Summary of Workers' Compensation Bills
2010 VIRGINIA GENERAL ASSEMBLY
PASSED
HB 603/Loupassi; SB 611/Edwards - notices. Authorizes the Commission to satisfy its obligations to provide copies of notices, opinions, orders, and awards by sending them by electronic communications in the manner prescribed by the Commission.
HB 705/Merricks; SB 612/Wagner. Repeals provisions that require the Commission to send copies of awards by priority mail with delivery confirmation or equivalent mailing option. The measure also increases the period in which an application for review of an award may be made from 20 to 30 days.
HB 761/D. Marshall; SB 610/Edwards - filings. Expands the options for filing materials with the Commission to include means of electronic transmission that have been approved by the Commission.
HB 807/Poindexter; SB 597/Wampler - proof of coverage. Authorizes workers' compensation insurance carriers to file proof of coverage within 30 days of an insurance policy's inception. The filing shall be made electronically in the form prescribed by, and to the agent designated by, the Commission.
**William L. Dudley, Jr. was reappointed to serve another six year term on the Commission.
FAILED
HB 156/Dance - occupational disease presumption. Expands the presumption that specific types of cancers in firefighters and certain other public safety employees are occupational diseases compensable under the Act to include kidney cancer and any other type of cancer that results from the inhalation, ingestion, or absorption of a toxic substance.
HB 446/L. Ware - exclusion of certain employees. Excludes a person from coverage if his injury, disability, or death is covered by or eligible for benefits under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act or the Jones Act.
HB 955/Ligamfelter - occupational disease presumption. Adds salaried and volunteer lifesaving and rescue squad members to the list of public safety personnel who are entitled to a presumption that hypertension and heart disease are occupational diseases suffered in the line of duty that are covered under the Act.
HB 1326/Merricks; SB 367/Puckett - medical services. Provides that a health care provider rendering medical services outside Virginia to an injured worker whose claim and injuries have been accepted as compensable under the Act shall be reimbursed for authorized, reasonable and necessary medical treatment in an amount equal to the workers' compensation fee schedule, if any, adopted by that state. If the other state does not have a fee schedule, the provider will be reimbursed based on the charges prevailing in the same community for similar treatment when the treatment is paid for by the injured person. The measure also directs the Commission to appoint a task force to develop recommendations relating to reductions or discounts for multiple surgical procedures performed during a single operative session, liability for the costs of assistants-at-surgery, and whether prompt payment to medical providers should be required. (Both bills were offered by the BCWC. The Senate Committee on Commerce & Labor will direct, by letter, the Commission to conduct the study.)
HB 1346/Barlow - occupational disease presumption limitation. Establishes a limitations period during which a public safety employee may bring a claim for hepatitis at two years after the employee receives notice of a positive test for exposure to hepatitis. The limitation applies only to those public safety employees who are entitled to the existing presumption that hepatitis is an occupational disease. Existing law provides that the limitations period for claims involving hepatitis is the earlier to occur of (i) two years after a diagnosis of the disease is first communicated to the employee or (ii) five years from the date of the last injurious exposure in employment.
Published by the Virginia Peninsula Chamber of Commerce
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It has always been said that when the temporary employment industry experiences growth, it is a good sign that the economy is recovering. Reliance has experienced a 20% increase in business since January of this year. We have seen an increase in clerical (especially in back office requirements), manufacturing, warehousing, hospitality, and industrial. While some cities and firms may continue to have a hiring freeze in place, many remain allowed to utilize staffing services. This is a good opportunity for many employees to get their foot in the door with companies that may offer permanent employment down the road. We look forward to the 2nd quarter of 2010 and a continued need for additional personnel.
Lynn Connor, VP Sales & Marketing |
An Appreciated Employee is a Loyal Employee
Sherry Steinhart,
Placement Specialist
In these difficult economic times, many people think employees should be happy just to have a job. While this may be true, the need for acknowledgement and feedback about individual job performance has not withered away. Constructive criticism has never seemed to fade in importance, so why should positive recognition or appreciation? Yet, especially during these difficult times, we want to hold on to our star employees. Since many companies have been forced to reduce staff, employees are nervous and may be on the lookout for new opportunities. By providing positive recognition, we ensure our employees stick around when the economy rebounds.
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Did you know?
