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Free Training Materials for California Sexual Harassment Prevention

January 3, 2019 AE

At Fusco & Orsini Insurance Services, we understand the importance of keeping your employees protected.

Did you know California passed a new law in September requiring sexual harassment prevention training? The law, which requires all employers with 5 or more employees to provide two hours of training, went into effect on Jan. 1, 2019.

We are happy to provide all of our California clients with free training materials via our Training360 platform. There’s a 120-minute training webinar for supervisors and a 60-minute training for non-supervisor employees. Please contact our president, mike@foagency.com, to gain access to these materials.

We also encourage you to read up on why the law changed and what to expect, by reading our sexual harassment law overview.

Want To Lower Workers’ Compensation Rates? Implement A Construction Safety Program

December 30, 2018 AE

Companies throughout California are struggling with sticker shock as workers’ compensation insurance rates continue to skyrocket. Workers’ comp rates can be a particularly large burden to companies with a high risk of injury, like construction and manufacturing companies.

Wouldn’t you like to decrease the cost of your workers’ comp insurance? Then consider implementing a strict safety program. If safety programs were adopted in high-risk industries on a larger scale, more carriers would be willing to ensure more companies. This increase in competition would help push workers’ comp rates down. Additionally, companies following a strict safety program would experience fewer workplace injuries. Fewer injuries mean fewer claims and fewer payouts, which would allow insurance companies to lower their worker’s comp rates.

So, what would a good safety program look like?

Commitment

Most importantly, the company’s management team needs to fully commit to implementing its safety program. It doesn’t matter if your company comes up with the very best, air-tight safety program if management isn’t willing to implement it and hold themselves accountable to it.

Safety Manual

Develop a comprehensive safety manual that lays out all aspects of the safety program in a clear manner. The safety manual should include all safety rules, policies, and procedures. Distributing the manual to employees is an important step, but it’s not enough. You need to make sure the manuals aren’t just collecting dust in a desk drawer. Make sure your employees read the manual, understand it, and are committed to the objectives of the manual.

Safety Committee

A safety program has a much higher chance of working if someone or a small group is put in charge of implementing and maintaining the safety program. This is your safety committee. Depending on the size of your company, you may pick one individual or a handful of employees and task them with upholding the safety program. These individuals will be in charge of training new employees on the safety program, providing yearly refresher courses, monitoring safety throughout the business, investigating injuries or reports of unsafe conditions and making sure that the program is being followed.

First Aid Procedures

Keep first aid materials on site, including first aid kits and an AED device. We also encourage you to offer first aid training to employees or reimburse them for first aid and CPR training classes.

Accident Investigation

Accidents are inevitable in any business. When one does occur, you’ll want your safety committee to perform a full investigation to determine the causes and to make specific recommendations on how to prevent similar accidents in the future. Learning from the accidents today is the best way to prevent them from happening again tomorrow.

Keeping Records

Records are critical in determining whether or not the overall safety of your company is improving. Employees need to record safety checks and document any safety concerns or issues that they find. If an accident does occur, these records will help your safety committee figure out what happened, why it happened and how it can be prevented.

Visibility and Accountability

We recommend posting safety rules and policies in highly visible places throughout the company and to provide regular reminders and refresher training so employees keep safety needs top of mind. You might also want to implement accountability measures to help incentivize employees to follow the policies. This could include rewards when no injuries are reported for a specific length of time or strict punishments if an employee is caught ignoring the safety rules, policies, and procedures.

Fewer injuries are not only good for employees and business owners, but it could also lower expensive workers’ comp premiums if businesses throughout California commit to a safety program in the workplace.

How To Conduct An Accident Investigation In The Workplace

December 29, 2018 AE

Workplace accidents are a big liability to businesses. Not only is it a terrible tragedy whenever an employee is injured while performing their job, but it can also have big financial consequences for your company as well. Losing a valuable employee for any length of time is expensive, and workplace accidents will also raise workers’ compensation premiums, which can cut deeply into a business’s overhead.

Unfortunately, accidents are sometimes unavoidable, especially in high-risk industries like construction and manufacturing. In our previous blog post, we encouraged all businesses to implement a strict safety program to try and prevent accidents. As part of that safety program, we advised companies to perform thorough investigations into every employee accident.

