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05/06/2008 -- GAUGING THE ECONOMY

NCCI Holdings - This edition of Gauging the Economy examines the effects of slowing job growth, continued wage gains, the quickening pace of medical care prices and challenging times for investment income. In addition, NCCI examines the industry’s limited exposure to the subprime mortgage mess, and updates the latest investment and interest rate outlook.

05/06/2008 -- WORKERS’ COMPENSATION DECISION DRAWS FIRE

Dallas Blog - Key legislators this week sharply criticized last year’s controversial Texas Supreme Court decision in the case Entergy v. Summers, which established that an injured worker could not sue a premises owner for punitive damages when that owner also meets the definition of a general contractor and has purchased a worker’s compensation insurance plan.

05/06/2008 -- COURT SHOULD REVERSE SELF FOR WORKERS’ SAKES

Austin American Statesman - The Texas Supreme Court has agreed to reconsider its ruling that gave companies new protection from liability for injuries to workers on their property who are not their employees. The court should reverse its earlier ruling because it has misapplied state law and given plant owners less incentive to maintain safe workplaces.

05/06/2008 -- DEMOCRATS IN SENATE SEEK TO RAISE OSHA PENALTIES ON EMPLOYERS

Insurance Journal - People can get more prison time for mail fraud than for violating safety standards that can kill workers, Democratic senators said this week as they called for tougher punishment for workplace fatalities and stricter enforcement from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

05/06/2008 -- MOST COMPANIES OPPOSE SINGLE-PAYER HEALTH CARE SYSTEM, STATE COVERAGE MANDATES

Watson Wyatt - Most U.S. companies do not support a single-payer health care system or state legislation mandating coverage. Instead, they prefer relying on private-sector solutions, according to research by Watson Wyatt Worldwide, a leading global consulting firm, and the National Business Group on Health.

04/29/2008 -- STATE BUSINESS TAX DRAWS CONCERN

Dallas Morning News - Hundreds of thousands of Texas businesses, fresh from paying their federal income taxes earlier this month, are now busy calculating what they owe the state under its new business tax – and many don't like what the numbers show.

04/29/2008 -- TEXAS INSURANCE PREMIUMS JUMP 40 PERCENT FROM 2001 TO 2005

Austin American Statesman - Texas families saw their health insurance premiums soar 40 percent in five years — 10 times faster than their incomes increased, according to a report being released today by a national foundation that promotes health care improvement.

04/29/2008 -- SENATORS SEEK GAO INVESTIGATION INTO WORKPLACE INJURIES, ILLNESSES REPORTING

Occupational Health and Safety - On April 22, U.S. Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-MA), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and Patty Murray (D-WA), chair of the Senate HELP Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety, asked the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate whether OSHA is effectively working to ensure that employers are accurately reporting injuries and illnesses in the workplace.

04/29/2008 -- LAWMAKERS LOOK AT INJURED WORKER RULING

KVUE.com - Relatives of those killed in a 2005 BP plant explosion and other industrial accident victims urged the Legislature on Monday to undo a Texas Supreme Court ruling in a high-profile workplace injury case.

04/22/2008 -- TEXAS WORKFORCE COMMISSION COLLECTS NEARLY $10 MILLION IN BACK WAGES

San Antonio Business Journal - The Texas Workforce Commission has recovered $9.9 million in unpaid wages on behalf of workers across the state in 2006 and 2007. The state agency collected the back wages through its enforcement of the Texas Payday Law, which requires private employers to provide workers with compensation in a timely manner.

04/22/2008 -- TEXAS PASSES NEW YORK ON FORTUNE 500 LIST

Dallas Morning News - Texas is king of the hill when it comes to corporate headquarters. The Lone Star State passed New York as home to the most big companies in the latest list compiled by Fortune magazine. Texas now boasts 58 headquarters, three more than New York, the previous No. 1, and California, with 52.

04/22/2008 -- SMALL FIRMS HIT HARDEST BY RISING ENERGY COSTS

Small firms are hardest hit by rising energy costs, according to a study released today by the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration. The small manufacturing and small commercial sectors top the list of burdened industries, on an energy cost per value of industry shipments and an energy cost per sales basis.

04/22/2008 -- CULTURE, LEADERSHIP CRITICAL TO REDUCING WORKPLACE INJURIES

Occupational Hazards - Carmen Bianco, an executive consultant with Behavioral Safety Technology (BST), asserted that company leaders significantly can influence the effectiveness of injury reduction programs through the cultures they create. If the culture only focuses on productivity, for example, there isn’t much room for safety, Bianco said. But when companies successfully communicate that productivity cannot exist without safety, they can better reduce on-the-job injuries.

04/16/2008 -- CONFUSION, FRUSTRATION RAMPANT OVER NEW BUSINESS TAX

Austin American Statesman - With rising fuel prices and a slowing economy, these are tough times for Bilbo Transports Inc., a family-owned trucking company based in Irving. Times are about to get tougher, company Vice President Mike George said, when a new state business tax comes due a month from today.

04/16/2008 -- DALLAS COMPANY AGREES TO PAY $1.5 MILLION IN BACK WAGES AND SALARY TO RESOLVE DISCRIMINATION ALLEGATIONS

Dallas based Vought Aircraft Industries Inc. has entered into a consent decree with the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) to settle allegations of hiring discrimination based on race and gender and agreed to pay $1.5 million in back wages to 1,045 applicants.

04/16/2008 -- TEXAS SUPREME COURT TO REHEAR ENTERGY WORKERS' COMP CASE

Insurance Journal - The Texas Supreme Court has agreed to rehear a case from Jefferson County dealing with the scope of the state workers' compensation law. The court has not yet set the date for new arguments but said April 5 it will rehear Entergy Gulf States Incorporated versus John Summers.

04/16/2008 -- ECONOMIC BURDEN OF HEALTH INSURANCE INCREASING FOR SMALL EMPLOYERS PROVIDING HEALTH INSURANCE

RAND - The economic burden of providing health insurance for workers increased more for small businesses than for large ones from 2000 to 2005, but the spike did not cause a significant number of small employers to abandon the benefit, according to a study issued today by the RAND Corporation.

04/07/2008 -- TOUGHER PENALTIES, WORKER SAFETY LAWS DISCUSSED AT SENATE HEARING

Occupational Hazards - Companies demonstrating a “dangerous pattern of disregarding worker safety” must receive stricter penalties and stronger criminal provisions, a trade union expert told members of the Senate Employment and Workplace Protections Subcommittee of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee during an April 1 hearing.

04/07/2008 -- DALLAS-FORT WORTH LEADS METRO AREAS IN NUMERICAL GROWTH

Dallas-Fort Worth had the largest numeric gain of any metro area between 2006 and 2007, increasing by 162,250, according to July 1, 2007, estimates of metro area population size and growth released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. Atlanta (151,063), Phoenix (132,513) and Houston (120,544) rounded out the metro areas with a gain of at least 100,000.

04/07/2008 -- DILLARD’S TO PAY HALF MILLION TO SETTLE EEOC CLASS SEXUAL HARASSMENT SUIT

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced it has settled its class sexual harassment lawsuit against the Dillard’s department store chain for $500,000 and substantial remedial relief on behalf of a class of 12 female former employees who were sexually harassed by an assistant store manager in two states.

04/07/2008 -- NLRB RULING SIGNALS TIME FOR COMPANIES TO REVIEW E-MAIL POLICIES

Law.com - In what is clearly a positive development for employers, in December 2007 the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) settled a long-running dispute, and definitively held that an employer may prohibit a union, or employees seeking to solicit or organize for a union, from using company e-mail systems to communicate -- an issue that has been subject to debate for a number of years.

04/07/2008 -- ALCOHOLISM PREVALENT AMONG HOSPITALITY WORKERS, STUDY SAYS

Occupational Hazards - In a new study, George Washington University researchers concluded that 15 percent of workers in the hospitality/leisure industry suffer from serious alcohol-related problems, resulting in the highest alcohol dependence rate of all studied sectors. In contrast, approximately 8 percent of the U.S. population has a diagnosable alcohol problem.

03/25/2008 -- PUT YOUR DISASTER PLAN TO THE TEST

Buildings.com - The problem with disasters is that you never know when they're going to happen. Today? Tomorrow? Next year? Never? The only way to deal with them is to prepare for them. Establishing an in-case-of-emergency plan is a necessary first step.

03/25/2008 -- POLITICAL PENDULUM SWINGS TOWARD STRICTER REGULATION

Wall Street Journal - The idea that less regulation is better for the economy has held sway in Washington since the Reagan administration. Now that consensus is crumbling, posing a potentially costly challenge to business no matter who wins the White House in November.

03/25/2008 -- TALENT SHORTAGE EMERGES AS NO. 1 EMPLOYER CONCERN

PR Newswire - A shortage of skilled and talented workers has become the most pressing concern among employers, supplanting the perennial leading problem, rising cost of health care, according to the 14th annual Top Five Total Rewards Priorities survey conducted by Deloitte Consulting LLP (Deloitte) and the International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists (ISCEBS).

03/25/2008 -- UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIMS SURGE IN LATEST WEEK

CNNMoney.com - New filings for unemployment claims rose more than expected last week, matching the highest level since 2005, according to a report released Thursday by the Labor Department.

03/25/2008 -- STARBUCKS RULING: PAY $105 MILLION IN TIPS CASE

SignOnSanDiego.com - A San Diego Superior Court judge ruled yesterday that Starbucks has to pay nearly $106 million in restitution to an estimated 120,000 current and former baristas in California because the coffee company illegally allowed supervisors to share in tip pools over the past eight years.

03/18/2008 -- DID EMPLOYEE'S DEPRESSION STEM FROM WORK INJURY?

