The RISQ RECAP:
April 3rd – April 7th, 2023
Each week, you’ll find specially curated news articles to keep you up to date on the ever-evolving world of insurance and risk management. The articles are divided out between items relevant to Property & Casualty, Employee Benefits/Human Resources, and Compliance. We’ve included brief summaries of each item as well as a link to the original articles.
PROPERTY & CASUALTY
“Risk management is shifting” – The Institutes CEO
“A predict and prevent approach to risk management is becoming more significant as technological developments create added value for both brokers and their policyholders. “With new technologies and capabilities, we can predict when bad things are going to happen and stop them, rather than waiting for an incident to occur and making sure the person is financially whole, which is a great thing and will always be,” said Pete Miller, CEO of The Institutes.” Full Article
– Insurance Business
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS, HUMAN RESOURCES, & COMPLIANCE
Email Layoffs From the Employment Litigator’s Lens “With the market continuing on its roller coaster trajectory, many employers have been forced to make big cuts to payroll. When doing so, employers must think about a number of things, between final paychecks, vacation time, and other benefits.” Full Article – Mintz
Workplace Investigations: Anticipate Cognitive Overload “Sometimes you just need to let things gel in your mind for a while. I came to this conclusion in my investigations practice years ago, but only recently recognized it as symptomatic of a far more universal phenomenon, what mental health professionals call “cognitive overload.” Full Article – Levy Employment Law LLC
Bystander Responsibility in the Era of #MeToo: Lessons Learned From Apple TV’s The Morning Show “Partners Tracey Diamond and Evan Gibbs sit down with Megan Bigelow, assistant general counsel at Sonesta Hotels, to talk about the popular Apple TV series The Morning Show and harassment in the workplace.” Full Article – Troutman Pepper
2023 Compensation Check-Up: Four Questions to Ask About Your Compensation Practices “Compensation is always a top-of-mind issue for employers, but on the heels of the “Great Resignation,” and amidst ongoing labor shortages, economic uncertainties, and evolving legal requirements, many employers are reassessing their compensation practices.” Full Article – Levenfeld Pearlstein LLC
The Two Factors Critical to Employee Recruitment and Retention “The United States is experiencing a historically tight and transient labor market. Employers seeking to remain competitive in such a market would be wise to re-evaluate the nature of employment in their industry, the roles within their companies, and related pay and benefits according to a time – Constangy Brooks Smith & Prophete LLP
-tested theory.” Full Article
Dear Littler: How Do We Handle Drug or Alcohol Impairment in the Workplace? “We are a manufacturing company with facilities in multiple states. We have had a number of incidents when supervisors have suspected an employee was impaired while working due to alcohol or drug use. We are particularly concerned about employees potentially endangering themselves or others if they are using our equipment while impaired, but we are unsure what to do in these circumstances. Can you help?” Full Article – Littler Mendelson
STATE & INTERNATIONAL COMPLIANCE
In addition to the RISQ Review, RISQ Consulting also provides a resource that features changes and updates to State and International Compliance measures. We’ve included brief summaries of each item below, and also provided links to the original articles if you’d like to read further.
