Health Care News in Pennsylvania, Part 2

January 20th, 2007 Posted by Mark

Why all of this fuss over health care? Who asked that question? What country are you an employer in? Because from my own experience, and from talking to hundreds of employers just in the past few months, I have gotten the strong sentiment that the health care market in the United States is out of whack. I have even heard that from health care providers, talking about the very same services that they are providing. Everybody involved knows the system is broker and needing fixing—especially the employers who are footing the bill. Trust me, I feel your pain!

So does that explain all of the news coming out about all of the changes that states are looking to make to their health care plans? And just wait till you hear the news I have about proposed federal health plans coming out!

But if you are still not convinced—maybe you are an employee at a company where the employer still picks up the complete tab for health care and thus you have no idea what sort of costs we’re talking about—maybe I will throw some of the national figures out at you. We already looked at the PA stat that said that about three quarters of a million people in the Keystone State have no insurance.

What about in the entire country? Some estimates put that number as high as 46 million Americans, or about 15 percent of the entire U.S. population does not have health insurance coverage.

Does that make sense in a country where we spent about 16 percent of our gross domestic product—our entire economic output—on health care, compared with Canada where they spend 9.7 percent or in France where they spend 9.5 percent? I’ll let you answer that—remember, I only report the facts and the news.

No Comments >> Posted in Federal Labor Laws,Health and Safety,Pennsylvania,Regulations

USERRA Notice

September 13th, 2006 Posted by Amelia

The USERRA Notice poster was recently updated, making it more important than ever that employers display a current poster. The USERRA- Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act poster, ensures the rights of returning veterans and emergency workers.

Federal and state laws require each employer to prominently display a number of labor laws posters, including the USERRA notice. These federal and state labor law posters should be displayed in a conspicuous place. Popular locations are the employee break room, near the time clock, or in another “employees only” area where they will be noticed by every employee.

Most employers find the large, laminated federal and state labor law posters the most durable. There are six posters required for all employers, by federal law. These include:

  • USERRA – Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act
  • Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law
  • Federal Minimum Wage
  • Employee Polygraph Protection Act
  • Family and Medical Leave Act
  • OSHA-Job Safety & Health Protection

To save space, all six federal posters are conveniently available on a single large, laminated poster, called the Complete Poster.

In addition, each state mandates different labor laws posters. The state posting requirements vary greatly. The State of Hawaii mandates only one poster, called the Labor Law Poster, which includes information on Discrimination, Wage & Hour Laws, Unemployment Insurance Law, Disability Compensation Law, Dislocated Workers/Plant Closings, Occupational Safety & Health Laws, Military Leave and the Whistleblower Protection Law.

Several states require only three posters, including Tennessee, North Dakota and South Dakota. Pennsylvania and Rhode Island each require eight different posters, while the State of California requires a whopping 14 state labor law posters to be displayed.

It’s easy for busy employers to overlook the mandatory requirements for state and federal labor laws posters. Many employers don’t realize that depending upon state, they could be subject to fines up to $7,500 in not complying with federal or state posting requirements. The purpose of the posters is to advise employers and employees of their rights and obligations under the law. There is also contact information for employers and employees to report violations of labor law.

No Comments >> Posted in California,Compliance Issues,Employer Requirements,Hawaii,North Dakota,Pennsylvania,Rhode Island,South Dakota,Tennessee