Halie Hovenga,
Administrative Assistant
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced extended approval of Form I-9 to Aug. 31, 2012. Employers may use the Form I-9 with the revision date of either 08/07/09 or 02/02/09. The revision dates are located on the bottom right-hand portion of the form.
What is the Form I-9? Employers, by law, are required to complete and retain a Federal Form I-9 for each employee hired in the U.S., regardless of citizenship status. The form requires the employee to examine identification documents for proof of employment eligibility. A list of acceptable documents is found on the last page of the form.
For more information on USCIS and its programs, to obtain the Form I-9 and the Handbook for Employers, or to participate in educational webinars on the topic, visit the USCIS website at http://www.uscis.gov .
Halie Hovenga is an administrative assistant in the Virginia Beach office of Reliance Staffing. Working one-on-one with job candidates, she provides front-line support to placement specialists. If you appreciate this type of information, connect, learn, and share through our LinkdIn, Facebook, or Twitter networking sites.
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12 Management Mistakes That Make a Lawyer's Day
By Adam Klein, Attorney at Law
There are certain management mistakes that make lawyers rub their hands in glee-but most can be avoided, says Attorney Adam Klein. He usually represents employees in suits against employers, but today he turns the tables and shares typical mistakes he looks for when developing cases against management.
1. "Our promotion, hiring, and compensation decisions are completely ad hoc." When there is no system, decisions tend to be made on the basis of personal relationships, such as golf or club friendships. That often leads to adverse impact, Klein says.
2. "We do not monitor pay and promotion practices across titles, departments, facilities, etc." Without comparative data, the organization has no idea whether protected classes are treated equally, Klein says.
3. "We do not document performance problems before taking adverse employment actions." This makes it hard to refute claims of discrimination.
4. "We do not pay too much attention to our Affirmative Action Plan." Klein notes that he has seen employers with no plan, superficial or meaningless plans, or even made-up plans. "It's not enough to go out and buy a package," he says, "and be careful if you outsource this job."
5. "We don't do harassment and EEO training for supervisors and managers." "You're nuts not to," says Klein.
6. "Our HR department lacks a professional HR person with relevant training." "You would be surprised how often I've deposed HR managers who don't know much," Klein says. For example, they can't answer a question such as, "Would it be a violation of Title VII to fire an employee based on his or her race?" Train HR managers who are likely to be deposed and be called as witnesses, he urges.
7. "We don't do anything about complaints of discrimination, and then retaliate against the employee who complained." "This happens all the time," Klein says. And he also notes that it is generally easier to prove retaliation than it is to prove the underlying claim.
8. "Our CEO or other senior manager overrides HR department decisions." For example, a manager is harassing a group of women, but the CEO says, "Can't fire Bob; he's doing a great job." Klein predicts that "Bob's going to cost this company a lot." Another lucrative group of mistakes relates to compensation and overtime. Employers tend not to worry about these infractions, says Klein, but when they turn into class actions, the costs can really mount up.
9. "No one in our organization gets overtime." This is Klein's favorite call to get from an employee.
10. "We used an objective fact or criterion to make our reduction in force (RIF) decisions, so there's no problem."
No matter what the selection criteria, says Klein, "If there is adverse impact, I'll challenge your business reason."
11. "We don't need to run an adverse impact analysis in connection with a RIF." "We certainly will run one," says Klein, who finds that his analyses often show adverse impact. For example, in one case, the employer said that it had used performance evaluations as the criterion. When Klein ran an adverse impact analysis, he found that the employer had, in fact, used performance when selecting men for termination, but not when selecting women. Women had been selected without regard to performance. "I love statistics," says Klein.
12. "There's no adverse impact for employees over the age of 40 as a group, so no problem." "That's not going to cut it. We will run adverse impact analyses for age bands, e.g., 40-45, 46-50, 51-55, 56-60. Often we find that there is adverse impact on the older group. That's a claim," he says.
Final Tip
Finally, Klein warns employers, "Don't be lulled into thinking that your organization's lawyer will be able to scare off your employee's lawyer. "Think again," says Klein.
Are your managers making any of Klein's mistakes? Maybe right now, as you are reading this? The only avenue of defense is policies-clear, well-distributed policies that help your managers make the right decisions and follow the appropriate procedures.
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