property or other loss exposure of the parent company.
Captive Structure:
By definition, a captive insurance company writes insurance coverage exclusively for the parent company. As the insurance company is owned by the parent company/policyholder, the insurance company is “captive” to the policyholder.
While the parent company is often a large corporation, the parent company can be a group of businesses in the same business, for example several home builders within a state, or several owners within a professional sports league. When the parent of the captive is one company, the captive is called a pure captive. When the parent of the captive is a group like the professional sports league, the captive is referred to as a group captive.
Captives can be either domestic or offshore. The first captives were offshore, primarily in Bermuda, as the capitalization requirements to start an insurance company were lower than the capital requirements in the United States. This allowed the parent company to create the captive insurance company with a lower initial investment and lower reserves. About 20 countries have captive insurance laws with Bermuda and the Cayman Islands having the greatest concentrations of offshore captive insurance companies.
A few states recognizing the potential to bring additional financial business into their states have revised their insurance laws to permit and encourage captive insurance companies. States with statutes providing for domestic captive insurance companies include Vermont, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah, New York, Arizona and South Carolina.
Financial Benefits:
Risk transfer is the primary benefit of the captive insurance company. The parent company transfers the risk of loss to the captive insurance company. While this could be accomplished by the purchase of insurance from a conventional insurance company, the parent company reaps other benefits as well.
The parent company pays the insurance premium to the captive insurance company. The amount of the premium has to be reflective of the anticipated losses. The Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) used in the United States do not allow non-insurance companies to accrue or expense anticipated losses until they are measurable and owed. The one exception to the GAAP is for insurance companies to accrue for incurred but not reported losses. This is a major financial advantage to the parent company who has a captive insurance company.
Insurance premiums charged by the conventional insurance company include not only the anticipated cost of claims, but also include the cost of operations (rent, salaries, benefits, etc.) and their profit. Through the use of a captive insurance company, the parent company can reduce the amount paid for the cost of operations and eliminates the amount paid that becomes the profit for the conventional insurance company.
When the loss experience of the captive is lower than expected, the premium paid over and above the amount of the combined losses is kept by the captive insurance company. In essence, as the captive insurance company is owned by the parent company, the parent company benefits from the lower cost of loss.
Claims control is also greater with a captive insurance company. The parent company can dictate what the claims procedures will be, who will handle the claims and exercise some control over the claim payments (this varies by jurisdiction). The delays and hassles often associated in dealing with the claims department of the conventional insurance company are reduced or eliminated.
The use of a captive insurance company also permits the parent company some control over outside market conditions. When the number of claims and associated losses are lower than normal, the captive insurance company will increase its reserves. When the number of claims and associated cost are higher than normal, the captive insurance company will normally only increase its premium cost to the parent company by the amount necessary to cover the losses. If the parent company were using a conventional insurance company, the premium cost would be greater as the conventional insurance company's increased premium would also reflect the increase necessary to maintain their profit margin. (workersxzcompxzkit)
Summary:
Captive Insurance Companies create a financial advantage to the parent company by allowing the parent company greater control of their insurance cost. As more businesses understand the financial advantages of captives, the number of captive insurance companies will continue to grow.
Author Rebecca Shafer, J.D. Risk Consultant, Amaxx Risks Solutions, Inc. has worked successfully for 20 years with many industries to reduce Workers’ Compensation costs, including airlines, healthcare, manufacturing, printing/publishing, pharmaceuticals, retail, hospitality and manufacturing. She can be contacted at: RShafer@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com or 860-553-6604.
Podcast/Webcast: Occupational Health Strategies
Click Here:
WC Calculator: http://www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com/calculator.php
Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws vary. You should consult with your insurance broker or agent about workers' comp issues.
© 2010 Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law. If you would like permission to reprint this material, contact Info@ ReduceYourWorkersComp.com.
