Health Wonkery – Christopher Fleming hosts Health Wonk Review Unadorned at the Health Affairs Blog. Check out the latest from the best of the health policy bloggers. And if healthcare is of concern to you, Health Affairs should be a regular read!
Bad behavior – When it comes to bad behavior, we are equal opportunity finger pointers. We’ve seen fraudulent employees. We’ve seen terrible bosses. We’ve seen bad brokers, bad insurers, and quack docs. Fraud is a game everyone can play and no one has a corner on the stupidity market. Among the recent crop of losers, we start with a post from HR Web Cafe about a mean-spirited employer who got a smackdown from a labor judge for a rather unusual contest he used to “motivate” his workers to better performance. And also on the employer side of the house, we have a classic case of premium fraud by a California tree trimming business that failed to pay workers comp premiums, under-reported payroll by more than $2 million, and failed to pay taxes. On the employee side, Roberto Ceniceros tells the story of nightmare employees who let rage over a small thing turn into a tragic event.
Spying on Employees – Employment law attorney Heather Bussing offers some useful guidelines on employee privacy and what employers can monitor. This is a really good overview. We encourage reading the entire article. Here’s some of her take-aways: “If the employer owns the system, hardware or both, the employer can monitor employees’ use of it, including personal files and communications.
If the employee owns the system and hardware, the employer’s ability to view and obtain personal files depends on the whether the employee is using it at work, whether the employer has a legitimate interest in viewing the communication, what the state’s laws and employer’s policies are, and what the employee’s objective expectations of privacy are.”
Repackaged Drugs – Joe Paduda has been in the forefront of a crusade against the practice of repackaged drugs, which has been promoted as a convenience for patients, but in practice is a costly work around for fee schedules. This is one of those under-the-radar issues that many employers may not see, but in states where the practice is allowed, it is costing big bucks. Joe first talked about the practice in 2006, and has been regularly posting updates. He brings you the latest from the eye of the storm: Is Florida finally going to fix its (repackaged) drug problem?
OSHA – OSHA has recently issued Nail Gun Safety – A Guide for Construction Contactors. OSHA says that nail gun injuries are responsible for approximately 37,000 emergency room visits annually. “These injuries occur as a result of unintended nail discharge; nails that bounce off a hard surface or miss the work piece and become airborne; and disabling the gun’s safety features, among other causes. Injury prevention is possible if contractors take steps such as using full sequential trigger nail guns; establishing nail gun work procedures; and providing workers with personal protective equipment.”
Child Workers – Celest Monforton gets the bureaucratic runaround when she tries to find out why child labor regulations were delayed by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget. A Labor Department update to the 40-year old regulations were stalled for 9 months – meanwhile, two teens lost legs in a grain auger accident, precisely the type of event that made such an update to regulations imperative.
Excess Loss Development – NCCI had released a new research report on Workers Compensation Excess Loss Development. They note that, “Large loss and excess development is relevant to calculating excess loss factors used in retrospective rating.”
News Briefs

• Tracking Prescriptions with Technology
• What You Need to Know About the Workers’ Comp and FMLA, ADA, and HIPAA
• Disaster Planning for Any Business
• Driver survey shows heavy cellphone use
• Texting While Driving Game – gauge your distraction
• 5 Reasons You Must get the Employee’s Explanation
• Macaroni insurance?