An accident investigation should not be conducted to place blame, but rather to understand the underlying causes of the accident in order to prevent similar accidents from occurring in the future.

Here are the steps you need to take to conduct a comprehensive accident investigation once an accident has occurred in the workplace:

Appoint an individual to be in charge of the investigation. Depending on the size of the company and the nature of the accident, you may want to allow this individual to assemble a small investigation team.
Define the scope of the investigation. The lead investigator should make clear exactly what information he or she is looking for and what the goal of the investigation is.
Create a preliminary brief. The investigation team should put together an initial review of the incident, which includes a description of the accident, damage estimate, normal operating procedures, location of the accident, witness list and a description of relevant events before and after the accident.
Visit and inspect the accident site. The investigation team should spend time at the accident site, looking for details that might have been missed in the preliminary brief. They should also make sure the area is secured so that nothing is disturbed while the investigation is ongoing.
Interview victim(s) and witnesses. The investigation team should sit down and discuss the accident with the victim(s) and any witnesses to the accident. They will also want to interview other relevant individuals, such as those who regularly work in the accident area or who had contact with the victim before the accident. It’s useful to use a tape recorder to capture these interviews.
Look for abnormal circumstances. If your company has a comprehensive safety program in place, then it is likely that the program was not being followed in its entirety when the accident occurred. When reviewing the data collected about the accident, the investigation team should be on the lookout for odd circumstances before the accident, which could have contributed to it.
Determine the sequence of events. Using their notes, observation, and interviews, the investigation team should be able to determine a sequence of events and the likely cause or causes of the accident.
Prepare a summary report. The investigation team should put together a report that includes all of the collected data, the sequence of events, the presumed causes of the accident and recommendations for preventing future accidents.
Conduct a post-investigation briefing. The investigation team should provide the accident report to management as well as a briefing to review the report findings. The most important discussion topics will likely be the causes of the accident and prevention recommendations, which the management team can then approve for implementation.

While every accident investigation is unique, these steps will provide some basic guidance on learning how and why a workplace accident occurred so you can make your company a safer place to work in the future.

The Indirect Costs of a Workplace Accident

December 28, 2018 AE

Workers’ compensation insurance helps insulate a company from the direct costs associated with an employee injury. For example, the company’s workers’ compensation policy will pay for medical care and will cover partial wages while the worker or workers recover.

While the direct costs of a workplace injury could manifest in increased workers’ compensation rates, companies need to be aware that they also pay indirect costs related to employee injuries and workplace accidents. In fact, studies have shown that the indirect costs of a workplace accident could be as much as 20 times higher than the direct costs. In some specialized industries, indirect costs could even be 50 times higher than direct costs.

What are some of the hidden costs of an employee injury or workplace accident?

Decreased labor and productivity: If you have one or several injured employees who are no longer able to work, this could create critical shortages that could slow production or bring certain departments to a standstill.
Lower employee morale: A bad injury at work can be distressing and traumatic, even to employees who are not injured. This could lower morale or cause distractions that lower productivity.
Less production: If your injured employee or employees were responsible for the production of products, you may have to deal with decreased inventory or longer wait times to sell products and collect payment
Damaged equipment: Damaged equipment from a workplace accident will need to be repaired or replaced. Not only will the repair or new equipment cost money, but every minute the equipment is not functioning could cost the company in productivity.
Disrupted schedules: Having to cover the responsibilities of an injured co-worker or try to work around a damaged piece of equipment can disrupt the schedules of your employees, leading to stress and loss in productivity.
Loss of customer and public goodwill: If a customer becomes aware of a workplace accident, or if their product or property was damaged, this could drastically undercut their confidence in your company. Not only is there a chance that they could fire you from the job, but in this world of Yelp and other highly public customer satisfaction websites, a negative review can hurt your chances to close future prospects
Hiring and training new workers: If your injured employee or employees are going to be out for an extended period of time, you might have to consider hiring a temp or bringing on a new employee or new employees. This will require time from you and your management team to interview, hire and train new employees. You’ll also have to absorb lower productivity until your new employees become proficient at their jobs.
Cleanup: If a workplace accident caused widespread damage, you or your employees may have to spend significant time cleaning up the damage, which will cost your company time and labor.

