SEAG News & Updates

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EEOC’s Proposed ADA Regulations Now Available

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) - which would revise its Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations to comply with the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA) - is now available HERE.

The ADAAA was passed by Congress in late 2008 to make it easier for employees and applicants who allege disability discrimination to establish that they are disabled as defined by the ADA. The NPRM was published in the Federal Register the week of September 21, 2009 and for a period of 60 days, the EEOC will accept public comments. Final regulations are not expected to come before the end of the year.

Summary of Proposed Regulations:

·	The NPRM lists specific types of physical and mental impairments that will “consistently” quality as disabilities under the ADA. These include:

Deafness Cerebral Palsy

Blindness Epilepsy

Missing limbs HIV/AIDS

Cancer Severe mental disorders

(such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia)

·	The NPRM clarifies what it means for an impairment to “substantially limit” a major life activity or major bodily function.

·	The NPRM explains how to evaluate impairments when mitigating measures are used.

·	The NPRM lists a number of specific impairments that affect major bodily functions, such as diabetes, cancer, and sickle cell disease.

·	The NPRM lists various types of impairments that may be disabling for some but not others.

·	The NPRM discusses disabilities that are episodic or in remission, such as epilepsy, cancer, and many kinds of psychiatric impairments.

·	The NPRM provides detailed information regarding the types of actions that will or will not constitute “regarded as” discrimination.

·	The NPRM explains how to determine whether impermanent impairments are disabilities.

·	The NPRM clarifies how to determine whether an individual is substantially impaired in the major life activity of working.

MORE INFORMATION WILL FOLLOW AS IT BECOMES AVAILABLE.

LOCAL UPDATES:

Anyone Can Be A Victim Of Identity Theft!

To learn more about what you can do about identity theft and how Pre-Paid Legal’s Identity Theft Shield can help, call our agent today!

Be sure to visit our Money Saving Member Benefit pages to see the many programs and discounts available to all of our members. And visit often as new benefits are added periodically.

Put your membership to work for you right now!

MEMBER BENEFITS

Have you ever stopped to think what would happen if your income stopped should you suffer a disability?

Expenses would continue ... probably greater than ever when you consider insurance deductibles and uncovered medical bills. Your income is your most valuable asset and without it your savings can quickly be turned into debt!

You insure your other valuable assets, like your home and your car. But you may not have thought to insure your income in the event you suffer a disability that prevents you from working - which is much more common than you think.

We want our members to be protected! Disability Income Insurance Protection plans are now available! These products are specifically designed to replace lost income due to a covered accident or illness, and both Short Term and Long Term disability products are available.

We’d like you to know more about this, so please click on the link below to complete our online quote request form, or you may contact our agent for additional information.

INDUSTRY

Don’t Forget
to Visit
“The Bench”
To get the very latest in your
industry news and information
check out “The Bench”

HEALTH CARE

Let SEAG be your source for news about moving forward in our
21st century
health care system

As you hear more and more about “health care reform,” from the news, from your doctors, from your employers, it can become confusing, and you want to be sure you’re making the right decisions for you and your family.

To help you stay informed, we now feature sections that contain a variety of information that you might be interested in.

With all the resources available, and limited time to devote to sifting through it all, we try to put together a good mix of information and resources that can help you move forward in our 21st century health care system.

If you have a topic you want to see posted, or would like to know more about, please contact lyndafpd@aol.com.

Check This Out:

A Consumer’s Guide to eHealth

Consumer’s Guide to Health Care Reform

Collective Bargaining Agreements:

SES Attorneys Unit

WHAT HEALTH CARE REFORM MEANS FOR YOU

Health care reform has now been signed into law - What will it actually mean for you? Don’t feel like reading the more than 2000-page bill yourself?

We’ll help you sort it all out.

In short, the new law puts us on a path to provide health care coverage for all Americans, empowers consumers over insurance companies and ensures we are moving to reduce health care costs in the long run. Now that the bill has passed the reconciliation process and will now be law, sweeping new policies will be ushered in. Many outlets are trying to tease out what this will mean for the average consumer. We’ve put together some information that will help you to understand it all. We will continue to sift through the many resources that have been providing information about this historic reform so you don’t have to. Check back often for updates.

Income Protection Has Arrived

with our new Short & Long Term Disability Benefits Programs!

Available NOW for members only*

* Membership will be verified before you can take advantage of this benefit, so if you’re not a member in good standing, rejoin today and put your membership dues to work right away.

