Benefits March 3, 2009

Men and Women Sin Differently

March 3, 2009 (PLANSPONSOR (b)lines) - Women are prouder than men, and men are more lustful than women, according to a Vatican report which states that the two sexes sin differently.
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BBC News reports that a Catholic survey found the most common sins for men are lust, followed by gluttony, sloth, anger, pride, envy and greed. Women are more guilty of pride, followed by envy, anger, lust, and sloth,

The report was based on a study of confessions carried out by Fr Roberto Busa, a 95-year-old Jesuit scholar, and the Pope’s personal theologian backed up the report in the Vatican newspaper, the BBC said.

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“Men and women sin in different ways,” Msgr Wojciech Giertych, theologian to the papal household, wrote in L’Osservatore Romano, according to the BBC. “When you look at vices from the point of view of the difficulties they create you find that men experiment in a different way from women.”

Catholics are supposed to confess their sins to a priest, who absolves them in God’s name, at least once a year. However, the report came amid Vatican concerns about the declining rate of confessions.

A recent survey of Catholics found nearly a third no longer considered confession necessary, while one in 10 considered the process an obstacle to their dialogue with God, according to the news report. The BBC said Pope Benedict, who reportedly confesses his sins once a week, last year issued his own voice of disquiet on the subject saying, “We are losing the notion of sin. If people do not confess regularly, they risk slowing their spiritual rhythm.”

Traditionally, the seven deadly sins, per the Bible, are pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed and sloth.

According to BBC News, the Apostolic Penitentiary, one of the Vatican's most secretive departments, which fixes the punishments and indulgences handed down to sinners, last year updated its list of deadly sins to include more modern ones.

The revised list included seven modern sins the Penitentiary said were becoming prevalent during an era of "unstoppable globalization," including genetic modification, experiments on the person, environmental pollution, taking or selling illegal drugs, social injustice, causing poverty, and financial greed.

Compliance March 2, 2009

Laid-Off Employee's Heart Attack Ruled Job-Related

March 2, 2009 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The Massachusetts Supreme Court has ruled that an administrative assistant who had a heart attack at home after learning her job was terminated was entitled to accidental disability retirement benefits.
Reported by

Business Insurance reports that, according to the opinion, Claire Cole, an employee of the city of Salem, Massachusetts, was at home when she had the permanently disabling heart attack. It occurred within one hour of being told her job would be cut.

Cole did not return to work, and court records state that when she applied for benefits, “lengthy and tortuous administrative and judicial proceedings” ensued, Business Insurance said. Cole later died.

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In 2006, the Contributory Retirement Appeal Board ruled Cole’s heart attack was caused by stress due to hearing her position would be cut and that her communication with her supervisor about the termination occurred during the course of employment. However, the Retirement Board of Salem appealed, arguing that Cole was ineligible for benefits because her injury did not occur during the performance of her work.

A trial court ruled for Cole, and the Supreme Court upheld the trial court’s decision, finding that “benefits may permissibly be awarded only when a disabling injury is sustained during the performance of work duties and not merely as a result of being at work when injured,” according to the news report.

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