Tag Archives: Covid-19

AKA the coronavirus, a global pandemic that has caused unemployment and severe catastrophe to the private sector.

General Liability Insurance, HR Challenges, Workers Compensation Insurance

Should We Require Our Employees To Be Vaccinated For Covid 19

Should my company mandate vaccinations?  Like everything Covid related, the answer is complicated. According to employment law attorney  Rich Landau of Jackson Lewis, their tentative position is that requiring employees to be vaccinated for COVID 19 is very difficult to mandate. This is primarily due to EAU (Emergency Use Status) of the vaccine, legal risks including discrimination, and employee relations challenges as you try and navigate this HR terrain.

 

For those clients less risk-averse we have a sample draft policy courtesy of Jackson Lewis. For Metropolitan Risk clients you can obtain the sample Covid vaccine policy by contacting your Account Executive. They are instructed to give you our draft sample. If you are not a Metropolitan Risk client, feel free to reach out to one of our Risk Advisors for a brief discussion.

According to our THINK HR partner and our partners at Jackson Lewis, there is an expectation that the EEOC ( Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ) will issue additional guidance with respect to ADA & Title VII issues with respect to employers mandating whether employees MUST be vaccinated.

 

Our partners in our discussions point to the influenza policies for guidance on how to proceed with the Covid vaccinations. Most employers ENCOURAGE rather than mandate which can be a safe haven should legal challenges arise. According to Rich Landau of Jackson Lewis, “even if the EEOC allows employers to mandate COVID vaccinations this will not elevate the risk of other non-discrimination, state laws, or workers compensation claims if employees suffer a serious reaction while the vaccine is in EAU status.”

There are numerous complications and challenges that may arise if you mandate the vaccine.

Potential Employer-Related Challenges With Requiring/Encouraging The Covid-19 Vaccine

  • Is getting the vaccine Mandated or voluntary – – who is mandated?  
    • The priority of recipients (Which staff members or clients should be vaccinated first?)
  • Incentives to receive it- Does your current organization offer incentives for the Flu shot? 
    • Covid-19 vaccine only or influenza as well
  • Who pays for the actual vaccine, the time needed to get the vaccine
  • Process for inoculation
  • Tracking status
  • Handling poor reactions – – paid time off
    • How are you managing employees or clients that have adverse reactions to the vaccine?
  • Ensuring confidentiality
    •   What if you run out of the vaccine
  • Covid-19 protocols while in midst of process/after the process is completed
    • What protocols will stay and what protocols will change? How will you as the employer manage these new expectations?
  • Addressing exceptions – – medical, religious, generalized fear
  • Handling non-compliance – – remote work, leaves of absence, discipline

The last point to consider beyond your Employee stakeholders maybe your customer base. As an example for those companies providing services to senior care organizations, like Home Health Care Agencies, Nursing Homes, and Assisted Living Facilities it may be suggested that you disclose to your customer base that your organization suggests, not mandates vaccinations. This disclosure should be made at either point of sale /contract, or communication piece sent out to your customer base. This may protect your organization from liability should your customer base look for damages at some future point. This can be a very sensitive topic as each business needs to arrive at its own business decisions with respect to disclosures. There is no silver bullet here, your goal as with all risk-related decisions is to manage the exposures relative to potential downside losses in BOTH columns of the decision tree.

As you can see invoking a set vaccine policy to benefit all stakeholders is vexing, to say the least.

We will continue to provide updates to this new landscape as we receive them. We encourage you to speak with a Risk Advisors for further guidance on the matter BEFORE invoking a set policy. Please mindful that this is a very dynamic and fluid landscape, changing almost weekly. Contact a Risk Advisor at 914-357-8444. Thank you

Claims Management, Human Services Practice Group Content, Other, Workers Compensation Insurance

COVID-19 on NYS Workers Compensation

The COVID-19 outbreak has spread all throughout America, but most notably in New York. Considering America’s largest metropolitan hub is New York City, when the disease hit it was bound to be catastrophic. Due to the heavy outbreak in New York, Governor Cuomo ordered a stay-at-home rule for nearly three months. This resulted in higher unemployment and less in-person work happening.

Increase in COVID-19-Related Workers Comp Claims

What exactly does this mean for Workers Compensation claims? It depends on what types of workers comp claims. Considering health care workers and essential first responders are eligible for workers comp, the workers comp claims due to the contraction of coronavirus have been large in quantity and amounts paid out. Coronavirus claims have been costly for insurance carriers per claim for two reasons.