HR.blr.com - When an employee suffers from depression in addition to a work-related physical injury, it can be difficult to determine whether the depression stems from the injury or from other causes in life outside the workplace. A Texas court of appeals recently faced that type of quandary.

03/18/2008 -- COMP INSURERS FACE DECLINING RATES: S&P

Business Insurance - Workers compensation insurers are likely to face falling rates this year, according to an article published Thursday by New York-based Standard & Poor’s Corp. The article—“Weakening Rates Could Squeeze U.S. Workers Comp Insurers Later This Year”—says rates have been declining, which is significantly reducing the margins of workers comp insurers.

03/18/2008 -- OSHA NOTIFIES WORKPLACES WITH HIGH INJURY AND ILLNESS RATES

The Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health has notified 14,000 employers nationwide that their injury and illness rates are considerably higher than the national average.

03/18/2008 -- INSURERS' PROFITS IN TEXAS PROMPT CALLS FOR LOWER RATES

Dallas Morning News - Texas insurers were virtually untouched by the slowing economy in 2007 as they recorded one of their most profitable years of the decade, prompting new calls for tougher state action on homeowner rates. New financial reports released Wednesday by the Texas Department of Insurance indicated that most companies had another year of solid earnings as they marked their fifth straight year of beating or equaling a standard benchmark for reasonable profits.

03/18/2008 -- WORKPLACE BULLYING 'EPIDEMIC' WORSE THAN SEXUAL HARASSMENT

Livescience.com - Workplace bullying could cause more harm to employees than sexual harassment, researchers say. Belittling comments, exclusion from outings and criticism of work may seem relatively benign and get brushed off by business higher-ups as "kid's stuff." But the consequences to employees and even the bottom line are far from child's play.

03/11/2008 -- DROP-OFF IN COMPUTER WORKPLACE INJURIES CITED

EWEEK.com - Among the numerous perils of computer-facing work--including repetitive stress ailments such as postural syndrome, eye strain and tendonitis--carpal tunnel is the best known, as it has received the most press. During the personal computing boon of the 1990s, its frequency among white collar professionals was considered to be at epidemic levels.

03/11/2008 -- TEXAS TOWNS LEAD NATION IN LABOR FORCE GROWTH

Three Texas cities had the fastest-growing labor force in the nation from 2000 to 2005, according to a new book released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. Of cities with populations of 25,000 or more, Frisco had 73.5 percent labor force growth, followed by Cedar Park (66 percent) and McKinney (52.5 percent). These were followed by Carmel, Ind. (49.9 percent); and Dania Beach, Fla. (45 percent.

03/11/2008 -- A METHODOLOGY FOR PREDICTING PROVIDER PARTICIPATION IN WORKERS' COMPENSATION MEDICAL FEE SCHEDULES

Risk and Insurance - Researchers examine 1,676 providers in 19 states to determine if and why neurologists would accept workers' comp payments based on a fee schedule. This study by Steven E. Levine, M.D., Ph.D. and Ronald N. Kent, both California-based physicians, looks at medical practices in 19 states and finds that boycotting by specialists begins to spread when reimbursement, before any PPO discounts, is set low.

03/11/2008 -- 10 STEPS TO KEEPING THE WORKPLACE HEALTHY IN THE HEIGHT OF FLU SEASON

PR Newswire & Fox Business - With a persistent new strain of flu affecting workers nationwide, employers may need to be more assertive to help keep the workplace healthy at the height of flu season.

03/11/2008 -- RESEARCHERS EVALUATE CHANGES IN PERCEIVED HEALTH AFTER INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENT

Occupational Health and Safety - A study conducted of residents living near BP's Texas City refinery, the site of an explosion that killed 15 people in 2005, suffered a perceived decline in mental and physical health following the blast.

03/04/2008 -- PLAN SPONSORS PAYING A LOT MORE IN FEES, STUDY FINDS

Financial Week - Average fees paid by pension plans worldwide have jumped 50% over the past five years, with active managers making up the bulk of the increase, according to a new report by Watson Wyatt Worldwide.

03/04/2008 -- FEDERAL WORKERS' COMPENSATION PROGRAM MISMANAGED MILLIONS OF DOLLARS

Government Executive - A program managed by the Labor Department to compensate employees for on-the-job injuries issued $13.3 million in improper payments in 2006, according to a new report the from the Government Accountability Office.

03/04/2008 -- THE SUPREME COURT TAKES A BROAD APPROACH IN INTERPRETING THE AGE DISCRIMINATION IN EMPLOYMENT ACT

Findlaw - Last week, the Supreme Court issued an important Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) opinion, Federal Express Corp. v. Holowecki. Specifically, the Court considered whether a plaintiff had complied with the necessary procedural formalities required under the ADEA before filing a lawsuit.

03/04/2008 -- OSHA TO INSPECT DUST-PRONE FACTORIES

Associated Press - Federal inspections will be carried out at hundreds of plants where combustible dust is a workplace hazard. OSHA reported that its sending letters to 30,000 companies that deal with combustible dust to discuss the dangers.

03/04/2008 -- VETERANS WITH SERVICE-CONNECTED DISABILITIES AND ADA: A GUIDE FOR EMPLOYERS

Between October 2001 and February, 2008, more than 30,000 veterans returned home with service-connected disabilities (e.g., amputations, burns, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and traumatic brain injuries). At least two federal laws provide important protections for veterans with disabilities.

02/25/2008 -- STUDY: MEDICAL BENEFITS ACCOUNT FOR LARGEST SHARE OF EMPLOYER COSTS

HR.BLR.com - Medical benefits accounted for the largest share of employer benefit costs at 12.1 percent in 2006, followed by retirement benefits at 10.4 percent.

02/25/2008 -- SUPREME COURT ALLOWS ERISA PLAN PARTICIPANTS TO SUE OVER LOSSES

Law. Com - The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that individual participants in the most common type of retirement plan can sue under a pension protection law to recover their losses. The unanimous decision has implications for 50 million workers with $2.7 trillion invested in 401(k) retirement plans. James LaRue of Southlake, Texas, said the value of his stock market holdings plunged $150,000 when administrators at his retirement plan failed to follow his instructions to switch to safer investments.

02/25/2008 -- THE BIG DISCRIMINATION CASE BEFORE THE SUPREME COURT

SLATE - In last year's Supreme Court sleeper case, a woman named Lily Ledbetter lost her right to sue because she didn't go to court the first time her paycheck was docked because of sex discrimination, as opposed to when she later realized she was being shortchanged.

02/25/2008 -- 10 WAYS WE GET THE ODDS WRONG

Psychology Today - Our brains are terrible at assessing modern risks. Here's how to think straight about dangers in your midst.

02/25/2008 -- THE PRICE OF PAIN

Newsweek - A new study reveals that Americans are spending record amounts on treatments for their aching backs. But are these expensive fixes a waste of money?

02/25/2008 -- PHYSICAL THERAPY IS AN EFFECTIVE TREATMENT FOR MANY BACK PAIN PATIENTS

Medical News Today - In contrast to a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) suggesting that spine-related expenditures have increased without evidence of improvement, best evidence suggests that patients who receive physical therapy for musculoskeletal disorders, including back and neck pain, report good outcomes at a lower cost than using drugs or surgery.

02/19/2008 -- TEXAS COURT SWITCHES SIDES, ON WORKERS' COMP FOR EX-NFL STAR

Law.com & Texas Lawyer - Last July, Waco, Texas' 10th Court of Appeals rejected former Dallas Cowboys defensive lineman Chad Hennings' workers' compensation claim, holding in a case of first impression that professional athletes cannot receive workers' comp. But after seeking a rehearing, Hennings has won in overtime.

02/18/2008 -- VERY STRANGE BEDFELLOWS

Galen Institute - The National Federation of Independent Business has been one of the stalwart defenders of health freedom. But its recent association with two activist liberal groups is raising eyebrows around town.

02/18/2008 -- CELL PHONE USE IN CAR LEADS TO $5.2 MILLION PAYOUT BY EMPLOYER

Daily Report - Talk isn't always cheap, as International Paper Co. learned recently when it agreed to pay $5.2 million to settle a personal injury suit related, at least in part, to one of its employees' use of a cell phone while driving.

02/18/2008 -- SCAFFOLDING HAZARDS AT NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, TEXAS, WORKSITE BRING FINES

Insurance Journal - An alleged failure to protect employees from safety hazards has brought Kaufman, Texas-based Metroplex Masonry Inc. $210,000 in proposed penalties from the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

02/18/2008 -- JURY AWARDS $110,000 VERDICT AGAINST HOUSTON DRY CLEANERS FOR SEXUAL HARASSMENT

HR.BLR.COM - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today that a federal district court jury returned a verdict yesterday for the EEOC in the amount of $110,000 against a Houston dry cleaner for sexual harassment. The EEOC had charged that the owner of Bellair Cleaners, Inc., doing business as Park Avenue Cleaners, Bellair Cleaners, and Your Valet (Park Avenue Cleaners), harassed a female employee, then aged 19, and other women.

02/18/2008 -- BODY ART ON THE RISE BUT NOT SO TRENDY AT WORK

Newswise - Body art is a growing fashion trend, and while acceptable in some environments, in the workplace visible tattoos and facial piercings are often seen as unprofessional and unwanted by coworkers. “Body art can lead to stereotyping, stigmatization, and prejudices in the workplace,” said management professor Brian K. Miller, who recently teamed with two fellow Texas State University professors to conduct a scenario-based experiment on how body art is perceived at work.

02/12/2008 -- PROPOSED FMLA RULES RESOLVE KEY ISSUES

Business Insurance - Newly proposed Labor Department regulations governing the Family and Medical Leave Act will ease many administrative problems that employers have faced in trying to comply with the law, experts say. The proposed FMLA regulations, released late last week, would update rules that the Labor Department published following enactment of the 1993 law, which requires employers to provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a year after the birth or adoption of a child; to care for a sick child, parent or spouse; or when an employee has a serious illness.

