New gun laws can impact workplace management
- Employers should consider reviewing their policies and changes in policy with the new U.S. gun laws.
- Under federal and state laws, employers must have measures in place to keep employees safe at work.
- Employers can be held liable for gun-related injuries or fatalities at the workplace, according to OSHA rules.
- Employers must pay workers’ compensation claims for workers injured by gun violence at the workplace.
Court rules employee can be fired for marijuana
- The Nevada Supreme Court ruled that an injured worker fired after testing positive for marijuana did not have a viable wrongful termination claim against his employer.
- Danny Ceballos worked as a table games dealer at Palace Station in Las Vegas for more than a year, slipped and fell in the employee breakroom.
- Ceballos was required to submit to a drug test, which came back positive for marijuana.
- Ceballos filed a lawsuit but a judge dismissed the complaint because the drug remains illegal under federal law.
Workers comp carrier expands
- Pie Insurance, an insurtech that specializes in workers’ compensation insurance for small businesses, expanded into Alabama and Oregon.
- The expansion increases the company’s coverage footprint to include 38 states and Washington, D.C., representing 89% of small businesses in the U.S.
- Pie’s workers’ compensation insurance is designed for small businesses with coverage available through the company’s website, independent insurance agents, or payroll providers.
- Small businesses can get a quote in three minutes and see savings of up to 30%, the company said.
Initiative for warehousing, storage, and distribution yards industries
- OSHA launched a regional initiative in three mid-Atlantic states — Pennsylvania, Delaware, and West Virginia — to protect workers and reduce injuries and illnesses.
- The primary focus, which also includes Washington, D.C., is on the warehousing, storage, and distribution yards industries.
- The Bureau of Labor found the warehousing and storage injury rate of 4.8 per 100 is higher than the U.S. average of 2.7 per 100 rate among private industries.
- In addition, from 2017 to 2020, BLS reported 93 work-related fatalities nationally in the industry.