First, the medical bills related to treatment of the virus are hefty: 6 days of hospitalization can cost $40,000. Second, insurance carriers set a high standard for respiratory Workers Comp claims after the 9/11 attacks. Respiratory diseases lime coronavirus can have permanent or long-term impacts, meaning more money out of insurance carriers. And because the coronavirus is a temporary pandemic and is no fault of the employer, premiums can not necessarily increase, meaning greater losses for carriers due to the costly COVID-19 workers comp claims.

Decrease in Non-COVID-19 Related Workers Comp Claims

However, the COVID-19 impact on NYS workers comp does not end there. Because of the lock down, the number of non-COVID-19 workers comp claims has significantly shrunk these past 3 months. So, financially, while the COVID-19 claims are more expensive than regular workers comp claims, the number of COVID-19 claims is still not as large as the average amount of workers comp claims, meaning that both of these effects of the outbreak have offset each other financially.

The question is now whether insureds will protest that due to there being less workers on payroll and claims being filed, WC premiums should decrease, meaning insurance carriers charge less on premiums to pay out almost the same amount of money. It is important to know the outbreak is not over and these figures may change when the pandemic finishes. Keeping up to date with the official NYCIRB and NY officials is the best way to keep track of insurance on workers comp effects from the pandemic.

Still confused? Still have questions? Call a risk advisor today at 914-357-8444 or visit us here at our website.

Note

*All of these statistics and findings were found in a June 2020 report on COVID-19 and Workers Comp claims written by the NYCIRB. The link is mentioned in the article, and can be found here.

Claims Management, Construction Practice Group Content, Risk Management, Workers Compensation Insurance

Hand Sanitizers Risks in the Workplace

Hand Sanitizer Problems

According to a recent event that occurred on a construction site, the Mechanical Contractors Association of America has announced to be extra cautious with brand-name liquid hand-sanitizers at the workplace. Many of these sanitizers contain isopropyl alcohol, a highly-flammable but important component of the sanitizer. If the skin does not absorb the entire sanitizer, the solution can ignite when set near other flammable objects.

According to the MCAA, an event occurred where a construction worker used the sanitizer then touched a metal beam. Because the sanitizer did not fully absorb, the worker received first-degree burns. This news rightly frightens many, as millions of Americans use hand sanitizers every day.

Hand sanitizers are becoming a commonality when entering a new building due to COVID-19. Liquid sanitizers containing isopropyl alcohol are supposedly effective at combating COVID-19. Yet it is now apparent they are also effective at causing serious flammable problems.

The other component of hand sanitizer labeled as dangerous by the FDA and CDC is methanol. The FDA recently placed recall orders for various hand sanitizers from Mexico because of their use of methanol. The sanitizers claim the use of ethanol, a regulatory hand sanitizer component. However, there has been traces of methanol instead. methanol is wood alcohol usually used in dry adhesives and paint thinners. More than 4% methanol in a hand sanitizer is considered “poisonous” by the FDA. This is due to the fact that methanol can cause serious, permanent damage or death when directly ingested or rubbed onto the skin.

How to Prevent the Hand Sanitizer Problems

To prevent accidents like these from happening, experts say to just let the sanitizer soak into the skin. Waiting an extra three minutes before starting to work can be the difference between disaster and containing a pandemic.

To prevent using methanol, make sure to read the full FDA banned sanitizer list and know what sanitizers to buy and not buy. Also, make sure the hand sanitizer is government approved and not some homemade liquid mixture. These are becoming prevalent due to the hand sanitizer shortage.

Causes

Some things that may assist in the ignition of isopropyl are open flames, electrical tools/machinery, sparks from static electricity, as well as smoking cigarettes.

With the need of isopropyl alcohol to actually defend the skin against COVID-19, the problem will not be going away anytime soon. However, small changes such as waiting an extra 2 or 3 minutes or wearing gloves can make a drastic impact. COVID-19 has already impacted our work lives plenty the last 4 months, a relatively small hand sanitizer issue should not stop us from re-entering the workplace.

Still confused by this article? Still concerned about your health and safety? Contact a risk advisor today at 914-357-8444/

Risk Management

Wearing Face Masks Have New DOL Guidelines

The DOL published a new guideline, detailing that different workers need different types of face masks. They have split up the groups of workers in terms of

risk of receiving/transmitting disease while on the job. There are 5 different groups: Negligible, Low, medium, High, and Extremely High. Each group

has a picture and description of the type of face masks required to wear at work. There are also examples of what type of jobs would fit under each category.