02/12/2008 -- TEXAS COMPANY AGREES TO PAY MORE THAN $1.5 MILLION IN BACK WAGES

A Temple, Texas company has agreed to pay $1,559,316 in overtime back wages to 570 current and former retail merchandising specialists nationwide after an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division found that the company had misclassified employees and did not pay overtime wages required by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

02/12/2008 -- WORKPLACE CONFLICTS TAKE A TOLL ON WORKERS

Market Day - On Valentine's Day, Feb. 14, fists may be more prevalent than flowers at some offices, researchers who focus on workplace dynamics said Thursday. "Much and more-deserved attention is being given to workplace hostility," said John A. Challenger, chief executive officer at the Chicago-based outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray and Christmas.

02/12/2008 -- EDUCATION HELPS BACK PAIN PATIENTS RETURN TO WORK, STUDY SAYS

Occupational Hazards - Health care providers can implement intensive, individual educational sessions to help patients with short-term lower back pain return to work more quickly, new research suggests.

02/12/2008 -- QUARTERLY INDICATORS: THE ECONOMY AND SMALL BUSINESS

The U.S. economy was weaker in the fourth quarter of 2007, with real GDP ending the year at a 0.6 percent annualized growth rate. Unemployment rose to 5.0 percent in December 2007, its highest level since April 2005, with nearly all of the net job gains in 2007 stemmed from service industries.

02/05/2008 -- LABOR UNIONS ARE BACK, BLS CONFIRMS

Occupational Health and Safety - The number of U.S. workers who belong to a union rose by 311,000 to 15.7 million last year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. BLS said union members accounted for 12.1 percent of employed wage and salary workers, "essentially unchanged from 12.0 percent in 2006." The growing Service Employees International Union, however, trumpeted the news, saying this is the first time in 25 years that union members' share has increased.

02/05/2008 -- THE LATEST EMPLOYMENT COST INDEX NEWS RELEASE

Bureau of Labor Statistics - Total compensation costs for civilian workers increased 0.8 percent, seasonally adjusted, from September to December 2007, the same as the previous quarter. Over the year, compensation costs rose 3.3 percent, also the same as the December 2006 12-month percent change.

02/05/2008 -- SEVEN THINGS EMPLOYEES WANT MOST TO BE HAPPY AT WORK

Christian Science Monitor - Ask bosses what makes employees happy at work, and many are likely to think in terms of tangible rewards: a good salary, a pleasant office, generous benefits. Those play a role in job satisfaction, of course. But increasingly, workplace specialists are discovering that for many workers, the "happiness factor" depends heavily on intangibles, such as respect, trust, and fairness.

02/05/2008 -- CHRONICLING OSHA IN 2007: THE YEAR AHEAD

Occupational Hazards - Super Tuesday is finally here, sending voters in 24 states to the polls to cast their presidential primary ballots. There’s no doubt that safety and health stakeholders will tune in to learn the outcome, as many strongly feel that a new administration – especially a Democratic one – will impact the way OSHA operates.

02/05/2008 -- POSSIBLE HITS BY THE SUPREMES

Human Resource Executive Online - The High Court has accepted almost a dozen new employment-discrimination cases for review, in addition to several that were argued last year but have not yet been ruled on. New hurdles for employers could result.

01/28/2008 -- EMPLOYERS FAVOR PRIVATE-INDUSTRY REFORMS

Employee Benefit News - Employers don't seem to have much faith that the next president will produce significant health care reform, according to a new survey from Employee Benefit News and CBIZ Benefits & Insurance. However, they are putting their faith in some private-sector initiatives to reduce health care costs and make coverage more affordable, including onsite wellness programs, disease management and cutting medical malpractice settlements.

01/28/2008 -- INJURED EMPLOYEES WORKING LONG HOURS FACE JOB LOSS RISKS

Occupational Hazards - Employees going back to work after being injured on the job face a higher risk of losing their employment if their positions require them to work more than 12 hours a day or 60 hours a week, new research suggests.

01/28/2008 -- CONGRESS APPROVES BILL TO EXPAND FMLA FOR MILITARY FAMILIES

Business Insurance - Legislation given final congressional approval Tuesday would expand the federal Family and Medical Leave Act to allow employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave when a spouse, son, daughter or parent is on active duty in the Armed Forces or is called up for active duty in support of a contingency operation.

01/28/2008 -- REVISED TEXAS FRANCHISE TAX WEBINARS

Business taxpayers with questions about the revised Texas franchise tax can learn the basics and more during four online seminars hosted by the state Comptroller’s office on Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 4 and 5. More will be scheduled at later dates. Participants must register in advance and may choose to view all of the online sessions, or select only the presentations they need.

01/28/2008 -- TEXAS EMPLOYERS WARY OF POLICING WORKERS' IMMIGRATION STATUS

Dallas Morning News - As employers face increasing pressure from states and in the courts to more closely police Social Security numbers of undocumented workers, some in Texas say that's not their job and that such action could hammer the economy. "What if some of my best guys turn out to be illegal?" said Lisa Galvan, who runs five Luna de Noche restaurants in the Dallas area and employs 200 workers. "It is scary."

01/23/2008 -- PRELIMINARY APPROVAL FOR $6.2 MILLION PARTIAL SETTLEMENT OF HISTORIC UNION DISCRIMINATION CASE

EEOC - A federal court has granted final approval for a $6.2 million partial settlement for black and Hispanic sheet metal workers who suffered discrimination by their union, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today.

01/23/2008 -- CHRONICLING OSHA IN 2007: CONGRESSIONAL IMPACT

Occupational Hazards - During 2007, Congress introduced legislation to compel OSHA to take immediate action on safety and health issues that were previously relegated to the back burner. For example, Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., chairwoman of the House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, introduced a measure to require OSHA to issue a rule protecting food processing workers from the chemical flavoring agent diacetyl, which has been linked to bronchiolitis obliterans, or “popcorn lung.”

01/23/2008 -- TEXAS GAINS THE MOST JOBS

Dallas Morning News - Texas added 18,600 nonfarm jobs in December, more than any other state, according to preliminary figures released Friday by the Texas Workforce Commission and the U.S. Department of Labor. But the report had some bad news as well: The state's unemployment rate rose to 4.5 percent from 4.2 percent in November. It was still below the national average of 5 percent.

01/23/2008 -- EXTENDED WORK HOURS SHOULD FACTOR INTO RETURNING WORKERS TO JOB

Occupational Health & Safety - Rehabilitation specialists guiding injured workers back to full-time employment should factor unconventional work schedules into their assessments and planning, new research suggests. Workers who are injured on the job have a harder time returning to employment if their schedules routinely require them to work extended hours, according to an Ohio State University study.

01/23/2008 -- CEO’S WEIGH IN ON BEST, WORST STATES TO DO BUSINESS

Yahoo Finance - Texas, Nevada, North Carolina Top List as Best States; California, New York, Michigan Are the Worst.

01/16/2008 -- FATALITY LEADS TO SAFETY VIOLATION PENALTIES FOR TEXAS-BASED COMPANY

Insurance Journal - The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) proposed $118,350 in penalties against Round Rock, Texas-based TECO-Westinghouse Motor Co. for the alleged failure to protect employees from safety hazards. The citation follows a fatality at the facility in July 2007.

01/16/2008 -- PUBLIC HEARING ON PROPOSED MEDICAL BILL RULES

A public hearing regarding medical bill disputes in the workers’ compensation system will be held on Feb. 4, 2008 at the will be held at the Texas Department of Insurance Division of Workers' Compensation

01/16/2008 -- EMPLOYER FMLA FRUSTRATIONS MAY RISE WITH FIRST EXTENSION

Workforce Management - Employer frustrations with a federal employee leave law may be exacerbated as it expands for the first time since its enactment in 1993.

01/16/2008 -- TIPS: SICK EMPLOYEES AT WORK

Occupational Health and Safety - As flu season gets under way, employers are gearing up for more sick employees dragging themselves -- and their germs -- in to work. According to findings of the 2007 CCH Unscheduled Absence Survey, 87 percent of employers report that sick employees who show up to work are suffering from short-term illnesses such as a cold or flu, which can be easily spread.

01/16/2008 -- IMPROVING PRODUCTIVITY: HOW TO ELIMINATE WORKPLACE CONFLICT & INSTANTLY IMPROVE PRODUCTIVITY

American Chronicle - The same problems that plagued people in ancient times are still with us today. People are still rude, selfish, insensitive, and difficult -- some of the time. Unfortunately, you may be forced to work with these difficult people. That's life. In fact, a University of North Carolina survey found that 78% of the respondents think rudeness and incivility have increased in the last decade. And every one of the respondents could cite examples of co-workers who had caused workplace conflicts or treated them in a disrespectful manner.

01/07/2008 -- LOCKHEED MARTIN SETTLEMENT SENDS POWERFUL MESSAGE

SHRM - A victim of racial harassment and employment discrimination during his employment at Lockheed Martin has won $2.5 million in what the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) calls one of the largest recoveries for an individual case. The lawsuit against the Fortune 100 corporation and the world’s largest military contractor includes an agreement from the Bethesda, Md.-based company to terminate the four co-workers and the supervisor who harassed former employee and Navy veteran Charles Daniels, and to make significant policy changes to address any future discrimination, the EEOC said during a Jan. 3, 2007, news conference in Hawaii.

01/07/2008 -- EMERGENCY RESPONDERS AT HIGH RISK TO MISS WORK BECAUSE OF INJURIES

Newswise - New research suggests that at any given time, almost 10 percent of the emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics in the United States miss work because of injuries and illnesses they suffered on the job. A study examining how common these injuries are and tracking new cases of work-related injuries and illnesses in these professionals also suggests that in one year, an estimated 8.1 of every 100 emergency responders will suffer an injury or illness forcing them to miss work. Compared to data compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the rate of injuries requiring work absence among these first responders far exceeds the national average of 1.3 per 100 lost-work injury cases reported in 2006.

