News Digest 11-13-2019

Quote of the day

“It reinforced our belief that training — in both operations and safety — is essential in the retail sector, especially for younger workers where we tend to see more workers’ compensation claims.”

Matt Zender, AmTrust’s senior vice president

HR Dive

 

 

Whistleblowers lead to $22.5M settlement in pharmacy fraud case

A $22.5 million settlement has been reached with a Belgium-based supplier of compounding medication over alleged fraud of its subsidiaries in the United States. Whistleblowers in Texas and Florida exposed the scheme, in which prices for compound drug ingredients were inflated by more than 2,000 percent in some cases and fraudulent claims were submitted to federal healthcare programs. San Antonio Express-News [may require registration]

 

Homeless epidemic, trash buildup blamed for serious illnesses among Los Angeles police

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti takes heat for his failure to address the city’s growing homeless population. Fox News [with video]

 

Study addresses retail work sector injuries

A newly released study by AmTrust Financial Services, Inc. of 20,000 workers’ compensation claims over three years finds leave for injured retail employees lasts an average of 24 days. Boston University researchers reported in August that an injury serious enough to require at least a week off from work nearly tripled both the risk of suicide and death from overdose among women and raised the risk for men by 50 percent. HR Dive

 

Canada province expands workers’ comp for fire-related cancers

Saskatchewan is expanding workers’ compensation to cover more cancers, including prostate, skin, breast, cervical, ovarian and multiple myeloma, diagnosed in firefighters. The Province

 

What are the privacy rights of employees?

Employment law and issues related to employer surveillance can lead to a myriad of legal issues related to wrongful termination, workplace safety and discrimination. As more technology becomes available, concern is increasing about use of surveillance technology to monitor employees as well. Science Times