Just because your company has workers’ compensation insurance doesn’t mean you are insulated from the costs of a workplace accident or injury. In fact, the hidden costs of an injury are severe. The best way to avoid absorbing all the indirect costs of a workplace injury or accident is to try and prevent accidents as much as possible through the implementation of a strict workplace safety program.

Who Needs Inland Marine Insurance?

December 23, 2018 AE

Inland marine insurance is one of the most confusing types of commercial insurance available, and many business owners aren’t sure exactly what it is or if they need it.

In a nutshell, inland marine insurance was originally created to protect goods as they traveled overseas; hence its name. Over time, however, the insurance evolved to cover goods that travel over dry land and even valuable items that don’t travel at all, like computer data and accounts receivable.

So, does your business need inland marine insurance?

If you regularly transport expensive goods or equipment that are not otherwise insured, then inland marine insurance may be a good idea. For example, contractors bring lots of expensive equipment and tools to worksites. In most cases, these items aren’t insured even though they represent assets for the company. If such tools and equipment are stolen, a contractor could lose much hard earned money.

The same goes for companies that regularly transport merchandise from a warehouse to a storefront or who transport equipment to multiple locations or to a worksite. Much can go wrong when you’re on the road or hauling big, bulky items from once place to another.

Businesses that are in the process of building a store, warehouse or other facilities should consider insuring it under marine inland insurance (also known as builders’ risk or course of construction). Again, the chance for an accident or damage during the building process is very real and could result in expensive losses and time delays.

Business owners are often surprised to learn that marine inland insurance can be used to protect their electronic data and accounts receivables as well. While we strongly recommend that businesses use a professional file backup system, marine inland insurance may be a good idea as an extra safety net. I’ve seen many cases of companies that don’t back up properly and then lose all of their crucial electronic files. It’s usually a devastating financial blow.

Most businesses in most industries can benefit from inland marine insurance, especially those that regularly transport expensive equipment and tools.

To learn if inland marine insurance is right for you, contact Fusco & Orsini Insurance Services for a free consultation. Call us at (858) 384-1506 or contact us through our website.

What Is Inland Marine Insurance?

December 21, 2018 AE

Inland marine insurance is often misunderstood. In fact, most business owners don’t know what inland marine insurance is, despite the fact that this type of coverage could be vital in protecting some of the owner’s most valuable property.

Most of the confusion comes from the name. Inland marine insurance was originally conceived to protect goods as they were shipped overseas. Today, however, the reach of inland marine insurance has increased to cover goods in transit over land, and even those that aren’t in transit at all.

More specifically, inland marine insurance covers a couple of different areas. One of the primary coverage that it offers is for valuable items in transit (over the water or on dry land). This could include anything that needs to move from one site to the other, such as equipment, rare art, high-priced merchandise, etc. … It can also include tools, both expensive and inexpensive, that your crew takes with them when they perform a job.

Many accidents happen during transit. A vehicle transporting the item could get into an accident, workers could drop or bump fragile items while moving it, or it could just be damaged from general rough handling. If any of this happens, inland marine insurance can cover the damage.

Beyond transit, there are other areas where inland marine insurance provides coverage that other types of insurance might not. For example, inland marine insurance also covers buildings that are under construction (builders’ risk/course of construction), computer data and accounts receivable.

Many business owners are surprised to learn that their business’s data and accounts receivables can be covered by insurance. Consider how valuable your data is, including all of your accounting software, lead tracking data, policies, procedures, and other electronic assets. If that data is lost or corrupted, it could drastically affect your profits, at least in the short term.

Finally, construction companies and contractors often overlook or decide not to purchase, inland marine insurance. Thus, if tools or equipment are stolen, whether it be from a work truck, job site, or storage location, other more commonly purchased policies will NOT cover this type of loss. Inland marine insurance must be placed to protect against stolen tools and equipment.

As you can see, inland marine insurance is a relatively complicated type of insurance, but that doesn’t mean it should be ignored or overlooked. It’s best to speak to a knowledgeable insurance broker to determine if inland marine insurance is a good idea for your business.

At Fusco & Orsini Services, we’d be happy to provide you with a free consultation to more thoroughly explain all the features of inland marine insurance and to help you determine if your business needs the protection of an inland marine insurance policy. Call us at (858) 384-1506 or contact us through our website.