01/07/2008 -- SAFETY PROFESSIONALS SAY PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT AN ISSUE IN WORKPLACE

Welding Magazine - For the second year in a row, a survey of safety professionals has found that noncompliance with personal protective equipment (PPE) protocols continues to be an issue in the workplace. Eighty-seven percent of respondents said they had observed workers failing to wear PPE when they should have been, according to a survey of attendees at the 2007 National Safety Council (NSC) Congress, conducted by Kimberly-Clark Professional. Eighty-five percent of safety professionals answered yes to the same question in a survey undertaken by Kimberly-Clark Professional at the 2006 NSC Congress.

01/07/2008 -- MARGIN TAX WILL PACK PUNCH

Houston Chronicle - When the new Texas margin tax kicks in this year, many businesses will get hit with a surprise tax bill costing them several thousand dollars. Under a new state law that replaces the franchise tax with a margin tax, businesses will pay based on gross revenues. The number of companies paying taxes will rise to 900,000 in May 2008 from 700,000 in 2007. The amount of state business taxes paid is expected to more than double to $11.9 billion during the next two years versus $5.7 billion for the last two-year period under the outgoing franchise tax, according to the Texas Comptroller's Office.

01/07/2008 -- SURVEY: TEXAS MANUFACTURING ACTIVITY CONTINUES SLUMP

Austin Business Journal - A survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas shows activity in Texas factories continues a decline that began in early spring. According to the Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey, all current production and general business conditions indicators fell further into negative territory in December. "It's important to note that the indexes are not seasonally adjusted, and there appears to be a pattern of December weakness over the past two years," economist Fiona Sigalla said in a news release.

01/01/2008 -- SIX TIPS TO MANAGING WORKPLACE CONFLICT

CNN.com - Human resource managers report spending 24 to 60 percent of their time dealing with employee disputes. The number of violent incidents in the workplace has been increasing steadily, according to a study by the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM). Nearly 60 percent of respondents said violence had occurred in their organization during the past three years, and they identified "personality conflicts" as the leading cause.

01/01/2008 -- MAJORITY OF EMPLOYERS TO MAINTAIN STAFFING LEVELS IN 2008

USA Today - Most U.S. employers plan to keep their payrolls stable early next year, according to a survey out Wednesday that points to a steady, but not stellar, employment environment heading into 2008.

01/01/2008 -- SENATE VOTES TO EXPAND FMLA

HR.BLR.com - The U.S. Senate has voted 90-3 to approve legislation that includes a provision that would allow employees to use leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act in certain circumstances.

01/01/2008 -- ANNUAL REPORTING & DISCLOSURE; REVISION OF ANNUAL INFORMATION

The amendments contained in this document are necessary to conform the annual reporting and disclosure regulations to revisions to the Form 5500 Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan.

01/01/2008 -- DID OFFICIATING LAWSUIT CROSS THE LINE?

Star Telegram.com - A workers' compensation insurance carrier for the San Antonio school district filed a $10 million lawsuit against five officials and the Texas Association of Sports Officials, alleging their negligence led to a sideline collision and the serious brain injury of a Brackenridge High School assistant coach.

01/01/2008 -- LAWMAKERS, WORKERS CRITICIZE COURT'S LIABILITY RULING

Insurance Journal - Four lawmakers and the Texas AFL-CIO have asked the Texas Supreme Court to reverse its decision in a case they say incorrectly expands liability protections for employers under state workers' compensation laws. The court's Aug. 31 ruling in the case of Entergy vs. Summers contradicts state law, the legislators argued in a brief filed with the court.

12/14/2007 -- ECONOMIC OUTLOOK AND IMPACT ON WORKERS COMPENSATION

NCCI - Job growth is expected to slow in 2008, as the combination of weakness in housing, the recent turmoil in financial markets, and high oil prices undercut growth in both consumer spending and business investment. Slower job growth suggests less upward pressure on claim frequency since fewer inexperienced/less trained workers are added to payrolls.

12/14/2007 -- OSHA ISSUES CONFINED SPACES IN CONSTRUCTION PROPOSED RULE

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) today published in the Federal Register a proposed rule to enhance the protection provided to construction employees working in confined spaces. The agency is accepting public comments on the proposed standard until January 28, 2008.

12/14/2007 -- STUDY FINDS VALUATION LINKS IN WORKPLACE HEALTH AND SAFETY

According to a recent report by investment bank Goldman Sachs JBWere, companies that failed to adequately manage workplace health and safety issues underperformed their more socially responsible counterparts. The report found that investors could have increased returns dramatically over the past four years had they incorporated WHS measures into their investment strategy.

12/14/2007 -- EMPLOYER COSTS FOR EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics - Employer costs for employee compensation for civilian workers averaged $28.03 per hour worked in September 2007, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries, which averaged $19.56, accounted for 69.8 percent of these costs, while benefits, which averaged $8.47, accounted for the remaining 30.2 percent. Employers averaged $2.35 for life, health, and disability insurance or 8.4 percent of total compensation.

12/14/2007 -- PROPOSED REGULATION RELATING TO SERVICE PROVIDER DISCLOSURES UNDER ERISA

U.S. Department of Labor - Under ERISA, plan fiduciaries are obligated to act prudently in selecting service providers and ensure that no more than reasonable compensation is paid for services provided to plans, taking into account the direct and indirect compensation received by the service provider.

12/07/2007 -- HAS TORT REFORM WORKED TOO WELL IN TEXAS?

Insurance Journal - The Texas Legislature enacted tort reform measures in 2003 that among other things placed a $250,000 cap on non-economic damage awards against individual health care practitioners, a $250,000 cap on non-economic damages against single health care institutions and a $500,000 cap on non-economic damages against combined health care institutions in a single case.

12/07/2007 -- EEOC ISSUES FACT SHEET ON EMPLOYMENT TESTS AND SELECTION PROCEDURES

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today issued an extensive fact sheet on the application of federal anti-discrimination laws to employer tests and other selection procedures to screen applicants for hire and employees for promotion. The new technical assistance document is available on the agency’s web site.

12/07/2007 -- WORKPLACE CELL PHONE POLICIES

Inc.com - Employers can be liable for road accidents caused by worker cell phone use. A strict safety policy can help. While text messaging, photos, and Internet access have boosted the popularity of cell phones in the workplace, they've also increased the potential headaches for employers. These include everything from productivity and privacy issues, to the risks of legal liability for accidents caused by employees using cell phones for work-related calls behind the wheel.

12/07/2007 -- NO MATTER THE WORKPLACE SIZE, HANDBOOKS CAN PLAY A VITAL ROLE

Crain’s Cleveland Business - Although employee handbooks can provide protection from legal minefields, the informal culture of most small businesses often trumps a heavy reliance on rule books and policy manuals. While it’s difficult to know exactly how many small businesses rely on handbooks and policy manuals, some attorneys say that the documentation no doubt can help a company with a defense when confronted by employee or government lawsuits.

12/07/2007 -- PRESIDENTIAL RACE REVIVES WORKPLACE DEBATE

Washington Times - A Democratic victory in the 2008 presidential election would reignite the fight between big labor and big business over a contentious workplace-safety issue. The mere mention of ergonomics, the arcane science that has come to symbolize workplace injuries ranging from sore backs to carpal tunnel syndrome, can cause employers pain. But to the nation's labor unions, ergonomics — leading to the No. 1 cause of workplace injuries in the United States — is an issue of the utmost importance.

12/07/2007 -- BUSINESS LOBBY PRESSES AGENDA BEFORE ’08 VOTE

New York Times - Business lobbyists, nervously anticipating Democratic gains in next year’s elections, are racing to secure final approval for a wide range of health, safety, labor and economic rules, in the belief that they can get better deals from the Bush administration than from its successor.

11/27/2007 -- TEXAS JOBLESS RATE DROPS TO 4.1% - LOWEST IN 31 YEARS

DallasNews.com - Texas may be insulated from the worst of the subprime mortgage mess and the fears of a weakening national economy, but it's already feeling some of the pain. Friday's October jobs figures for the state show continued growth – but at a much slower pace than the robust job creation the state enjoyed in 2006.

11/27/2007 -- CALIFORNIA COMPANY FINED $100,000 FOR FAILURE TO HAVE WORKERS COMP INSURANCE

The Modesto Bee - The owners of Mallard's Restaurant in Modesto will have to pay a $100,000 state citation for failure to have workers compensation insurance, while an investigation into other restaurant practices continues.

11/27/2007 -- REVISED RULE FOR EMPLOYERS THAT HIRE IMMIGRANTS

New York Times - The Bush administration will suspend its legal defense of a new rule issued in August to punish employers who hire illegal immigrants, conceding a hard-fought opening round in a court battle over a central measure in its strategy to curb illegal immigration according to government papers filed late Friday in federal court. Instead, the administration plans to revise the rule to try to meet concerns raised by a federal judge and issue it again by late March, hoping to pass court scrutiny on the second try.

11/27/2007 -- US SUPREME COURT HEARS ARGUEMENTS IN ERISA RETIREMENT PLAN CASE

JURIST - The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Monday in LaRue v. DeWolff, Boberg & Associates a case where the Court considered whether the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) allows an employee to sue for losses incurred when administrators of his retirement plan ignore his instructions on how to invest his retirement money.

11/27/2007 -- COURT: TELECOMMUTERS ELIGIABLE FOR WORKERS' COMP

Jacksonsun.com - Telecommuters or employees who work at home are entitled to workers' compensation benefits if they are injured while working, the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled. The decision issued on Friday was the first time the high court applied the same compensation laws to employees who don't work in a traditional office or factory. However, the court ruled that the Nashville woman who brought the case was not due compensation because the injuries she suffered were not work-related. Some believe the ruling could result in more claims by people who work at home.

