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When RJR Nabisco decided to terminate an overfunded pension program, it purchased an annuity from an insurance company to cover its obligations to beneficiaries and plan participants. RJR then sold the pension fund’s assets, netting RJR more than $43 million. But the insurance company it chose to issue the annuity, Executive Life Insurance Company of […]
There is a lot of important new legislation affecting the workplace that Gov. Davis has signed into law. As the final hour for approving legislation approached, the governor vetoed bills to increase workers’ comp benefits, boost unemployment payments, expand leave for family and medical care, ban secret monitoring of employee e-mail and computer records, and […]
The Santa Cruz City Council has voted unanimously to adopt a minimum wage of $11 per hour with benefits or $12 without benefits. The living wage ordinance—the highest in the nation—would initially cover only full-time employees of the city and for-profit employers with city contracts. City officials hope to eventually extend the minimum wage to […]
A California Court of Appeal has upheld a decision to deny disability retirement benefits to a San Diego city utility worker. Before he started working for the city, Charles Alesi injured his knee several times while jet-skiing and in a beach football game. He then reinjured the knee twice at work and once more while […]
According to a recent California Court of Appeal decision involving Wal-Mart, you can be sued by an independent contractor’s employee if you supply equipment that’s involved in an accident injuring the worker. Wal-Mart had hired Musi-Cal to install a sound system in the retailer’s Chino, Calif., store. The work involved placing speakers and running wires […]
Our earlier article spells out what to look for to determine if an agreement complies with the new Supreme Court standards. But addressing problems with agreements employees have already signed presents additional issues.
When modifying a retirement plan or implementing an early retirement incentive program, most employers don’t announce the news until the details are finalized and the program is set to go. Now an important case from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals details when you have to give employees advance notice of a new program or […]
Some California workers’ comp insurers have been placed on a financial watch list by the California Department of Insurance because rating agencies have raised questions about the insurers’ financial stability. According to the California Workers’ Compensation Institute, for each $1 in premiums taken in during 1999, workers’ comp insurers paid out about $1.51 for claims […]
A recent ruling by the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals helps clarify which positions disabled employees must be considered for when they can’t perform their present job. Rodney McLean was a postal clerk until his physical condition prevented him from performing his duties. Although he identified many vacant positions at the same pay level […]
The National Labor Relations Board has said that temporary and contract workers who are jointly employed by a temp agency and the employer they work for may be included in union bargaining units together with regular employees in the client employer’s workplace. Temps don’t have to receive the same pay and benefits as regular employees, […]