There are several practices that get insurance industry employers into legal trouble when disciplining employees. In no particular order, they are: Not Treating Your “Similarly Situated” Employees Equally For the most part, the anti-discrimination laws require you to be consistent with raises, disciplinary action, application of your policies, and all other “terms and conditions” of […]
The Social Security Administration (SSA) has just resumed issuance of Employer Correction Request Notices, commonly referred to as “Social Security NoMatch Letters.” These letters are not as benign as they seem. The NoMatch Letters are being sent to businesses throughout the country that are identified as having a name and Social Security Number (SSN) combination […]
Haven’t updated that employee handbook in a while? Need to review it to make sure it is accurate? What policies actually need to be in a handbook? These are some of the questions that insurance industry executives regularly face – or at least should face – concerning their handbooks. In this day and age of […]
Train Your Managers It’s great to have an up to date employee handbook that puts your workforce on notice of your company’s policies and procedures, but training your management personnel is also essential. Managers must be trained on how to address employee absences and inquiries under the Family and Medical Leave Act, Americans with Disabilities […]
υCongress has found another way to harass insurance industry employers by passing a new law called the “Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act.” It directs federal agencies to increase civil penalties for failure to post required notices of various discrimination laws in places where they are reasonably accessible by employees. As a result, fines have […]
With the recent flurry of litigation surrounding the technicalities of complying with wage statement requirements, many insurance industry executives are taking the opportunity to review their compliance with wage statement and wage notification laws. The New York law is part of a growing trend to ensure greater wage transparency. Neighboring states are developing similar laws […]
Even seemingly neutral hiring criteria may inadvertently have an adverse effect on a protected group of people. Using credit histories when evaluating applicants for employment has come under the watchful eye of government agencies, because, among other things, it may have a disparate impact on certain minority job applicants. Insurance industry human resources executives should […]
New York State insurance industry executives need to ensure that your Employee Handbooks and other policies are up-to-date with recent legislation mandating new requirements for New York employers. Are Your Anti-harassment Policies Up to Date? Both New York State and New York City enacted more stringent requirements related to sexual harassment prevention and training. While […]
Both New York State and New York City, in response to the #MeToo movement, have passed a series of complicated laws which have made it difficult for insurance industry executives to follow. Neighboring states have, or will soon have, similar laws. This article addresses what needs to be done to comply with BOTH New York […]
A United States federal court recently found that insurance agents working under independent contractor agreements for a major insurance company were employees for purposes of pursuing pension and other benefits under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”). The court found that the insurance agents were properly classified as independent contractors. It recognized that the […]
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