11/14/2007 -- OSHA ANNOUNCES EMPLOYER-PAID PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT FINAL RULE

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration OSHA) today announced a final rule on employer-paid personal protective equipment (PPE). Under the rule, all PPE, with a few exceptions, will be provided at no cost to the employee. OSHA anticipates that this rule will have substantial safety benefits that will result in more than 21,000 fewer occupational injuries per year. The rule will be published in the Federal Register on November 15, 2007.

11/14/2007 -- NCCI EXAMINES EMERGENCY ROOM TREATMENT OF YOUNGER VS. OLDER WORKERS

NCCI Holdings Inc., - The emergency room (ER) is often the first stop for workers who are injured on the job. The ER provides initial treatment for a wide range of injuries and illnesses, some of a routine nature and others that are potentially life-threatening or require immediate attention. This study examines the extent to which the age of an injured worker is a factor in both the utilization of emergency services (number of ER services per claim) and the price of those services (measured in terms of payment per service). The study uses data on workers compensation claims and related medical detail for the period 1996–2003.

11/14/2007 -- MRSA AND THE WORKPLACE

Staphylococcus aureus, often referred to simply as "staph," is a type of bacteria commonly carried on the skin or in the nose of healthy people. Sometimes, staph can cause an infection. Staph bacteria are one of the most common causes of skin infections in the United States. Most of these skin infections are minor (such as pustules and boils) and can be treated without antibiotics. However, staph bacteria also can cause serious infections (such as surgical wound infections, bloodstream infections, and pneumonia).

11/14/2007 -- INSURING FOR WORKPLACE VIOLENCE

Risk Management Magazine - Incidents of workplace violence can be devastating for a company's reputation and relationship with its employees. Employees generally expect that they will be provided with a safe working environment, and reasonable employers aim to provide one. When violence does occur, however, the human tragedy frequently yields financial difficulty, lawsuits and liability. Many employers do not realize that their insurance companies may defend and pay to settle workplace violence lawsuits. Obtaining insurance recovery may be important not only for the employer, but for the victim as well. Although some employers seem to have deep pockets, many of those pockets are actually quite shallow in light of the loss as the cost of care for survivors of workplace violence can reach millions of dollars.

11/14/2007 -- DHS PUBLISHES CHEMICALS OF INTEREST LIST FOR CHEMICAL FACILITY ANTI-TERRORISM STANDARDS

The Department of Homeland Security today released Appendix A of the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS), a critical element of its chemical security efforts. The appendix contains a list of chemicals that, if possessed by a facility in a specified quantity, trigger a requirement to complete and submit an easy-to-use, online consequence assessment tool called a Top-Screen.

11/06/2007 -- FLUSHING OUT THE FREQUENT FLYERS

Risk and Insurance - In 2001, the Houston Independent School District had 150 employees with five or more previous claims under their belts and who were out of work collecting workers' compensation. One person had racked up 17 claims over the previous five years.

11/06/2007 -- TEN WAYS TO AVOID AGE BIAS LANDMINES DURING THE INTERVIEW PROCESS

TechRepublic - The IT industry can be a cruel career sector. According to an industry survey just a few years ago, tech professionals are viewed as old and seniors (in terms of age) when they hit their early to mid-40s. And that isn’t the worst of it — while older professionals in most industries are valued for having more experience and expertise, it’s the opposite within the tech community.

11/06/2007 -- MAKING EMPLOYEE HANDBOOKS A PRIORITY

Professional Roofing - When is the last time you reviewed or updated your employee handbook? Do you even have an employee handbook? Have you ever? Although thinking about an employee handbook may get lost on what surely is a long list of employment-related (and other) concerns, you should consider moving it up on your list.

11/06/2007 -- REDUCING SLIPS, TRIPS AND FALLS IN STAIRWAYS

Occupational Hazards - With over 8 million people treated for fall-related injuries in 2004, falls are the leading cause of nonfatal unintentional injuries treated in hospital emergency rooms, according to the All Injury Program, a cooperative program involving the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Consumer Product Safety Commission. A combination of deficiencies in design, lighting, visibility and attention are usually the culprits in stairway slips, trips and falls.

11/06/2007 -- WORKPLACE INJURIES AND ILLNESSES IN 2006

Nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses among private industry employers in 2006 occurred at a rate of 4.4 cases per 100 equivalent full-time workers—a decline from 4.6 cases in 2005. Similarly, the number of nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses reported in 2006 declined to 4.1 million cases, compared to 4.2 million cases in 2005. These findings were reported today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of the U.S. Department of Labor.

10/31/2007 -- MANAGING LITIGATION RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH EMPLOYEE DISCHARGE DECISIONS

The Metropolitan Corprate Counsel - Virtually all states have adopted the doctrine of employment at-will. This means that an employer may, without notice, terminate an employee for any reason or no reason at all. There are well-known exceptions to the employment at-will doctrine. For example, anti-discrimination statutes prohibit terminating an employee on the basis of his or her race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability or other protected characteristics. Most states prohibit terminating an employee in retaliation for asserting his or her workers' compensation rights or for reporting the employer's alleged misconduct to a law enforcement agency.

10/31/2007 -- BUSINESSES NERVOUS THAT IMPORT SAFETY SCARES WILL LEAD TO STIFF NEW PENALITIES

The Hill - Retailers and manufacturers are pressing for wholesale changes to a bill backed by Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) that would increase penalties on companies violating the Consumer Product Safety Act and require more public disclosure about allegedly defective products.

10/31/2007 -- HOW COMPANIES CAN ENCOURAGE INNOVATION

Christian Science Monitor - "We're moving from an industrial economy to a creative economy," says Richard Florida, author of "The Rise of the Creative Class," although he notes that the transformation is still in its infancy. The creative sector, which he says is made up of "people who think for a living," includes such fields as science, technology, arts, culture, design, law, healthcare, and education. These creative people, he adds, "provide a critical stimulus for economic growth."

10/31/2007 -- SEXUAL HARRASSMENT HAS A BIG IMPACT ON SMALL BUSINESS

OCRegister - The $11.6 million verdict in the Knicks case came almost 16 years after Anita Hill accused Clarence Thomas of sexual misconduct. This case is a clear reminder that workplace harassment is still a serious problem. More than 12,000 complaints were filed in 2006, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. And last year, victims of sexual harassment received almost $50 million in jury awards.

10/31/2007 -- STAPH INFECTIONS AND THE WORKPLACE

Staphylococcus aureus, often referred to simply as "staph," is a type of bacteria commonly carried on the skin or in the nose of healthy people. Sometimes, staph can cause an infection. Staph bacteria are one of the most common causes of skin infections in the United States. Most of these skin infections are minor (such as pustules and boils) and can be treated without antibiotics. However, staph bacteria also can cause serious infections (such as surgical wound infections, bloodstream infections, and pneumonia).

10/22/2007 -- EEOC ALERTS PUBLIC TO E-MAIL 'PHISHING' SCAM

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) late today notified the business community and general public to a "phishing" e-mail circulating to companies that purports to be from the federal agency regarding a harassment complaint. The bogus e-mail contains a Trojan Horse Virus that is likely to harm a recipient's computer if the user clicks on the referenced web link and/or downloads the attached file. The phony e-mail to employers -- being circulated under the subject "Harassment Complaint Update For"-- contains links where the respondent can allegedly access details of a fake discrimination claim. The EEOC has reported the issue to appropriate authorities.

10/22/2007 -- STAPH DEATHS: NOW MAY BE A GOOD TIME TO CLEAN WORKPLACE KEYBOARDS

Computerworld - On Wednesday, two days after a Virginia high school senior infected with a drug-resistant strain of bacteria died, an e-mail circulated to all the principals and custodial staff of the 11,000-student Bedford County Public School District from Victor Gosnell, the district's director of technology. The e-mail included a reminder: It's OK to lightly spray or wipe a keyboard and mouse.

10/22/2007 -- WHY EMPLOYERS SHOULD CARE ABOUT THEIR WORKPLACE

WSJ CarrerJournal.com - When I first started writing a column on workplace issues for this newspaper 16 years ago, the company executives who spent much time thinking about workplace quality could have met in a phone booth. Who cares? That was the private response of many managers -- at companies big and small -- to the idea of engaging workers' hearts and minds. Most saw little relationship between employee attitudes and the bottom line. Now, that viewpoint is almost as out-of-date as the phone booth.

10/22/2007 -- U.S. COMPANIES FIGHTING FEWER LEGAL BATTLES: SURVEY

Washington Post.com - U.S. companies are getting hit with fewer new lawsuits and initiating less litigation, according to a survey released on Monday. The poll of in-house law departments suggests corporate litigation may have slowed, although big companies still find themselves juggling plenty of court cases, particularly patent and product liability disputes.

10/22/2007 -- A GUIDE TO THE NEW PROPOSED RULES FOR CAFETERIA PLANS

Health Insurance Underwriter - This article on the new proposed regulations of cafeteria plans is critical to your career. “Yeah right, Ric, sure it is -- just like the state regs on insurance, ERISA, HIPAA, HRAs, COBRA and HSAs that I am required to know!” Okay, so I was overstating the urgency of reading this article a tad. Since your time is valuable, I will dive right in. I will review the basics of cafeteria plans for new agents, and this shall serve to refresh your compliance-cluttered mind.