Negligible Risk:

Simple cloth coverings are all that is needed for people under negligible risk. Some people who fall under this category are people who work alone or within concealed spaces. This includes delivery people in their own car or crane workers enclosed alone in the cab.

Low Risk:

A cloth covering with a second layer of fabric is required for people in low risk. These people are workers in small groups that for the most part 6 feet away. They may be after-hours janitors, vehicle mechanics, or local barbers.

Medium Risk:

Disposable masks are required for medium risk jobs. They may be surgical masks or KN90s and KN95s. These are jobs like low risk, when workers for the most part stay 6 feet apart. However, if there are times when workers must be within 6 feet and no physical barriers are present, the job elevates to medium risk. These may be grocery-store workers, kitchen cooks/staffers, or transit operators.

High Risk:

Respirators are required for high-risk jobs. High-risk jobs include those when workers are within 3 feet of each other for nearly 10 minutes an hour. These may include cubicle workers with no barriers or home maintenance for clients with other workers.

Extremely-High Risk:

The DOL requires FDA-approved N95 masks for these jobs, as well as surgical eyeglasses and surgical masks for all clients. These jobs may include EMTs, surgeons, or any healthcare workers that are in contact with possibly-infected people.

Hopefully, this new guideline, called Which Mask for Which Task will help employers and employees protect themselves better. Moreover, sorting employees into risk groups is considered a big step in the right direction for the government agency.

 

For additional information Contact a Risk Advisor or call 914-357-8444, today

HR Challenges, Risk Management

Returning To The Office During COVID-19

Returning to the office has proven to be challenging for employers. Organizations of all sizes are struggling to determine which employee health screenings they can execute without infringing on their employees’ rights. From scheduled questionnaires to employee temperature checks, employers are working hard to adapt to this new normal.

Employee health screenings need to be voluntary. Hourly employees should be considered on the clock if they are waiting in line for testing and while the test is being administered. If an employee is sent home because they are ill they should be paid for the time out of work, if possible. If the employee refuses to take the test or respond to the survey, it is within your rights as an employer to send them home without pay. 


Temperature Checks

Before COVID-19, temperature checks were considered to be a part of a medical exam. Employers need to follow the following rules to ensure that employee health screenings are minimally invasive and confidential. 

Health screenings are voluntary but a necessary way for employers to best protect the entire workforce. Reassure your employees that these screenings are completely private and confidential.  If your business does not have an on-site nurse, determine which employee will be responsible for taking the other employees’ temperatures. 

Employees should be considered on the clock while waiting in line for and while the test is being administered. If an employee is sent home ill they should be paid for the time out of work if possible. If the employee refuses to take the test, it is within your rights as an employer to send them home without pay. 

Additional Safety Measures 

Cloth-Face Masks 

Cloth Face masks are not appropriate substitutes for workers who must wear N94 respiratory masks or medical/surgical face masks. A cloth face mask should cover the nose and mouth to contain the wearer’s potentially infectious respiratory droplets. Cloth face masks will not protect the wearer from airborne transmissible infectious agents due to their lack of seal or inadequate filtration.  (Click here to view the CDC Recommendations for Masks and Cloth Face Coverings) 

Provide employees with guidelines of when they can and cannot take off their masks. For example, some office employees may not be required to wear their mask at their desks, but do need to wear them in common areas while food service employees  may be required to wear their masks their entire shifts. Make sure to express these guidelines and requirements to your employees. Address any concerns they may have regarding the new policy. Post these new guidelines and rules throughout the business in places where employees can see them. 

 

Keeping a minimum 6-ft distance between workers

Employees should keep a minimum of 6 ft away (two arms lengths away) from each other. Workspaces should allow employees to sit a comfortable distance away from other employees. If needed, consider rearranging the workspace and adding additional protective barriers for employees. Businesses considering to reopen should consult the “Reopening the workplace during a pandemic” decision chart released by the CDC. 

 

Keep Common Areas and Surfaces Clean 

While returning to your office space, be aware of how often you’re cleaning. You might be questioning if you’re cleaning enough. Wiping down shared areas multiple times a day with the proper cleaning products is one way to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. 

  • Clean AND disinfect frequently touched surfaces daily. This includes common areas, tables, doorknobs, light switches, countertops, handles, desks, phones, keyboards, toilets, faucets, and sinks.
  • If these surfaces appear to be dirty, wash them with soap and water before using chemical disinfectants. The EPA released this list of common household disinfectants that will help prevent the spread of COVID-19 

 

Still want more info on how to carefully reopen your business in a Post-COVID19 world? Contact A Risk Advisor at 914-357-8444.

