Starting Jan. 15, the nation’s health insurers have been required to cover the cost of up to eight at-home rapid COVID-19 tests per month for their health plan enrollees. Insurers are taking different approaches to the mandate and, as an employer, you should communicate with your covered staff about this new benefit, how it works…
Can someone recover damages from a business if they claim that a family member caught COVID-19 at work and spread it to them? For California businesses, a court recently said that they might be able to. And courts in other states may use the decision as guidance. A California appellate court in December ruled that…
A new study has found that more than one in four U.S. workers say expensive medical bills are having a major impact on their mental health. Mental health issues have come to the fore during the COVID-19 pandemic, spurring employers to expect their group health plans to do more for their workers in this area.…
Employers with 10 or more employees must post their completed OSHA Form 300A by Feb. 1 and keep it posted in their workplace until April 30. The form must be posted where the company usually posts other employee notices, like minimum wage and workplace safety notices. Form 300A summarizes the total number of fatalities, missed…
One of the health insurance trends that went largely unnoticed in 2021 was that employers halted cost-shifting to their employees by reducing or holding steady workers’ deductibles and other cost-sharing. That’s according to a new study by consulting firm Mercer, which points out that concerns about health care affordability for lower-wage workers, coupled with a…
By now, employers should all realize and understand that sexual harassment is illegal. Employers are directly responsible for employee behavior, which gives harassed workers recourse in bringing legal actions against those that employ them. Work-related harassment and discrimination cases have been steadily climbing since the Civil Rights Act of 1991 allowed for trial by jury,…
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has issued guidance stating that employees suffering from “long COVID-19” may be protected under workplace disability discrimination statutes. The guidance states that someone suffering from impairments resulting from long-haul COVID-19 symptoms can be considered “disabled” under the Americans with Disabilities Act and entitled to the same treatment as other disabled…
The time when the IRS offers relief from financial penalties to employers that make errors on their group health insurance reporting forms has come to an end. Starting this year, the IRS will no longer offer protection against reporting error penalties when “applicable large employers” (ALEs) file their Forms 1094-C and 1095-C and the employer…
The COVID-19 pandemic has had profound effects on health insurance in the U.S., with many employers improving mental health and other benefits to help their workers during this trying period, according to a new report by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Despite the disruptions caused by the pandemic, the proportion of employers that offer their staff…
Even businesses that own fleets of autos sometimes use vehicles that do not belong to them. Often, a company asks an employee to run an errand or visit a customer or vendor using that employee’s car. The business may be legally liable for anything an employee acting on its behalf does while behind the wheel.…