In a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit filed in late April, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged that Dreamz ATL, a large nightclub in Atlanta, violated federal law when its manager fired a waitress after learning that she was pregnant.
According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, when the waitress informed a manager of her pregnancy, he told her she should not be working because of her condition. The manager then immediately removed the woman from the work schedule.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of sex or pregnancy.
The EEOC filed suit (Civil Action No., 110-CV-1261) in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia after first attempting to reach a voluntary settlement. The EEOC is seeking back pay, compensatory and punitive damages for the employee as well as injunctive relief designed to stop pregnancy discrimination and prevent it from recurring in the future. (workersxzcompxzkit)
“An employee should never be stripped of her employment simply because she is pregnant,” said Robert Dawkins, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Atlanta District Office. “Further, it is grossly unfair and unreasonable to deprive an employee of her means of support at the very moment she and her upcoming family need it most.”
Author Rebecca, J.D. Consultant, Amaxx Risks Solutions, Inc. has worked successfully for 20 years with many industries to reduce Workers’ Compensation costs, including airlines, healthcare, manufacturing, printing/publishing, pharmaceuticals, retail, hospitality and manufacturing. She can be contacted at: RShafer@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com or 860-553-6604.
Podcast/Webcast: Occupational Health Strategies
Click Here:
WC Calculator: http://www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com/calculator.php
Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws vary. You should consult with your insurance broker or agent about workers' comp issues.
© 2010 Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law. If you would like permission to reprint this material, contact Info@ ReduceYourWorkersComp.com.
New Zealand’s Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) announced that it has reached agreement with four companies to manage a small number of its long term claims.
About 600 long term claims (out of a pool of almost 12,000) will be allocated to these companies to manage. These are clients who have been with ACC for more than one year (excluding those that are classified as seriously injured).
The four companies involved are Southern Cross Healthcare (trading as Care Advantage), Wellnz Ltd, Total Rehabilitation Services (an Aon company), and Gallagher Bassett Services. They will each receive 150 claims to manage.
“These agreements will give us access to more resource to manage claims and will also let us benchmark ACC’s performance against other organizations and see if more effective rehabilitation outcomes can be achieved”, said Denise Cosgrove, General Manager, Claims Management.
According to Cosgrove, “Like ACC, these firms have the goal of returning clients to their pre-injury lives as far as practicable, as soon as possible. The fact is, the longer people stay on ACC the harder it gets for them to get back to their normal lives, including work.”
The four firms already have experience managing ACC claims, on behalf of organizations in the ACC ‘Partnership Programme’. The Partnership Programme allows large organizations to fund and manage their own ACC claims, and already covers about 15% of the New Zealand workforce. ACC’s own subsidiary, Catalyst Risk Management, will also continue to manage a number of claims alongside these four firms.
“The individuals will remain ACC clients with the same entitlements as everyone else but the administration of their claims will be handled by the private firm,” Cosgrove noted. “They will also have the same review rights as every other ACC client. (workersxzcompxzkit)
“ACC has been concerned about the growth in long term claims for some time and has put in place a number of internal initiatives to address this, such as the Recover Independence Service that was introduced last year. This Service is already delivering positive signs of improvement. We have been considering partnering with external claims managers for more than a year now, as it is one way to help more people, as quickly as possible.”
Author Robert Elliott, executive vice president, Amaxx Risks Solutions, Inc. has worked successfully for 20 years with many industries to reduce Workers’ Compensation costs, including airlines, healthcare, manufacturing, printing/publishing, pharmaceuticals, retail, hospitality and manufacturing. He can be contacted at: Robert_Elliott@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com or 860-553-6604.
Podcast/Webcast: Occupational Health Strategies
Click Here:
WC Calculator: http://www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com/calculator.php
Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws vary. You should consult with your insurance broker or agent about workers' comp issues.
© 2010 Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law. If you would like permission to reprint this material, contact Info@ ReduceYourWorkersComp.com.
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