As violence and mass shootings in American workplaces increasingly make the news, more and more businesses are taking added precautions to prevent acts of violence at their facilities, but they also face substantial costs if violence does erupt. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration reports nearly 2 million people suffer from workplace violence every year,…
The owners of a California flooring installation company allegedly underreported their payroll amounts to workers’ compensation insurers to the tune of $30 million, costing the insurance company almost $4 million in premiums. The men are each facing three felony charges. These are the potential consequences for those who deliberately falsify their payroll records and reports…
As more Americans are returning to the workplace, employers are now faced with the difficult issue of transitioning reluctant staff back as well as complaints and legal action from the most reluctant of workers. Already some returning workers have started to sue their employers, often accusing them of not adequately protecting their workers against COVID-19…
California employers will recall that Cal/OSHA last November issued COVID-19 emergency temporary standards that were controversial. Now the agency is looking to implement revisions to the standards to make them less burdensome and more reflective of the current state of the pandemic in the U.S. as more and more people get vaccinated. The Cal/OSH Standards…
With the recent news of Colonial Pipeline paying nearly $5 million to hackers after the criminals had made the largest fuel pipeline network in the nation inoperable, many businesses are concerned that their operations could be next. While most firms aren’t operating sprawling fuel pipelines that millions of drivers rely on, ransomware criminals are happy…
California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has approved a regulatory filing that will change the premium threshold for employers to qualify for an experience modifier (X-Mod). The approval was part of a larger regulatory filing the Workers’ Compensation Rating Bureau made to also change expected claims costs, eliminate a few class codes and make new rules…
As summer nears many companies are ramping up hiring of teen workers, and many companies are taking them on as they deal with the labor shortage as the country emerges from the pandemic. Others employ them year round. Taking on a teen worker comes with added responsibility in terms of compliance with state and federal…
In an unusual move, the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California has filed with the Department of Insurance a recommendation that benchmark workers’ comp rates in the state be increased by an average of 2.7%, effective Sept. 1 of this year. Typically, the Rating Bureau will only file for Jan. 1 or mid-year rate…
Two U.S. senators have introduced legislation that would require employers around the country with 15 or more workers to provide up to seven days of paid sick leave annually to their staff. The effort is part of a rumble that started at the state level, where a handful of states have enacted paid sick leave…
As the economy starts opening up again, so are offices, restaurants and other worksites, but because we’re not yet out of the pandemic woods, employers will need to contend with a myriad of paperwork issues, how to phase returning workers back, workplace safety compliance, and more. The process of reopening and bringing staff back needs…