10/22/2007 -- HOW TO READ A MATERIAL SAFETY DATA SHEET

American Lung Association - When a worker is given information by an employer on a hazardous substance, it will often be in the form of a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS). The MSDS is prepared by the product's manufacturer and provides basic information on the chemical's physical properties and related health effects. The MSDS provides guidance on using, storing and handling substances safely on the job and in emergencies such as fires and spills. Unfortunately, information presented on an MSDS may be incomplete. This is particularly true for information on health effects that workers may experience from low-level chemical exposure over a long period of time.

10/22/2007 -- CALCULATING THE COST OF ABSENCE

Risk and Insurance - It makes intuitive sense that when an employee is not at work because of an illness, injury or another issue, there is an impact on the company's productivity and, therefore, the bottom line. But what exactly is that impact? And, more to the point, how should companies mitigate that impact by keeping employees healthy and on the job?

10/15/2007 -- WORKERS SAY THEIR EMPLOYER IS PREPARED FOR EMERGENCY

Reliable Plant - More Americans (61 percent) believe their employer is prepared to deal with emergency situations, compared with their family, at 57 percent, and their community, at 50 percent, according to a national survey of American workers’ attitudes on safety issues released October 15 by the National Safety Council at its annual safety and health Congress in Chicago.

10/15/2007 -- RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION COMPLAINTS INCREASE

USA Today - Mikhael Rozenberg, an Orthodox Jew, had been working at Vonage Holdings Corp. for a couple of weeks in the fall of 2005 when the High Holidays forced him to miss a portion of a training session. Vonage didn't allow him to make up for the missed time and told him the only available position required him to work on Saturdays, according to a lawsuit filed on his behalf by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. That would mean working on the day that God put aside for rest, according to Rosenberg's religious beliefs.

10/15/2007 -- DEPRESSION AMOUNG ADULTS EMPLOYED BY OCCUPATIONAL CATEGORY

Depression can seriously impact a person’s ability to perform routine activities at work. It negatively affects U.S. industry through lost productivity, employee absenteeism, and low morale. U.S. companies lose an estimated $30 to $44 billion dollars per year because of employee depression. Research shows that the rate of depression varies by occupation and industry.

10/15/2007 -- IT REALLY CAN BE A CRIME TO FILE AN INCORRECT FORM 5500

PPAblog - A Friend of mine had a good question today from an accountant, who wanted to know if there is any penalty for filing Form 5500 with just a little bit of incorrect information. Congress answered this question with 28 U.S.C. 1027, and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals provides a pretty unequivocal explanation of how this Code section applies to Form 5500.

10/15/2007 -- EMPLOYERS TRY "NO EMAIL" DAYS, BUT WORKERS ARE FIGHTING BACK

Wall Street Journal - When U.S. Cellular's chief operating officer, Jay Ellison, imposed a "no email Friday" rule at his company, he thought it would ease workers' overload. Instead, he got a rebellion. Among many irate responses, Kathy Volpi, a marketing director, confronted Mr. Ellison and "just ripped me," he says. "She really gave me a piece of her mind." Ms. Volpi says that at the time the ban seemed like a needless obstacle. "I thought, 'He just doesn't understand how much work we have to get done, and how much easier' " it is when using email.

10/15/2007 -- ARTHRITIS TAKES TOLL IN WORKPLACE

Chicago Sun Times - A federal study is documenting the terrible toll arthritis is taking in the workplace. About one in three adults who have arthritis say it affects the amount or type of work they can do -- or whether they can even work at all. The percentages of employees who say their work is limited by arthritis range from 25 percent in Nevada to 51 percent in Kentucky.

10/03/2007 -- OSHA FINES 4 CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES FOR TEXAS WORKSITE DEATH

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fined four construction companies $119,550 following an investigation into fatality at a Dallas, Texas, worksite. OSHA announced it issued citations to Satterfield & Pontikes Construction Inc. in Houston; Okie Foundation Drilling Co. Inc. and Rent-A-Crane of Oklahoma Inc. in Oklahoma City, Okla.; and Soto Rebar Construction in Dallas.

10/03/2007 -- CONSUMER ELECTRONICS: A THREAT TO THE WORKPLACE?

PC World - IT security professionals need to take steps to properly manage how employee-owned consumer devices are used in the workplace, analysts warned at Gartner's IT security summit in London this week. With powerful consumer devices becoming increasingly ubiquitous in the enterprise, and homeworking on the increase, Gartner said it was important that technology privileges reflected genuine need to avoid security problems.

10/03/2007 -- EMPLOYERS SEE VALUE IN HELPING THOSE LAID OFF

Wall Street Journal - A growing number of employers give laid-off staffers something extra to ease the pain of their job loss: continued access to employee-assistance programs.

10/03/2007 -- WORK CITED AS THE BEST PRESCRIPTION FOR BACK PAIN SUFFERERS

Ergoweb - A new report suggests that staying at work or returning to work early offer the fastest road to recovery from back pain and other conditions in the family of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs).

10/03/2007 -- PUCH THE BOSS, GET WORKERS' COMP?

AZcentral.com - Punch the boss or that annoying co-worker, then collect workers' comp if you get hurt?

10/03/2007 -- SQUABBLING OVER THE ADA

Risk and Insurance - Fifteen years after the implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the courts and employers are still at odds over how the law should be applied in the workplace. Thus far, the only certainty is that there are no hard-and-fast rules when it comes to the ADA.

09/20/2007 -- WHY CLINTON EMBRACED EMPLOYER-BASED INSURANCE

Wall Street Journal - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said in drafting a new health-care plan she considered doing away with the employer-based system but concluded that people like it. "We looked at every permutation of how you get to universal health care," the New York senator said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. "There's great attachment to the employer-based system, even though it is eroding." Since World War II, employers have benefited from tax breaks for providing health insurance to workers, with neither employer nor employee counting the value of the insurance as income.

09/20/2007 -- TEXAS WORKERS' COMP WEEKLY BENEFIT RATE SET AT $712

Insurance Journal - The Texas Department of Insurance Division of Workers' Compensation announced that the workers' compensation state average weekly wage for Fiscal Year 2008 is set at $712 and is effective for dates of injury from Oct.1, 2007 through Sept.30, 2008.

09/20/2007 -- AMERICA'S DEADLIEST JOBS

Thomas.net - Overall, workplace fatalities edged down last year to 5,703 from 5,734 in 2005, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For many of us, the most dangerous part of the workday is the commute, but for many others, each workday is risky business.

09/20/2007 -- WHOLE FOODS EMPLOYEES GO BARGAIN HUNTING FOR HEALTH CARE

Don't you hate that high deductible on your insurance policy? You have to pay thousands of dollars before insurance covers your care. That's terrible, some say, but is it really? A version of it may be the key to lowering costs and putting you in charge of your health care. Five years ago, the grocery chain Whole Foods Market switched to a different kind of health insurance, a policy that puts patients more in control.

09/20/2007 -- TEEN WORKER SAFETY IN RESTAURANTS - eTOOL

Restaurants and other eating and drinking businesses employ 11.6 million people in the United States. Nearly 30% of these employees are under 20 years of age. Many teens' first work experience is in the restaurant industry. OSHA is providing this eTool to help youth working in the restaurant industry to be safe and healthy on the job. This eTool* describes common hazards and potential safety solutions for teen workers and employers in the restaurant industry.

09/10/2007 -- WHY DOCTORS BOYCOTT COMP

Risk and Insurance - Surgeons in Massachusetts almost uniformly refuse to accept the state fee schedule. They negotiate fees double or higher than the official levels. The common thread to these fee disputes seems to be an economic supply-and-demand problem. But is it really just that?

09/10/2007 -- STATE WORKERS DOMINATE TEXAS LABOR FORCE

Austin American Statesman - How big is the state work force? If state workers were a corporation, it would be the largest in the Texas by far.

09/10/2007 -- EMPLOYERS SEE MORASS IN ID RULE

Financial Week - New rules from the Department of Homeland Security giving employers more responsibility for identifying undocumented workers were put on hold at the end of August by a federal judge. But if the rules survive the court challenge, company executives fear a trifecta of problems: increased operational burden, worker shortages in some industries and exposure to discrimination lawsuits.

09/10/2007 -- WORKFORCE USE OF COCAINE PLUNGES

Courier Post - New data from workplace drug tests conducted by Quest Diagnostics indicate an unprecedented reduction in cocaine use among the U.S. work force, according to the federal Office of National Drug Control Policy. The Quest report found a 16 percent decline in the number of drug test positives for cocaine among the combined U.S. work force during the first six months of 2007, compared to 2006.

09/10/2007 -- TEXAS COMPANIES SETTLE SAFETY AND HEALTH VIOLATIONS

Phillips Petroleum Company has agreed to pay over $2 million in penalties for safety and health violations at its complex in Pasadena, Texas, as part of a settlement agreement announced today by U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. Additionally, Chevron Phillips Chemical Company, which now owns and operates the facility, will hire dedicated safety and health consultants to ensure compliance with OSHA’s process safety management standards.

09/10/2007 -- U.S. IS MOST PRODUCTIVE IN PART BECAUSE WE WORK MORE

USA Today - American workers stay longer in the office, at the factory or on the farm than their counterparts in Europe and most other rich nations, and they produce more per person over the year. They also get more done per hour than everyone but the Norwegians, according to a U.N. report released Monday, which said the United States "leads the world in labor productivity." The average U.S. worker produces $63,885 of wealth per year, more than their counterparts in all other countries, the International Labor Organization said in its report. Ireland comes in second at $55,986, followed by Luxembourg at $55,641, Belgium at $55,235 and France at $54,609.

09/03/2007 -- SMALL FIRMS ARE FOCUS OF EFFORT TO TRIM RANKS OF UNINSURED

Houston Chronicle - The state Legislature won't reconvene until 2009, but part of the insurance lobby already is jockeying for a change it says will help reduce the number of Texas workers who don't have health insurance. According to the Texas Association of Health Underwriters, a two-sentence tweak to state law would let small companies — defined as firms with fewer than 50 — pay the full premium for their workers' health insurance rather than share the cost with employees.