Michigan Rolls Back its “Right-to-Work” Law; NLRB’s Top Lawyer Provides Post-McLaren Macomb Guidance “Michigan becomes the first state in nearly 60 years to repeal its RTW law, which was implemented in 2013 under then-Governor Rick Snyder (R). The repeal is viewed as a major victory for union organization which reached an all-time low in 2022.” Full Article – Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff LLPMICHIGAN
Proposed FTC Ban on Non-Competes: What Texas Business Owners Need to Know “The proposed rule, announced by the FTC in January, would generally ban the practice of non-compete agreements by making it illegal for an employer to enter these agreements, maintain existing agreements, and/or represent to a worker that they are subject to a non-compete.” Full Article – Boyar MillerTEXAS
UPDATED: The City of Los Angeles’ Fair Work Week Ordinance Will Take Effect April 1, 2023 “The Ordinance, which was unanimously passed by the Los Angeles City Council in November 2022, requires retail employers in the City of Los Angeles to provide employees at least 14 days’ advance notice of their work schedules and to compensate employees in the event of certain schedule changes.” Full Article – Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLPCALIFORNIA
Illinois Supreme Court Finds Federal Law Labor Preempts Union Members’ BIPA Claims “Walton should stop unionized employees from bringing new BIPA claims in state and federal court. Walton also forecloses unionized employees from bringing BIPA claims on a class action basis. Companies on the receiving end of a BIPA lawsuit from a current or former union member should always explore a motion to dismiss the lawsuit on preemption grounds.” Full Article – Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLPILLINOIS
Delaware’s “Freedom of Contract” Approach to Non-Compete Agreements– Even Between Sophisticated Parties in the Sale-of-Business Context– Has its Limits “Non-compete agreements have recently gained a new round of attention with the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) proposed rule that would effectively ban employers from imposing non-competes (albeit not in certain sale-of-business scenarios).” Full Article – Gibbons PCDELAWARE
- Published in Blog
Employee Satisfaction With Benefits Falls to New Low
This article is from RISQ Consulting’s Zywave client portal, a resource available to all RISQ Consulting clients. Please contact your Benefits Consultant or Account Executive for more information or for help setting up your own login.
A recent study from Metlife found that an increasing number of employees feel they are not receiving the benefits they need from employers. Employee satisfaction with benefit offerings has fallen to 61% in 2023 from 64% in 2022, reaching its lowest point in the past decade of the study’s history. One significant reason for this decrease in satisfaction is higher employee expectations due to financial and mental health struggles in the wake of the pandemic.
“Feeling cared for at work is a key driver of employees’ holistic health and happiness, which are strongly connected to employee productivity and job loyalty.”
– Bradd Chignoli, senior VP at Metlife
In general, employees continue to expect robust traditional offerings such as health insurance, paid leave and retirement. But they have also heightened their expectations regarding modern benefit options, such as financial wellness and caregiving assistance. While employers have started to increase their benefit offerings to coincide with employee desires, most have not been able to meet the newfound expectations quickly enough.
What’s Next?
With employee satisfaction with benefits falling to a new low, it’s important employers reevaluate their benefits packages. When employee needs are met, employers are likely to find their workforce happier and more satisfied with their everyday tasks. Each organization’s employees may desire different benefit offerings, so it’s important to consider the needs of the workforce before considering what to offer in the future.
For more information on employee benefit satisfaction, contact RISQ Consulting today.
- Published in Blog
PBM Drug Pricing Transparency Bill Heads to Senate
This article is from RISQ Consulting’s Zywave client portal, a resource available to all RISQ Consulting clients. Please contact your Benefits Consultant or Account Executive for more information or for help setting up your own login.
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation recently advanced a bill to increase pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) transparency and combat what some legislators called “deceptive practices.” The proposed bill received bipartisan support in the committee, with an 18-to-9 vote, and is supported by many health care and consumer organizations.
The Pharmacy Benefit Manager Transparency Act identifies activities that would be unlawful for PBMs to engage in, including the following:
- Spread pricing, a practice in which PBMs charge health plans and payers more for prescription drugs than they reimburse pharmacies
- Clawing back reimbursement payments from pharmacies
Additionally, PBMs would be required to direct 100% of any rebate to the plan or payer and disclose the cost and reimbursement to the health plan.
PBMs were initially formed to process claims and negotiate lower drug prices with drug makers. Today, they administer prescription drug plans for hundreds of millions of Americans and manage many aspects of the prescription drug process for health insurance companies, self-insured employers, unions and government programs. This includes developing lists of covered medications, negotiating rebates from drug manufacturers and contracting with pharmacies for reimbursement. According to the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, PBMs play a positive role in creating savings and options and providing expertise for employers regarding prescription drug benefit design and coverage.
What’s Next?
Since PBMs have largely operated out of the view of regulators and consumers, this bill could impact how PBMs operate, potentially increasing prescription drug transparency. There’s currently no timeline for the Senate to consider the bill. Last year, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation passed the same bill, but it was never put to a full vote on the Senate floor.
Employers should continue to monitor the situation closely. [B_Official] will keep you apprised of notable changes.
- Published in Blog
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