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workers compensation

LOSS CONTROL & BACKGROUND CHECKS

     Inadequate due diligence and negligent hiring practices in the home health sector harms not only an organization, but its patients, as well. Indeed, poor hiring can be cited as a contributing factor in the rise of lawsuits, medical malpractice claims and multi-million dollar settlements. Employers in the home health care industry need to obtain a thorough understanding of a prospective employee’s history, particularly if that person will have access to patients, medications and confidential information. Moreover, liability for negligent hiring and retention can occur if the home health care organization fails to conduct a comprehensive background check on… Read More »LOSS CONTROL & BACKGROUND CHECKS

Insuring Cloud Computing

While cloud computing may seem vague and confusing, the National Institute of Standards and Technologies recently completed a working definition for the term after years of work and 15 drafts. So what is Cloud Computing? According to the official NIST definition, “cloud computing is a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction”, with the following 5 characteristics: • On-demand self-service • Broad network access • Resource pooling • Rapid… Read More »Insuring Cloud Computing

Public Servant Wins Compensation Over Work Trip Sex Injury

An Australian public worker has won the workers comp. claim hearing, for the injury she got having sex in a motel during the business trip, according to ABC News. Now the federal government should pay not only the money spent on her treatment, but also cover the legal costs. The woman, whose name was not released, sued her employer back in 2007,  for the denied workers compensation claim for the injury done by a glass light fixture that fell off the wall above a bed as she was having sex. In addition, as she said later, after the injury she… Read More »Public Servant Wins Compensation Over Work Trip Sex Injury

California Workers Compensation Rate Increase?

The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California said Wednesday that it will seek a midyear increase in workers comp advisory rates in the state. The San Francisco-based WCIRB said it will ask this month for an average pure premium rate of $2.51 per $100 of payroll. That’s up 7.7% from a rate of $2.33 per $100 of payroll in WCIRB’s Jan. 1 rate filing. California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones approved an advisory pure premium rate filing of $2.30 per $100 of employer payroll back in November 2011. The WCIRB’s upcoming rate filing is expected to be submitted April 13 to the… Read More »California Workers Compensation Rate Increase?

How to Manage Work Related Stress

What Is Workplace Stress? People experience stress in many parts of their lives. Although stress is an essential element of many activities at work and at home, stress becomes harmful when it reaches an intensity that begins to impair daily activities. The focus of this brochure is harmful stress that arises from work situations, as opposed to stress that is generated by an employee’s personal life. Harmful workplace stress has been associated with: – Jobs that demand a lot from the employees while allowing them little control over how the job is performed, – Work environments that are unsafe and/or uncomfortable, and – Organizational practices that… Read More »How to Manage Work Related Stress

CA Work Comp Carriers Change Rates

Several California admitted insurance companies are going to file new rates with the California Department of Insurance for workers’ compensation policies effective in July 2020. To see a comparison of averages rates and to learn more about how these changes affect premium, go to www.paperless-insurance.com and click on “Get a Quote Now”. As you are shopping for the renewal, it is important to keep in mind that not all rates change uniformly. Rates for some policyholders will go up and some will go down. Knowing how much your renewal rates are changing could be valuable information to have as you… Read More »CA Work Comp Carriers Change Rates

Workers Comp. Electronic Claims Reporting in New York

The New York State Workers’ Compensation Board is transitioning from a paper to an electronic employer report of injury system. The board will adopt the IAIABC (International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions) Claims Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Standard Release 3.0. Currently, the board accepts New York-specific claims information from employers and insurance carriers through paper submission. But beginning in early 2013, these submissions will be required to match the IAIABC standard and be made electronically. Read More

California Workers Comp Agreements Review

California’s Department of Insurance is seeking to force units of Zurich Financial Services Ltd. to cease issuing workers compensation “large-deductible agreements” that have not been properly reviewed. The California Insurance Code requires insurers to submit workers comp policy forms and endorsements to the Department of Insurance and to the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California for legal review before they are issued to policyholders. However, Zurich American Insurance Co. and Zurich American Insurance Co. of Illinois may have evaded such a review, the Insurance Department said Tuesday in announcing that it had begun an administrative enforcement action. “The unreviewed… Read More »California Workers Comp Agreements Review

Workers comp assessments 5 times higher for N.Y. state employers

New York state employers pay nearly five times more in workers compensation insurance premium assessments than the average in other states, according to a Workers’ Compensation Policy Institute report. Most states impose similar surcharges on employers to fund their workers comp systems, according to the Latham, N.Y.-based research affiliate of the Public Employer Risk Management Assn. But the average premium assessment among 32 states that impose the taxes is 4.2%. In contrast, New York state employers pay assessments totaling 20.2% of their premiums, according to the report, “Workers’ Compensation Assessments: The Hidden Tax Confronting Employers and Taxpayers.” In Minnesota, the… Read More »Workers comp assessments 5 times higher for N.Y. state employers

Willful Misclassification of Independent Contractors (SB 459)

California law SB 459 imposes a civil penalty of $5,000 – $15,000 for each violation on a person or employer that willfully misclassifies an individual as an independent contractor. Willful misclassification is defined as avoiding employee status for an individual by voluntarily and knowingly misclassifying that individual as an independent contractor. The penalty increases to $10,000 – $25,000 for each violation if the person or employer has engaged in a “pattern or practice” of willful misclassification. The law also subjects paid, non-attorney advisors to joint and several liabilities with the employer if they knowingly advise the employer to treat an… Read More »Willful Misclassification of Independent Contractors (SB 459)