MacIver News – Allen also spoke of an incident where they tried to fire an employee for theft, and yet through the arbitration process DFI ended up paying him $25,000 in severance and spent more than $10,000 in staff time during the process. Read More Termination for Theft Difficult under Current Law, says DFI
MacIver News Service – The Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) is in good condition according to a report released by the Legislative Audit Bureau (LAB) this week. However, LAB detected some errors after the Department of Employee Trust Funds (ETF) was required to follow new accounting standards. Read More Wisconsin Retirement System Fully Funded, But Audit Finds Some Errors
MacIver News Service – The federal law will hit employers who offer high-priced health plans with a 40 percent “Cadillac tax” starting in 2018. In order to avoid that, ETF is switching to higher deductible plans and is doubling out-of-pocket costs. The Cadillac tax kicks in when individual health plans exceed $10,200 for individuals and $27,500 for families, and is applied to every dollar above those thresholds. Read More State Health Plans Changed to Avoid Obamacare “Cadillac” Tax
Even with Act 10’s requirement for public employees to pay more for their health and pension benefits, Wisconsin’s taxpayers still pay a larger share of the cost of health coverage for state employees than the national average, according to a new report on state employee health care plans by Pew Charitable Trusts. Read More REPORT: Wisconsin Public Employees’ Health Plan Second Best in the Nation
MacIver News Service – The Wisconsin Legislature approved five new collective bargaining contracts on Tuesday that would give employees in those unions a one percent raise. The one percent raise is equal to $1.7 million in salaries and fringe benefits for about 2,400 represented government workers annually. Read More Wisconsin Legislature Approves Public Union Contracts