By James Call

Tallahassee, FL – The Florida Supreme Court is deciding whether Walmart widowers can sue the corporation for a share of the life insurance policies Walmart purchased in their wives' names. They want some of the $9.6 million the corporation collected when the insurance benefits were paid.

Walmart got the money when 132 Florida employees enrolled in a corporate-owned life insurance program died. When a company names itself a beneficiary on a policy bought in the name of a rank and file employee, it is known as Dead Peasants Insurance. Walmart stopped the practice in 2000, saying it was losing money. In the case before the Florida Supreme Court, a federal judge is asking the court to decide at the time the policies were purchased whether Florida law provided family members standing -- the right to sue to claim the life insurance money.

Eileen Moss represents Walmart. It has paid more than $15 million to settle class action dead peasant suits in Texas and Oklahoma, but in Florida, she argued the law is on Walmart's side.

'You have to have standing. They were not parties to the contract, and they weren't harmed by it. They didn't pay the premiums, and so the decision was made no standing. Now, where they started creating standing was through statutory rights.'

Moss argued the Florida Legislature in 2008 gave families the right to sue, standing. New rights cannot be applied retroactively. The estates of Rita Atkinson and Karen Armatrout see it differently. They argued that two years ago lawmakers clarified Florida law, and the rights were already there.

Michael Myers represents Atkinson, Armatrout, and others. He points to the case of a Port St. Lucie banker. Seventy-three years ago his estate argued all the way to the Supreme Court that it had a legal claim on the life insurance money.

'I think the importance of that case is a bank president's family had the right to sue. So if a bank executive's family had the right to sue in 1937, why wouldn't the families of pharmacy workers and administrative people in the office have the right to sue in 2010?'

That case is McMullen, and Moss argued Myers is misreading it. She said McMullen did not decide standing. Therefore, prior to 2008 the only remedy available would be to declare the policies void. Her remarks drew these comments from Justice Barbara Pariente.

'I would have agreed with you that I thought the only remedy was to be able to void a policy. But I don't think McMullen can be dispensed with as simply in terms of that this court was saying, certainly didn't say they didn't have standing and certainly didn't say that they wouldn't have that cause of action. They wouldn't adjudicate the dispute if those thresholds to findings were contrary.'

The silence in the courtroom was the opening through which Myers drove home his point. Precedence was established in 1937.

'The only difference is that was the estate of a key person who sued. Here we have the estate of rank and file employees. If these insured's have standing to sue, then the seamless web of the law works perfectly. McMullen was correct. Gerstell was correct. List versus List with the living person was correct. The Legislature was correct when it said it was only clarifying the existing law. The dictionary definition of clarify is just to make clear, easy to understand, it doesn't add anything. This seamless web of the law is seamless. Public policy is promoted.'

In court filings, Walmart says the amounts of payouts on the 132 Florida employee policies ranged from $55,000 to $90,000. It said the program was intended to help pay rising employee healthcare costs. It didn't work out and was cancelled in 2000. Surviving family members, like Armatrout and Atkinson, want a share of the $9.6 million Walmart collected on employee life insurance policies. But first, the Florida Supreme Court has to decide if they have standing, that is, the right to sue.

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Use this sample PTO policy as a guide when you develop your own policy

You need a paid time off (PTO) policy in your organization so that the employees understand your rules and expectations about the amount of time they need to spend at work. The policy assures that misunderstandings about the amount and type of PTO are minimized.

The PTO policy also ensures that, as an employer, you have a published framework which provides guidance for you for making decisions that ensure the fair and equitable treatment of employees. Both of these goals are a win for both employers and employees.

Following is the sample PTO policy.

Purpose of Paid Time Off (PTO)

The purpose of Paid Time Off (PTO) is to provide employees with flexible paid time off from work that can be used for such needs as vacation, personal or family illness, doctor appointments, school, volunteerism, and other activities of the employee's choice. The company's goal is to reduce unscheduled absences and the need for supervisory oversight.

The PTO days you accrue, effective (date) replace all existing vacation, sick time, and personal business days that you have been allotted under prior policies. The vacation time you accrued in the past will carry over, in excess of the PTO policy, per the company's guidelines at the time.

Guidelines for PTO Use

Each full-time employee will accrue PTO bi-weekly in hourly increments based on their length of service as defined below. PTO is added to the employee's PTO bank when the bi-weekly paycheck is issued. PTO taken will be subtracted from the employee's accrued time bank in one-hour increments.