Construction Practice Group Content, Line of Insurance, Risk Management

Covering Your Out of State Exposure NYSIF Workers Compensation Policy

If you have jobs, locations, work, or employees who are now working from home and you are covered by the NY State Insurance Fund you need to make adjustments to your workers’ compensation insurance policy. Understanding the out of state exposure NYSIF compensation policy can be beneficial to keep your insurance and claims costs down.

 

Two Quick Points :

Point # 1:  If you are covered under an NYSIF workers compensation policy and you now have employees working from home in other states we suggest you add endorsement # 127 extraterritorial to your NYSIF workers’ compensation policy. 

The language on the endorsement is as follows:

The policy covers bodily injury to all your employees while performing work within the State of New York and to your regular New York employees while performing work of a temporary nature outside the State of New York. The policy covers claims for benefits by these regular New York employees only if they are filed under the jurisdiction of the New York State Workers’ Compensation law. The policy does not cover claims for benefits filed under any other state’s laws.

The policy does not cover bodily injury to your employees who work solely outside the State of New York except salespersons controlled and directed from New York regardless of where such salespersons were hired. 

Given the “temporary nature” of the work at home allowances many companies have made during COVID 19 we suggest New York State Fund policyholders should add this endorsement just as a precaution. Please keep in mind a gap still exists if the employee chooses to file a workers’ compensation insurance claim in their home state as the NYSIF will only pay the NY State benefit. If the employee files in New Jersey which has a higher monthly indemnity limit the gap between the higher NJ rate and the lower NY rate would be self-funded by the employer. 

Point # 2: If in fact the work is not “temporary in nature” and more substantive you need to find worker’s compensation coverage for that out of state work elsewhere. The New York State Insurance Fund, NYSIF will not endorse another state under section 3(A) of their New York State Workers Compensation insurance policy. This creates a substantial gap in coverage. Should an employee be injured outside of New York State at another company site, or work location coverage for that injured employee will be denied. Beyond funding the workers’ compensation claim with your own money, the fines levied can be significant adding insult to injury; pardon the pun. 

 

We suggest you speak with a Risk Advisor to bridge this critical coverage gap. Back to your regularly scheduled programming.

 

HR Challenges, Risk Management

Employee Wellness during COVID-19

Let’s take a quick poll. Put a hand up if you’re feeling burnt out from remote work.  You’re not alone. More employees are working remotely now than ever, and are suffering from burn out. Even though people are starting to adjust to the new routines of working remotely, they’ve now taken on the task of educating their children in the same space and being the support network for their children otherwise obtained in school. Not only are children socially isolated but studies show despite working from home employees are starting to feel socially isolated from their teams and detached from their work. Adjustment to remote work has been a change for millions of people in the workspace. And with this change, employee wellness has been affected severely.

Talk To Your Employees

Take time for water cooler chit chat. A few minutes of time at the start of a meeting to chat with your employees about more than work goes a long way for employee morale. Your employees have shifted focus and are dealing with a number of things beyond work. A quick chat to ask about what personal projects your employees are working on is a great way to maintain social connection and discuss what used to be watercooler topics.

If you don’t have time for a lengthy call, schedule a few minutes into every meeting with your employees to check in with them. Promoting continuing education courses (work-related and not) or exploring hobbies is one way to keep your employees focused on the positive.

Happy Hour?

Just because the bar is closed, doesn’t mean happy hour isn’t happening.  Zoom happy hours are a great way to maintain social connections and give your employees something to look forward to at the end of the week. During these “Happy Hour” calls limit chatter about work and work-related topics and pour yourself a heavily mixed drink. The difference between real Happy Hour and remote Happy Hour is the drive home.

Provide Resources For Your Employees

Your employees might not know where to look for resources for furthering their education.  Take the time to send them resources and links to ways they can educate themselves or build a new skill. If your employees are looking to refine an old skill or gain a new one, there is a number of resources available to you and your employees through EDx.

Check your employee health program. A number of programs available have included mental health services as an emergency response to Covid-19. Even if your employee health program doesn’t have any there are other websites like betterhelp offering counseling services at this time. 

Call Another Co-Worker

Employees feeling isolated might not be communicating with their teams as much as they used to. Think about who you used to grab lunch with before lockdown started. Were they on your immediate team? When was the last time you spoke to them? A call to a coworker doesn’t have to follow the same protocols of a Zoom meeting, this call could just be a quick 20 minutes to catch up on non-work-related topics or to communicate a cross-department plan.