Faces of Fusco: Nadine Barrera

December 20, 2018 AE

Please meet Nadine, who has joined Fusco & Orsini as a customer service representative! We sat down with Nadine to get a little behind-the-scenes look at what inspires her.

What does a typical weekend look like for you?

I love to go for a good egg and bacon breakfast somewhere like Perry’s, Studio Diner, Rudford’s or Hash House a Go Go before running errands or hanging out around town.

Do you have any pets? If so tell us about them.

I have two grand-pets, my son’s dogs, Peanut and Scotty. Both rescues, Peanut, a female, looks like a small, Miniature Pinscher, and Scotty, looks like a Boxer mix!

If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would you go and why?

Austin, Texas to visit my son and daughter-in-law, who were married in March. I miss them very much!

What’s your favorite season of the year and why?

Fall is my favorite time of year because I’m usually ready for cooler weather and my favorite holiday is Thanksgiving!

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, your favorite holiday, what are you most thankful for?

I’m always thankful for family, friends, and good health!

If you could easily pick up a language, which would you choose?

I would improve my Spanish, and learn Italian

What show are you binge watching right now?

I don’t watch television, but I really enjoy watching YouTube videos on all sorts of subjects.

What’s at the top of your bucket list?

This isn’t at the top of my list…but an open mic night of stand-up comedy!

What’s your favorite movie?

If I could only pick one, then it would have to be The Godfather.

What’s your favorite restaurant in San Diego?

That is a hard one as there are so many, but I really enjoy the lamb at Fogo de Chao.

What’s your favorite holiday treat?

My mom is a fantastic baker, so it would be her old-fashioned,three-layer coconut cake for my birthday!

Why Contractors in California Need Workers’ Compensation Insurance

December 20, 2018 AE

There’s one overriding reason why contractors in California need to provide workers’ compensation insurance to their employees – it’s the law.

California, along with almost every other state in the union, requires all employers, regardless of industry or number of employees, to carry workers’ compensation insurance (also known as workman’s compensation insurance and employer’s liability insurance).

For contractors, workers’ comp is even more critical due to the physical and risky nature of the business.

Workers’ compensation not only protects the employer and employee but also protects the party that the contractor is working with or for. For example, if a contractor is working directly for a homeowner, workers’ compensation coverage PROTECTS the homeowners in case the contractor’s employee is injured on their property. In the contracting industry, injuries are commonplace and the potential for serious injuries is much higher than in, say, an office environment.

If an employee does get seriously injured, the employer’s workers’ compensation will kick in to cover that employee’s medical costs so that the employer doesn’t have to. The insurance policy will also help replace a portion of the employee’s wages for a certain amount of time so that they are able to earn compensation while out of work.

Many of our contracting clients like the fact that their employees are protected in this manner, but there’s an even bigger reason to appreciate workman’s comp. It prevents employees from suing their employer for damages related to their injuries. This is a HUGE benefit for employers.

Imagine that one of your employees fell off a roof, broke his back and then sued you for five million dollars claiming lost wages, negligence and pain and suffering. Could your company easily recover if you lost that lawsuit or if you had to pay a high-priced lawyer to go to court to defend you?

We believe that workers’ compensation insurance is a small price to pay to protect your employees, yourself, and even your customers.

Also, workman’s comp doesn’t have to be as expensive as you think. Even though prices tend to be higher for contractors (due to the high-risk nature of their industry), we are able to offer our clients very competitive pricing on work comp. Specializing in the contracting industry has allowed us to make important connections and build solid relationships with insurers that allow us to get better pricing than the average insurance broker.

At Fusco & Orsini Insurance Services, we specialize in providing insurance solutions to contractors. Since we insure so many contractors and have created a niche in the industry, we are able to represent almost all workers’ compensation companies providing construction industry work comp in California. How does this help you as the contractor? We are able to provide options, and also very competitive rates.

We can also save our clients significant money by bundling insurance products. Almost all of our contracting clients also need general liability insurance and commercial auto insurance. Combining these and other necessary insurance products can result in big savings.

Even if you already have workers’ compensation insurance, we’d be happy to review your policy and see if we can get you a better option. It never hurts to see what’s available on the market.

