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Newsletter #6 February 13, 2018 |
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Dealing with the Workplace Opioid Crisis
The National Safety Council (NSC) has identified the overprescription of opioids as a priority area of concern. The economic impact of opioid misuse or dependence in the workplace costs employers over $2 billion per year. Symptoms of prescription drug abuse include increased absenteeism and high turnover among employees suffering from addiction.
7 in 10 employers report employee issues in response to an NSC survey:
- 48% of respondents reported negative business impacts – absenteeism, decreased performance, increased near misses or injuries.
- 34% reported negative effects to employee well-being, including overdoses.
- 20% reported consequences stemming from illegal actions including borrowing or selling prescription drugs at work and arrests on or off the job.
According to the NSC, a focused approach to training about health and productivity issues relative to opioid pain relievers is the best strategy for proactive employees. There’s more about Opioids in the Workplace in an abstract of a NSC presentation on the GEA blog.
Jody Jernigan, CEO, Southeastern Chapter of the National Safety Council will take part in a panel presentation at the 2018 GEA Spring Conference entitled Effects of Opioids in the Workplace and on Workers’ Compensation. |
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List Your Openings on the GEA Job Board
Have you heard about Georgia Employers’ Association’s Job Board? It's available to any GEA member who would like to post openings at their company. Posting is easy and the job board is also a great way for members to help one another with referrals. Take a look! |
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Who Keeps the Tips?
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Last week, the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Labor announced an audit of the rulemaking process used to propose a new tip-pooling rule, published in December 2017. Tip pooling allows employers to share server tips among service employees who also receive tips – waiters, waitresses, and bellhops, among others. The proposed rule would have expanded the tip pools to employee categories who do not regularly receive tips – e.g. dishwashers and cooks.
The audit arises because leadership at the Department of Labor is alleged to have revised data that indicated that employers might keep up to $4.6 billion of gratuities under the new rule. The language in the previous rule clearly stated that tips are the property of the workers who served the patrons. The new regulation encourages employers to redistribute the income back to workers, but the it doesn’t actually require them to do so.
Read more about the DOL proposed rulemaking and the audit in an article by Ellen Kearns in the News and Analysis section of the Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP website. |
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| Early Bird Discount for GEA's Spring Conference through February 28
The theme for this year’s GEA Spring Conference is Strategies for a Better Business Environment. GEA is finalizing the agenda for the event and we’re putting together an excellent combination of expert speakers and interesting subjects.
Here are a few of the confirmed speakers:
- Bart Gobeil – Senior Director, Georgia Ports Authority
- Jody Jernigan – CEO, Southeastern Chapter - National Safety Council
- Mark Butler – Georgia Commissioner of Labor
You’ll want to register early for the Spring Conference to take advantage of a 10% discount on the registration cost. Learn more about the GEA conference and Register Online on the GEA website. |
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Georgia Employers' Association |
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