HealthBeat: Occupational Health & Wellness News from MWorks & MFit

Workplace Health

Employer-Sponsored Coverage Costs Continue to Rise, Analysis Indicates

Companies’ employer-sponsored coverage costs rose by 6.1% to nearly $8,000 per worker in 2007, roughly equivalent to last year’s escalation but still more than twice the rate of inflation, according to Mercer’s National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans. For the analysis, the employee benefits firm surveyed approximately 3,000 private and public employers with 10 or more workers. The survey finds that the increase in coverage costs—which would have been even more pronounced had companies not shifted more expenses to their workers—prompted some companies to scale back benefits or drop employer-sponsored coverage altogether, a pattern that was most often seen among smaller companies. In addition, roughly 62% of large employers offered coverage to part-time workers, with more companies providing “mini-med” health plan options that offer limited coverage to those without full-time status. Finally, 34% of large companies this year are offering health benefits to same-sex domestic partners—up from 29% in 2006—and 5% of large companies are linking health premiums to employees’ tobacco use.

Essential Functions of a Job and Functional Job Descriptions: What are they? Do we need them?

Bridget Schlaff, Occupational Therapist Clinical Specialist, UMHS MWorks Disability Management

"Essential Functions" is defined as: the basic job duties that an employee must be able to perform with or without reasonable accommodation. Once the essential job functions have been determined, they can be used to assist employers in determining reasonable accommodations or developing a transitional return to work program for employees recovering from injury or illness.

How do you know if a job function is essential? The EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) stated several reasons why a job function may be essential:

The position exists to perform the function.
Limited number of employees are available who could perform the function or among whom the function can be distributed.
A function is highly specialized and the person in the position was hired for special expertise.

Evidence to consider for essential job functions:

Employer’s judgment
Written job descriptions (see below)
Amount of time spent performing the function
Consequences of not requiring someone to perform a function
Collective bargaining agreement terms
Work experience of people who performed the job and who currently perform the job

When considering the essential job functions, identify and describe the physical and mental demands that are necessary and integral to the position as well as the working conditions. For example, physical demands may include: handling and assembling small parts, climbing ladders, standing, driving, carrying, etc. Mental demands may include problem solving, divided attention, comprehension and interpretation of data, etc. Working conditions are not limited to indoor or outdoor but also consider loud noises, fumes, high temperatures, cold temperatures (i.e. refrigerators, freezers), etc.

Job descriptions should include detailed qualifications such as cognitive/perceptual demands, environmental considerations, interpersonal/work behavior considerations, tools/equipment/materials, and physical demands. A job description should use clear, concise, and non-technical language and avoid unnecessary words.

Within the actual job description, an employer should include:

Job title
Department or section of the job
Brief summary of job functions, using action verbs as possible
Estimated time spent on each job task and responsibility (allocated to equal 100%) and the frequency of each activity
Special working conditions (i.e. shift, overtime, etc.)
Quality and quantity of work expected
Essential and nonessential (i.e. marginal) job functions

Job descriptions should also describe regular attendance and timeliness as essential functions of jobs that require regular and punctual employee attendance.

In summary, well-documented job descriptions can offer a company the framework for developing performance evaluations, policy manuals, annual reports and assisting with developing a transitional return to work program if this is a goal for the company.

If your company needs assistance developing job descriptions, the occupational therapists at MWorks can collaborate with your company to accurately complete these documents. For more information call 734-975-3028 or visit www.med.umich.edu/mworks/ot.htm.

Reference Material for developing this article include: Job Accommodation Network (JAN); Washington State Government website: www.dop.wa.gov

Heads up on the ADA Act of 2007

Trish Klamert, RN, COHN-S/CM, CCM, Manager, MWorks Disability Management

In 1999 the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was amended after the Supreme Court ruled that the determination of whether a person has an ADA ‘disability’ must take into consideration whether the person is substantially limited in performing a major life activity when using a mitigating measure (vision correction with glasses, for example). This ruling significantly reduced the number of people covered under the ADA from 160 million to 43 million. The U. S. House and Senate are currently considering a bill that will restore the original intent of the ADA. If this bill passes it will have a significant impact on employers by increasing the number of people covered under the ADA. Should you wish to contact your representative regarding this bill, the House bill is H.R. 3195 by Representative Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and Representative James Sensenbrenner (R-WI). The Senate bill is S. 1881 by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA). Candace Miller from Michigan is among the supporters of this bill. For more information go to http://adarestoration.blogspot.com.