Ready to talk workers’ comp with an independent insurance expert? Give Fusco & Orsini Insurance Services a call at (858) 384-1506 or visit www.foagency.com.

Modern Day Insurance Underwriting and How it May Impact Your Company

December 19, 2018 AE

Almost all companies utilize the Internet to promote their business. Online tools include customized websites, Facebook, Yelp and Twitter, among many others. For small businesses, the Internet provides valuable resources to improve visibility and credibility. However, although there are many positives associated with advertising online, there are also negatives. When it comes to modern-day insurance underwriting, a company’s online presence may cause an increase in premium, or may even hinder their ability to secure coverage.

First, the image a business creates on a company website may drastically alter the underwriting process. For example, many small construction companies upload images of larger scale projects on their page. In many cases, they do so to seem larger and more established; however, an insurance underwriter may view this as increased risk and exposure. Other examples include restaurants with pictures of crowded dance floors, or mechanics with information on their website regarding a towing service. When creating your company website, please remember that an insurance underwriter WILL review it before offering a policy.

Next, social media has become a major component of advertising for many businesses. Facebook is used to promote events or products. At times, your business may be perceived differently than what you intended based on social media promotions.

Finally, Yelp must be monitored, and any inaccuracies should be disputed. Although you may not be able to control all posts, it is important to keep track. An insurance underwriter will search for Yelp reviews, and in some cases, may use such reviews to assess risk.

We’ve witnessed many recent examples of businesses that have been declined coverage due to information posted online. In other cases, we’ve worked with businesses that received increased premiums, and changes to their rating basis, because of websites, Facebook pages, and Yelp reviews. It is common that the information is not accurate, but to an insurance underwriter, the Internet is a third-party resource that the business helps create.

In summary, make certain that the image created online for your business is accurate. This includes images, reviews, product offerings, services provided, and even experience of the business owners and employees. If you have questions surrounding this topic, feel free to contact us.

How Much Does Employee Practices Liability Insurance Cost?

December 16, 2018 AE

Employee practices liability insurance (also called employer practices liability insurance) is a must-have for all businesses big and small. EPLI protects companies against claims of discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination, emotional distress and many other common employee complaints. Every business with employees is at risk of getting hit with an employee lawsuit no matter how careful they think they are.

The cost of employee practices liability insurance depends on a variety of factors. Underwriters typically take the following into consideration:

Number of employees (usually # 1 determination of premium)
Financial worth of the company
Industry or business (certain industries inherently carry more risk than others)
Turnover rates
Hiring/firing procedures
History of claims
Written company procedures on employee conduct and training

Another big factor in the cost of EPLI is the amount of coverage the employer is looking for. Most EPLI policy limits range from $100,000 to $1,000,000. It’s also important to note that many EPLI policies include a deductible. The amount of coverage that your business will need has a lot to do with the same risk factors listed above. It’s a good idea to talk to an insurance adviser or broker to determine what coverage limits would be best for your company.

As far as cost goes, most small and medium-sized businesses can expect to pay between $800 – $3,000 (depending upon industry) annually for EPLI coverage. This range will typically cover a business with 5 – 20 employees. For larger companies or those in a high-risk industry or with a history of claims, yearly EPLI premiums could increase substantially.

Paying $4,000 a year for EPLI may seem like a hefty cost to a medium-sized business owner, but it will sure seem worth the price if you ever get hit with an age discrimination, sexual harassment or wrongful termination lawsuit. The truth is, employee practices liability insurance has been falling in price for years as more and more insurance companies offer the policy and seek to stay competitive.

Now is actually a great time to shop around for EPLI policies. There are more options to choose from, and the price is as low as it’s ever been.

Just take care to study each policy carefully or to review it with your insurance broker. There is still not a standard for EPLI, which means that the policies vary greatly in coverage. Some will not cover wrongful termination of an implied contract, wrongful demotion, or failure to grant tenure claims. Others will not cover independent contractors even though they do have the ability to sue your company.

Overall, we at Fusco & Orsini Insurance Services strongly recommend sitting down with an insurance agent to discuss employee practices liability insurance coverage and costs for your business. We would be happy to answer all your questions and recommend the best policies for your budget and situation. Call us at (858) 384-1506 or contact us through our website.