THE TOP 10 IMMEDIATE BENEFITS YOU’LL GET

The new health care reform law will immediately:

·	Prohibit pre-existing condition exclusions for children in all new plans;

·	Provide immediate access to insurance for uninsured Americans who are uninsured because of a pre-existing condition through a temporary high-risk pool;

·	Prohibit dropping people from coverage when they get sick in all individual plans;

·	Lower seniors prescription drug prices by beginning to close the donut hole;

·	Offer tax credits to small businesses to purchase coverage;

·	Eliminate lifetime limits and restrictive annual limits on benefits in all plans;

·	Require plans to cover an enrollee’s dependent children until age 26;

·	Require new plans to cover preventive services and immunizations without cost-sharing;

·	Ensure consumers have access to an effective internal and external appeals process to appeal new insurance plan decisions;

·	Require premium rebates to enrollees from insurers with high administrative expenditures and require public disclosure of the percent of premiums applied to overhead costs.

OTHER RESOURCES:

The New York Times has a great interactive summary.

CLICK HERE

Politics Daily gives a “Year-by-Year Rundown of What Happens & When”

CLICK HERE

“Republicans Set for Last Ditch Senate Assault on Reform.”

CLICK HERE

Investopedia.com lists “10 Ways The New Healthcare Bill May Affect You.”

CLICK HERE

CNNMoney.com reports “What health care reform means for your business.”

CLICK HERE

It’s Disgusting!

The ink isn’t even dry, and Big Insurance shows us why reform is so necessary. The New York Times reported that just days after President Obama signed the new health care law, insurance companies started trying to weasel out of provisions designed to end their abusive practices. Sick kids are their first target.

READ ABOUT IT HERE

THIS JUST IN: Insurers Quickly Retreat

New Rule Interpretations

Pursuant to Article 1 of the SES Attorneys Unit Agreement, we have been informed by the Department of Management Services’ Division of Human Resource Management that they have posted a 3 new rule interpretations for DMS Rule 60L-34, Attendance and Leave - Administrative Leave.

The first new rule interpretation is in regard to the question, “Are employees allowed to accept payment for performing jury duty services in addition to receiving administrative leave with pay?” Tracking number 60L-34-2010-#002

The other 2 new rule interpretations address the issues of whether State Personnel System allow for the transfer of unused annual and sick leave credits and if there is any length of service requirement that must be met before employees can receive donated sick leave. Tracking numbers 60L-34-2010-#003 and 60L-34-2006-#004

You can review these rule interpretations at the Division of Human Resource Management’s web site.

“Obama Board” May Mean Dramatic Changes on the Horizon for Employers

The Obama National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) takes shape with the designation of Wilma Liebman as Chairman of the NLRB, as well as the recess appointments of nominees Craig Becker and Mark Pearce, resulting in a Board with three Democratic appointees and only one Republican appointee.

IN OTHER NEWS:

nlrb_logo(1).jpg

Years of decisions made by the “Bush Board” favored management too much so now organized labor is asking the “Obama Board” to bring federal labor law more to the middle. Because the backgrounds of the current Members of the Board, as well as their writings, indicate that the current state of labor law may change significantly under the new Obama Board, affecting both unionized and non-unionized employers, it’s worth reviewing recent dissenting opinions in noteworthy decisions issued by the Bush Board to see what policy shifts may occur in the coming months and years, especially in the following areas:

·	Human resources policies and procedures;

·	Weingarten rights on non-union employees;

·	Voluntary recognition;

·	Supervisory status;

·	Corporate campaigns;

·	The ability of unions to engage in secondary activity through the use of banners; and

·	The ability of employers to limit non-employee access to their premises.

A complete article with further information on this issue is available through a great legal news network website called mondaq®, or you can CLICK HERE*

* You may have to register at mondaq® to access the complete article, but to do so is quick and free and worth the information you can access.

New Legal Precedents Established by Missouri Supreme Court Recognizes Some Whistle-Blowing as Exception to At-Will Employment Rule

The Missouri Supreme Court has issued three opinions expressly adopting the public policy exception to the at-will employment doctrine in holding than an employee may not be terminated: (1) for refusing to violate the law or other established mandate of public policy promulgated by a governmental body, or (2) for reporting wrongdoing to superiors or public authorities.

MORE HERE

Just a Reminder:

Florida’s Whistleblower’s Act

Employees who expose corruption or wrongdoing on the part of the employer are granted certain legal protections under Florida’s Whistleblower Act.

SEAG protects the rights of these employees. Be sure to lets us know if you yourself are being harassed or intimidated by your employer. SEAG will initiate immediate legal action against any employer who attempts retaliation. We’ll protect you and your reputation.

SEAG Requests Governmental Vetoes

SEAG has reached out to Florida Governor Charlie Crist regarding the treatment of state employees.

To read letter, CLICK HERE

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