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| The Bush administration
unveiled a revised rule threatening businesses with prosecution unless they fire employees
identified in government records as possible illegal immigrants, offering a new explanation but
virtually no change in content from the regulation that a San Francisco federal judge blocked in
October. The Department of Homeland Security announced the new version of the so-called no-match
rule on its Web site and said it would invite public comments for 30 days. |
| (Source: San Francisco Chronicle,
2008-03-22) |
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| Forcing U.S. companies to use
a government system to verify the legal status of employees would result in hundreds of thousands of
citizens and legal residents being initially rejected for work, critics said. Immigrant advocates,
business groups and experts said that the system, known as E-Verify, relies on faulty databases that
were never designed as immigration enforcement tools. |
| (Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution (free reg. req'd), 2008-03-25) |
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| The Supreme Court let stand a
federal policy that allows employers to reduce their health insurance expenses for retired workers
once they turn 65 and qualify for Medicare. The justices turned down an appeal by the
39-million-member AARP to undo a rule that essentially allows employers to treat retirees
differently depending on their age. |
| (Source: The Washington Post (free reg. req'd),
2008-03-24) |
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| Many workplaces have been
working more feverishly than usual this flu season amid widespread infections that have left almost
no state untouched. The increased absences have forced healthy workers at smaller businesses to log
extra hours. |
| (Source: USA Today (free reg. req'd),
2008-03-24) |
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| Sometimes employees leave an
employer not because they can't stand the boss or co-workers or their jobs, but because they just
believe the grass is greener on the other side. No longer is it seen as disloyal for an employee to
go to another company for career opportunities, and employers are welcoming back former workers with
open arms. |
| (Source: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review,
2008-03-23) |
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| Some say that dirty diapers
and blankies don't mix with coffee pots and cubicles. They say it's a liability issue for employers,
they wonder whether babies will distract workers, and they question whether parents will be fully
engaged in their work. |
| (Source: Dallas Morning News,
2008-03-24) |
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| At a congressional hearing,
Rep. Henry Waxman, D-California, railed against, among other things, the severance packages that
marquee chief executives have been receiving of late, but it appears the vast majority of companies
are not raising the ante when revisiting a severance package with an outward-bound chief executive.
According to a new report from Watson Wyatt, 54 of the 70 companies studied by the consulting firm,
or 77 percent, did not provide their exiting CEOs with any termination payments beyond what was
disclosed to shareholders in their 2007 proxies. |
| (Source: Workforce Management,
2008-03-21) |
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| A judge has ordered Starbucks
Corp. to pay $86.7 million plus interest to thousands of California baristas after the court found
the company had illegally forced those workers to share tips with shift supervisors. Starbucks
called the ruling "beyond all common sense and reason" and plans to appeal. |
| (Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer,
2008-03-20) |
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| The leader of a ring that
grossed $50 million by employing illegal workers in hotels in Central Florida and other Southeastern
states was sentenced to three years in federal prison. Artur Glowacki, a Polish-born Canadian
citizen who ran day-to-day operations of his company, Adelco Services Inc., received the term after
pleading guilty to one count of immigration fraud and one count of money laundering. |
| (Source: Orlando Sentinel,
2008-03-22) |
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| A Massachusetts legislator is
attempting to offer the tiny, the lanky, the obese and the twiglike the same legal protections that
people get for their race, religion, gender, age and sexual orientation. Currently, Michigan is the
only state to ban heightism and weightism.
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| (Source: Boston Herald, 2008-03-24) |
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Statistics recently released by the
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) suggest that employees are filing discrimination
charges against employers in record-high numbers. According to the statistics published in the
BNA Employment Discrimination Report, the EEOC received 82,792 private-sector discrimination
charge filings in fiscal year 2007. This number represents the highest volume of charges since 2002.
This means that employers are increasingly faced with the time-consuming and costly obligations of
responding to such charges. Proper training of the workforce can help an employer reduce claims of
discrimination and harassment and better defend itself against those claims when they do occur. It
is far better to have a strong compliance training program in place than to wait for the EEOC, or
other government agency, to impose such a requirement as a settlement term.
Read the article about the increase in
employees filing discrimination charges against employers.
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| Kathleen
Shortridge |
Ann
Stewart |
What is utilization review and do I need it?
Utilization review (UR) evaluates the medical treatment received by or proposed for injured
workers to see whether it complies with medical evidence concerning the best treatment for the
particular condition. Make sure your occupational physician and your insurance company are using a
standardized treatment guideline based on best medical practices to minimize your medical costs.
Please contact Kathleen Shortridge or Ann
Stewart if you have any worker's comp questions.
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