Temporary employees, contract employees, and interns are not eligible to accrue PTO.

Eligibility to accrue PTO is contingent on the employee either working or utilizing accrued PTO for the entire bi-weekly pay period. PTO is not earned in pay periods during which unpaid leave, short or long term disability leave, or workers' compensation leave are taken.

Employees may use time from their PTO bank in hourly increments. The time that is not covered by the PTO policy, and for which separate guidelines and policies exist, include company paid holidays, bereavement time off, required jury duty, and military service leave.

To take PTO requires two days of notice to the supervisor and Human Resources unless the PTO is used for legitimate, unexpected illness or emergencies. (Use the Paid Time Off form to request PTO.) In all instances, PTO must be approved by the employee's supervisor in advance.

Your Company appreciates as much notice as possible when you know you expect to miss work for a scheduled absence.

Paid Time Off (PTO) Exceptions

• Employees who miss more than three consecutive unscheduled days may be required to present a doctor's release to the Human Resources department that permits them to return to work.
• PTO taken in excess of the PTO accrued can result in progressive disciplinary action up to and including employment termination. This time off will be unpaid. The only possible exception to this policy must be granted by the company president.
• PTO accrued prior to the start of a requested and approved unpaid leave of absence must be used to cover hours missed before the start of the unpaid leave.

• Under the company's Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) policy, all accrued PTO time is taken before the start of the unpaid FMLA time.
• Unscheduled absences, due to illnesses of four hours or more, that result in consecutive days absent from work, are considered one absence incident in relation to potential disciplinary action.
  Progressive disciplinary action relative to incidents of absenteeism is administered on a rolling 12-month calendar as follows:
  --One - three incidents: No disciplinary action. Supervisory coaching.
  --Fourth incident: Verbal warning with a documented coaching session
  --Fifth incident: Written warning in the employee's file
  --Sixth incident: Employment termination
  An employee who receives a second written warning in a rolling 24 month time period will have his or her employment terminated.

• An employee who has used all of his or her FMLA and Short Term Disability benefits, and is still unable to return to work, will have his or her employment terminated.
• Any employee who misses two consecutive days of work without notice to their supervisor may be considered to have voluntarily quit their job.

Specific Eligibility for Paid Time Off (PTO)

PTO is earned on the following schedule based on a 40 hour work week. PTO is prorated based on the number of hours worked on an employee's regular schedule. Thank you to Amy Casciotti of the TechSmith Corporation for the sample numbers.

Years of Service

• 1-2: 144 working hours per year, earned at a rate of 2.7693 hours for each full work week in a calendar year.
• 3-4: 152 working hours per year, earned at a rate of 2.9231 hours for each full work week in a calendar year.
• 5-6: 160 working hours per year, earned at a rate of 3.077 hours for each full work week in a calendar year.
• 7-8: 168 working hours per year, earned at a rate of 3.2308 hours for each full work week in a calendar year.
• 9-10: 176 working hours per year, earned at a rate of 3.3847 hours for each full work week in a calendar year.

• 11-12: 184 working hours per year, earned at a rate of 3.5385 hours for each full work week in a calendar year.
• 13-14: 192 working hours per year, earned at a rate of 3.6924 hours for each full work week in a calendar year.
• 15-16: 200 working hours per year, earned at a rate of 3.8462 hours for each full work week in a calendar year.
• 17+: 208 working hours per year, earned at a rate of 4.0 hours for each full work week in a calendar year.

New mahabharat full all episodes. Each employee may carry 80 hours of accrued PTO over into a new calendar year. Employees are responsible for monitoring and taking their PTO over the course of a year so that they do not lose time accrued when the current calendar year ends. (PTO is subject to supervisory approval and not every employee can take accumulated time in December; the company must continue to serve customers.)

If extenuating business circumstances prevented the employee from taking scheduled PTO, this PTO may be carried over and taken in the first half of the next calendar year with the approval of the department head and Human Resources.

Employees are paid for the PTO they have accrued at employment end. If an employee has used PTO time not yet accrued, and employment terminates, the PTO taken is deducted from the final paycheck. Employees who give two weeks notice of employment termination must work the two weeks without utilizing PTO.

Employees who are rehired will receive credit for former time worked and accumulate current PTO for the combined time.