09/03/2007 -- 5TH CIRCUIT CERTIFIES MAJOR INSURANCE QUESTIONS TO TEXAS HIGH COURT

Law.com - Insurance disputes have occupied much of the Texas Supreme Court's time of late, and the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals likely has just added to that caseload. On Aug. 8, the 5th Circuit sent the high court two certified questions that need to be decided in OneBeacon Insurance Co. v. Don's Building Supply Inc., a construction-defect case with potentially far-reaching implications: "What is the proper rule under Texas law for determining the time at which property damage occurred for the purposes of an occurrence-based general liability policy?"

09/03/2007 -- MOST COMPANIES OFFER HEALTH CARE BENEFITS TO EMPLOYEES

Reliable Plant - Sixty percent of establishments in private industry offered medical care benefits to their employees in March 2007, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.

09/03/2007 -- ARE YOU DISCRIMINATING AGANIST EMPLOYEES...WITHOUT REALIZING IT?

Industry Week - In June 2007, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced that Pemco Aeroplex, a Birmingham, Ala.-based company, had agreed to pay $390,000 to settle a class-action lawsuit that accused the company of "engaging in a pattern or practice of race discrimination" against its African American workers. Although it has been more than 40 years since the Civil Rights Act was passed, discrimination still occurs in the workplace.

08/28/2007 -- EMPLOYMENT LITIGATION GETS PERSONAL FOR COMPANY MANAGERS

Law.com - Employment law is getting personal. An increasing number of executives, managers and other company leaders are being sued personally for their work-related decisions. Labor and employment attorneys note that the increase in personal lawsuits has put upper management on edge, many fearing that every time they make a decision involving salary, leaves of absence or benefit issues, they could be sued. Recent court decisions have added to this fear.

08/28/2007 -- TEXAS MANUFACTURING REBOUNDS IN AUGUST

Austin Business Journal - Manufacturing activity in Texas made a comeback in August after being slowed by unusually wet weather in July, according to a survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. In August, the production index rose 33.3 percent to 21.6 from -9.7 in July, as one-third of factories reported an increase in production. Capacity also was up, rising from 11.5 in July to 19.1 in August, with more than 40 percent of manufacturing firms saying their shipment volumes increased in August.

08/28/2007 -- NEW STATISTICS ON SMALL BUSINESSES

The Office of Advocacy released an update to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). It estimates that there are 26.8 million small businesses in the United States, and addresses small businesses' importance to the U.S. economy. It provides data on small business firm survival, owner demographics, health care questions, regulations, and procurement.

08/28/2007 -- OSHA/EPA OCCUPATIONAL CHEMICAL DATABASE

OSHA and EPA jointly developed and maintain this database as a convenient reference for the occupational safety and health community. This database compiles information from several government agencies and organizations. Available database reports include: "Physical Properties," "Exposure Guidelines," "NIOSH Pocket Guide," and "Emergency Response Information," including the DOT Emergency Response Guide. In addition, an all-in-one report, "Full Report," is available.

08/28/2007 -- REPORT: WORKERS' COMPENSATION: BENEFITS, COVERAGE AND COSTS

Workers' Compensation: Benefits, Coverage, and Costs, is the tenth in a series begun by the National Academy of Social Insurance to provide the only comprehensive national data on this largely state-run program. The study provides estimates of workers' compensation payments—cash and medical—for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and federal program providing workers' compensation.

08/21/2007 -- SOME PREDICT ECONOMIC TURMOIL FROM NEW WORKPLACE RULES

Houston Chronicle - From the fields of the Rio Grande Valley to the streets of Houston and beyond, employers, workers and immigrant-rights activists alike predicted Friday that the Bush administration's new crackdown on illegal immigration could throw huge numbers of people off the job and send a shiver through several sectors of the economy.

08/21/2007 -- NEW HARVARD STUDY REVEALS FACTORS THAT IMPACT EMPLOYEE WELL BEING, COMMITMENT AND PRODUCTIVITY

PRNewswire - Business executives from the C-suite and HR, to QC and R&D are, by nature, focused on the corporate bottom line. A new trend in our dawning age of social sustainability is that many experts believe more attention should be paid to the dotted line -- the one signed when a person commits to employment at a company. New Harvard research validates this approach, affirming that trust and purpose play a significant role in building successful, productive workplaces.

08/21/2007 -- STUDY: 30-MINUTE CPR CLASSES ARE EFFECTIVE AS LONGER COURSES

Occupational Health and Safety - A user-friendly, 30-minute, video-based cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training session is just as effective as the traditional three- to four-hour course in teaching basic life-saving techniques to laypersons, according to UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers.

08/21/2007 -- U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR PROPOSES $2.78 MILLION FINE AGANST EMPLOYER

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) today proposed $2.78 million in penalties against Ohio-based Cintas Corp. following an inspection into the March 2007 employee death at the Cintas laundry facility in Tulsa, Okla. The employee was killed when he fell into an operating industrial dryer while clearing a jam of wet laundry on a conveyor that carries the laundry from the washer into the dryer.

08/21/2007 -- TEXAS SEES SLOWER MANUFACTURING ACTIVITY IN JULY

Houston Business Journal - Manufacturing activity in Texas slowed down in July, according to a survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. General business activity dropped to a -3.6 from 10.8 in June, according to the Dallas Fed's Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey.

08/16/2007 -- TEXAS TOPS U.S. IN WORKER DEATHS

MySa.com - Texas was the deadliest state for workers last year, and the toll for 2007 already appears heavy, according to two new reports. The San Antonio region, which includes the Austin area, is on pace to see the highest number of workplace fatalities in five years. That news worries some San Antonio construction executives.

08/16/2007 -- SENATE BILL WOULD REMOVE CAPS ON DAMAGES IN EMPLOYMENT BIAS CASES

CCH.com - Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA), has introduced legislation that would eliminate the caps on the amount of damages plaintiffs can recover in employment discrimination cases under the Civil Rights Act of 1991. Kennedy introduced the bill -- the Equal Remedies Act of 2007 (S. 1928)—on August 1, 2007.

08/16/2007 -- U.S. SET FOR CRACKDOWN ON ILLEGAL HIRING

New York Times - In a new effort to crack down on illegal immigrants, federal authorities are expected to announce tough rules this week that would require employers to fire workers who use false Social Security numbers. Officials said the rules would be backed up by stepped-up raids on workplaces across the country that employ illegal immigrants.

08/16/2007 -- COSTS TO PRODUCTIVITY ARE FOUR TIMES MEDICAL COSTS FOR INJURED OR SICK EMPLOYEES

Occupational Hazards - A new study suggests that employers may be significantly underestimating the overall costs of poor employee health, while failing to fully assess the cost to business of the diseases and health conditions – such as depression or insomnia – experienced by employees. The study, which appears in the July issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, quantifies the link between employee health and productivity more dramatically than any other study to date and shows that the relationship between the two is much more significant than previously thought.

08/16/2007 -- THE HIDDEN WORKPLACE

Fortune Magazine - Anyone who has ever worked knows that the org chart, no matter how meticulously rendered, doesn't come close to describing the facts of office life. All those lines and boxes don't tell you, for example, that smokers tend to have the best information, since they bond with people from every level and department when they head outside for a puff. The org chart doesn't tell you that people go to Janice, a long-time middle manager, rather than their bosses to get projects through. It doesn't tell you that the Canadian and Japanese sales forces don't interact because the two points of contact can't stand each other.

08/07/2007 -- HEALTH INSURERS GROUP CALLS FOR EMPLOYERS TO PAY 100% OF PREMIUMS

Dallas Morning News - Going against the trend of making workers pay more for their health care, the Texas Association of Health Underwriters is expected today to call for a change in state insurance law that provide for plans requiring employers to pay 100 percent of employee insurance premiums.

08/07/2007 -- ADVICE, DEVICES INEFFECTIVE IN PREVENTING WORKER BACK PAIN, STUDY SUGGESTS

Science Daily — Back pain is the number one cause of worker-compensation complaints, second only to the common cold in causing lost workdays. Consequently, employers and regulators have pushed training programs to teach specific lifting methods, and some recommend or require the use of assistive devices such as hoists for hospital workers. However, a new review of the research on lifting advice and handling devices has found that they do not prevent work-related back pain.

08/07/2007 -- ADMINISTRATION READYING CRACKDOWN ON EMPLOYERS

Houston Chronicle - Employers across the country are preparing to fire workers with questionable Social Security numbers to avoid getting snagged in a Bush administration crackdown on illegal immigrants. The Department of Homeland Security is expected to make public soon new rules for employers notified when their worker's name or Social Security number was flagged by the Social Security Administration.

08/07/2007 -- PARTICLE EMISSIONS FROM LASER PRINTERS MIGHT POSE HEALTH CONCERN

American Chemical Society - Certain laser printers used in offices and homes release tiny particles of toner-like material into the air that people can inhale deep into lungs where they may pose a health hazard, scientists are reporting. Their study is scheduled for the August 1 online issue of the American Chemical Society’s Environmental Science & Technology.

07/31/2007 -- FIRST RESPONDERS GET REAL-WORLD TRAINING IN TEXAS A&M PROGRAM

Fire Rescue 1 - Two gas lines carrying dangerous hydrocarbons have ruptured at a chemical plant on a windy morning. When the first firefighters arrive, an employee says he doesn't know the fate of the maintenance crew that was near the flaming pump. Fortunately, this is not another industrial accident in downtown Dallas. It's an elaborately staged training exercise for firefighters from oil and gas plants around the world, hosted by Texas A&M University at a 120-acre training center that operates year-round on campus.