Work With Your HR Department

The role your HR manager used to play has evolved since the start of the pandemic. Work with HR and management teams to ensure your employees understand what is expected of them during these remote times. The conversations between management and HR will also allow your team to develop a better way to gauge how your employees feel about your businesses’ response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Ask Your Employees

Send around a poll to ask your employees how they feel your business did in response to Coronavirus. If you’re considering reopening your offices, ask your employees about their feelings and what your business can do to help these employees feel safe. Asking employee input during this time will help everyone at your organization feel better about the transition back to the office. If you find out that 50% or more of your workforce is not comfortable returning to the workplace then you may be faced with productivity issues that were otherwise not present while employees were remote.

Speak to your employees and communicate with your team regarding your reopening strategy. Some employees may be more willing than others to return to the office. Discussion with everyone at your workplace will help your employees feel valued.

If you have any questions regarding reopening your business, or how you can better discuss this topic with your workplace, contact a risk advisor at 914-357-8444. If our Risk Advisors cannot answer your question they will do the best they can to help you find the answers you are looking for. 

HR Challenges, OSHA, Other, Risk Management

COVID-19 Resource Guide for Employers

For our clients and the curious here is a great resource guide as you seek to build out your own programs and responses to the COVID 19 pandemic. We have been fielding a great many calls from companies looking to get ahead of this issue. We thought we would aggregate the information that is the most beneficial for valued stakeholders. Coronavirus (COVID-19) is an emerging challenge across the world for employers. We’ve gathered some materials to help you stay on top of employee concerns. Check here frequently for updates.

CDC Materials

In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued:

The CDC has also created the following posters for download:

Keep up to date on CDC guidance for specific industries, latest updates, and resources on the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) main page.

DOL Materials

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has created a resource page for workers and employers. The DOL’s Wage and Hour Division has posted these posters and guidance:

EEOC Materials

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has created a landing page entitled What You Should Know About the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and COVID-19, which provides links to resources and guidance.

HHS Materials

In response to COVID-19, the Office of Civil Rights for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a bulletin regarding HIPAA Privacy and COVID-19.

OSHA Materials

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has created a COVID-19 website for workers and employers that addresses the disease and provides guidance and other resources for preventing exposure to and infection with the virus.

Topics covered include:

OSHA has also issued the publication Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19.

NCCI Materials

Covid-19 and Workers’ Compensation: What You Need To Know

Small Business Administration Materials

The U.S. Small Business Administration has issued guidance entitled SBA Disaster Assistance in Response to the Coronavirus, explaining how the SBA is offering designated states and territories low-interest federal disaster loans for working capital to small businesses suffering substantial economic injury as a result of the coronavirus. Also see Coronavirus (COVID-19): Small Business Guidance & Loan Resources.

ThinkHR Materials

New York State Guidelines

Department of Health

Department of Labor

Office of the Attorney General

HR Challenges, Risk Management

Resuming Business Operations During Covid-19

Foremost on most organization’s agenda is how do we resume operations in a COVID-19 world? Candidly it’s a bit complicated contingent on a great many factors. Here’s a very short list of some contingencies.

What does your operation look like; what do you do?  What does your service plant or office look like? How is it structured. Lastly, what’s your workflow & staffing levels to execute? Can you stagger staffing locations to create separation?   This shortlist of considerations to take to maximize the safety of your employees and customers.

At Metropolitan Risk part of our business model is to engage and vet high-quality partners that bring a risk mitigation skill set that our clients can leverage. Purchasing insurance is just another way to finance risk. The real magic and cost reductions happen when you marry the science & art of risk management with risk financing. Through the years we found our risk management recommendations weren’t always followed through because our clients lacked a network of these highly skilled individuals and firms by discipline.  Thus we thought we would make it easier for our clients to engage the necessary resources.

For purposes of today’s article, we partnered with Rich Landau of Jackson & Lewis. One of the preeminent employee law firms in the country. Rich was kind enough to share a LIST of things to consider as we begin to emerge from our COVID-19 induced stasis. Understand that this list is long and does not apply universally to every business. Think of this list as a general idea of what to consider as you make your own list to re-open.

 

Click here to download the list of suggestions to resume the operations of your organization in a COVID-19 world. 


For those of you who are Metropolitan Risk clients, we encourage you to speak to your Risk Advisor for assistance on how to build your own list.