07/31/2007 -- DISABLED WORKER CASES AT RECORD

USA Today - The Social Security Administration faces a record — and rapidly growing — backlog of appeals by people who claim they are too disabled to work. Through June, it had just over 745,000 cases pending, and the wait for a hearing averaged 17 months, also a record.

07/31/2007 -- STUDY MEASURES EMPLOYEE TURNOVER IN LARGE AND SMALL FIRMS

Establishment size matters in determining employee compensation and job tenure, concludes a study released today by the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration. The study found that all other things being equal, employees of larger establishments have longer job tenures than those working in smaller establishments. Moreover, the study found that service and manufacturing occupations pay more in larger establishments as well.

07/31/2007 -- EXPLOSIONS RAISE QUESTIONS ABOUT DALLAS' INDUSTRIAL SAFETY

Dallas Morning News - The spectacular fire and explosions that launched flaming gas cylinders high over Dallas on Wednesday have touched off a federal investigation and raised concerns about the safety of the city's industrial plants.

07/31/2007 -- WORKPLACE FACTORS PREDICT LONG-TERM DISABILITY RISK

Reuters - Along with treatment severity, other factors help predict whether a person who files a disability claim for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) will be out of work long-term, a new study shows.

07/22/2007 -- STATEMENTS ABOUT EMPLOYEE'S ACCENT MAY BE EVIDENCE OF DISCRIMINATION

Law.com - An employer's negative statements about an employee's accent may be deemed to be direct evidence of discrimination, requiring the employer to demonstrate that it would have taken the adverse action even absent the discriminatory motive.

07/22/2007 -- GOING EXTRA MILE EARNS LOYALTY FROM WORKERS

Dallas Morning News - When asked what's more important, the chicken or the egg, the right answer is both. And so it is with an enterprise's customers and workforce – you can't have one without the other. Yet many companies invest more in attracting and maintaining good customers and little in their No. 1 asset – the workforce. Not so at Dallas trucking company Greatwide Logistics Services, where chief commercial officer Dick Metzler says the greatest challenge is to "find, win and keep the hearts and minds of the drivers."

07/22/2007 -- A NEW TEST FOR WORKPLACE "HORSEPLAY"

Law.com - The Delaware Supreme Court recently allowed an employee injured by horseplay on the job to bring a personal injury suit against co-workers. For the first time, the court has accepted the so-called "Larson test," named for the author of a widely used treatise, Larson's Workers' Compensation Law. The four-part test requires consideration of the following: the scope and seriousness of the conduct's deviation from employment activities, whether it was co-mingled or separate from work duties, whether horseplay is accepted in the workplace in question, and whether the nature of the job typically includes horseplay.

07/22/2007 -- SNAPSHOT: EMPLOYER HEALTH INSURANCE COSTS IN THE UNITED STATES

CHCF.org - While many proposals to expand employer-based health insurance coverage are being discussed at the state level, businesses are concerned that the rising cost of providing such coverage is challenging their ability to compete in a global economy. This snapshot examines trends in employer-sponsored health insurance costs in the United States. It looks at the percentage of businesses offering coverage, the growth of insurance premium costs relative to salaries and wages, and the proportion of payroll that is taken up by premium contributions.

07/22/2007 -- EEOC AGE RULE BECOME EFFECTIVE

HRonline.com - Until two years ago, employers looking to create customized benefits packages in the battle for older workers had to tread carefully or face potential age-discrimination litigation, based on Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regulations. But in 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court, in General Dynamics Land Systems, Inc. vs. Cline, ruled that the Age Discrimination in Employment Act does not prohibit employers from favoring an older employee over a younger one.

07/17/2007 -- MANUAL WORKERS WITH RISKY JOBS TAKE MORE SICK DAYS, STUDY SAYS

Bloomberg- Manual workers in the U.S. miss more days because of sickness or injury than people who work in offices, according to a study that calls attention to higher- risk industries such as mining. Male miners take about 26 days off each year, the most in any private industry, and more than triple the average of eight days for all workers in the private sector, according to findings published today in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Employees at wholesale suppliers missed the fewest days, five a year on average.

07/17/2007 -- SMALL BUSINESSES UP IN ARMS OVER NEW STATE TAX

MySA.com - A Texas-sized tax revolt is percolating as small-business owners are hit with sticker shock from the new state business tax. Some small-business owners who have begun calculating their 2007 state tax, due by May 2008, are seeing tenfold increases, sometimes more.

07/17/2007 -- HR MANAGER: THE 36th HIGHEST PAYING JOB

HR.blr.com - With a median of $84,200 in annual wages, human resource managers are the 36th highest paying occupation in the United States, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment Statistics Survey.

07/17/2007 -- TEXAS UNEMPLOYMENT RATE DIPS TO 4.1 PERCENT

Herald Democrat - The Texas unemployment rate fell to 4.1 percent in May, the lowest point since at least 1976, state officials said Friday. Economists said the numbers showed that the economy is holding up despite pressure on consumers from high gasoline prices. Employers reported that finding qualified workers is a challenge. The Texas Workforce Commission said the unemployment rate fell a notch in May from April’s jobless rate of 4.2 percent. A year ago, the Texas jobless rate was 5 Percent.

07/10/2007 -- US JURIES GET VERDICT WRONG IN ONE OF SIX CASES: STUDY

BREITBART.COM - So much for US justice: juries get the verdict wrong in one out of six criminal cases and judges don't do much better, a new study has found. And when they make those mistakes, both judges and juries are far more likely to send an innocent person to jail than to let a guilty person go free, according to an upcoming study out of Northwestern University. "Those are really shocking numbers," said Jack Heinz, a law professor at Northwestern who reviewed the research of his colleague Bruce Spencer, a professor in the statistics department.

07/10/2007 -- HOSPITAL, DOCTOR VISITS UP 20 PERCENT IN 5 YEARS

MSMBC - Hospital and doctor visits in the United States have surged by 20 percent in the past five years, and the most commonly prescribed medications are antidepressants, according to statistics published on Friday.The survey by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also found most people who visitedemergency rooms had private health insurance, although the uninsured were twice as likely to use emergency services as people with insurance.

07/10/2007 -- OIL INDUSTRY RELEASES NEW SAFETY STANDARDS PROTECTING WORKERS

MyFox.com - An oil industry trade group said Wednesday it has developed standards to better protect workers from explosions like the 2005 Texas refinery explosion that killed 15 people and injured 170. The American Petroleum Institute's new standards, to be published Thursday, are designed to meet the demands of the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board that made an "urgent" recommendation in October 2005, requiring refineries to limit how close workers' portable trailers can be placed near potentially hazardous operations.

07/10/2007 -- BETTER HIDE THE TATTOO IF YOU WANT THE JOB

Latimes.com - Last year Justin Miloro had to wear long sleeves to conceal the Buddha curling around his left forearm and the yellow-orange sun rays on his right. Pants covered the depiction of Earth on one leg and wings on the other. The sun spreading across his back was under wraps. The plugs in his earlobes were obscured by bandages.

07/10/2007 -- WHAT DO WORKERS REALLY WANT?

OCregister.com - In a nation where more and more emphasis is placed on productivity at work, only three in 10 employees are highly committed, industrious and passionate about what they do. Those figures astounded Terry Bacon, who read the Gallup semi-annual employee engagement index in 2005 and realized that means seven out of 10 workers are most likely sleepwalking through their work. Even worse, they could be malcontents and cynics who poison other workers around them.

07/10/2007 -- INSURANCE COMPANIES, DOCTORS FLOCK TO TEXAS

Mysanantonio. com - When Texas voters in 2003 approved a state proposition capping lawsuit awards for medical malpractice cases, only four insurance companies even offered malpractice policies to Texas doctors. Now, 30 insurance companies crowd the market, and premiums have fallen like so many San Antonio Spurs playoff opponents. The lower cost of being a doctor in Texas has helped trigger a stampede of applications for physician licenses, with the waiting line now up to 12 months.

07/01/2007 -- EMPLOYER COSTS FOR EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION SUMMARY

Employer costs for employee compensation averaged $27.82 per hour worked in March 2007, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries, which averaged $19.47, accounted for 70.0 percent of these costs, while benefits, which averaged $8.35, accounted for the remaining 30.0 percent. Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, a product of the National Compensation Survey, measures employer costs for wages, salaries, and employee benefits for non-farm private and state and local government workers.

07/01/2007 -- MECHANICS MORE LIKELY TO BE KILLED, INJURED

Occupational Hazards - According to an analysis by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), automotive service technicians and mechanics are more likely than the average worker to be killed or injured on the job.In an article in the agency's Compensation and Working Conditions Online, BLS economist Sean Smith points out that mechanics experience higher rates of fatalities and injuries and illnesses than other workers. According to Smith's research, mechanics in 2005 had a fatality rate of 5.3 per 100,000 workers – compared to a rate of 4.0 per 100,000 workers for all occupations combined.

07/01/2007 -- FULFILLING THE DUTY TO INFORM EMPLOYEES IN MULTILINGUAL WORKPLACE

Metropolitan Corporate Counsel - The diversification of the American workforce requires many employers to determine whether they have an obligation to ensure that their communications to employees are understood. Understood, in this context, may mean that the communication should be in a language other than English or even Spanish.

07/01/2007 -- OSHA DEVELOPS DATABASE OF WORKPLACE CHEMICAL INFORMATION

OSHA recently launched a database of information on more than 800 chemicals commonly found in the workplace. The database allows users to quickly and easily retrieve information on chemicals such as their physical properties and exposure limits. The database compiles information from several government agencies and organizations, including the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the Department of Transportation.

07/01/2007 -- COMPANIES TRY TO GET WORKERS IN SHAPE

Forbes.com - A burgeoning industry of wellness advisers, counselors and consultants is booming as corporate America tries to increase productivity and control insurance costs by helping its employees get healthy and shed pounds. The change is fueled by well-meaning,