Tag Archives: small business

Small business has been known as the “backbone” of America, as its success rate is unique to America and few other countries alone. However, to succeed in small business there are certain steps to nail, one including buying the correct insurance packages that suit your businesses individual needs for risk protection.

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New York Employment Laws Will Affect 2020 Employees

2019 was a big year for New York employment laws and these changes will affect your employees moving forward in 2020. 

 

Here is a breakdown of the new legal changes:

 

Increases to Employers’ Exposure to Discrimination Claims: Effective February 8, 2020 employers of all sizes may be sued for discrimination or harassment. This law previously was limited to employers with 4 or more employees. This law made it easier for employees to bring forward claims of harassment. Specifically, this law provides (1) that the main affirmative defense to a harassment claim (i.e. that an employer has a policy with a complaint procedure that the employee unreasonably failed to use) does not bar harassment claims under New York law, and (2) that an employee does not have to show that the harassment was at least severe or pervasive in order to bring a claim. 

 

Additional Classes Are Now Protected From Discrimination: New York Updated which characteristics are protected from discrimination, including gender identity or expression, sexual reproductive health choices and an employees’ choice to wear natural hairstyles or religious clothing, attire or facial hair.  

 

Pay Equality Laws: Two key takeaways were introduced taking aim at pay inequity. The first restricts employers’ ability to seek or rely on an applicant’s salary history to make a job offer or set a salary. The second prohibits employers from paying employees differently for equal work or “substantially similar work” performed under “Similar working conditions” based on any characteristics protected under New York Law.

 

Restrictions on Pre-Employment Inquiries: New York State Law prohibits pre-employment testing for marijuana in most circumstances and pre-employment requests for salary information. Westchester has banned pre-employment criminal background checks. 

 

Paid Voting Leave: As of April 2019, New York employers were required to give employees up to three hours of paid leave to vote in any election.

 

Accommodations Obligations Expanded: New York also codified employers’ responsibility to accommodate (or better accommodate) employees who are lactating, seeking reasonable accommodations for disability or other protected reasons, or who are the victims of domestic violence. Many employers will need to revise their policies and practices as a result.

 

Restrictions on Confidentiality Agreements: As of 2020, employers in New York cannot require employees to sign agreements that restrict their ability to discuss facts regarding discrimination or harassment. This impacts many commonly used contracts, such as settlement agreements, intellectual property agreements, and non-disclosure agreements.

 

Expansion of Required Paid Sick Time: Westchester County now requires an employer whose employees work in that county to provide those employees up to 40 hours a year of paid sick time. Previously, only employees working in New York City were required to be provided paid sick leave.

These are just a few of the important changes that are ongoing in terms of New York employment laws. This is not a comprehensive guide to all of the employment law changes affecting New York Employers. Please contact us if you have any questions about how these changes will affect your organization please contact a risk advisor at 914.357.8444 

Claims Management, Construction Practice Group Content, Food & Beverage Practice Group Content, General Liability Insurance, Human Services Practice Group Content, Risk Management, Transportation Practice Group Content, Workers Compensation Insurance

Why The Commercial Insurance Marketplace Fails Your Business

Simply put, the insurance claims goals between most commercial insurance buyers and the carrier / brokers heretofore named the insurance marketplace are misaligned.

Which Way ?

The goal of a savvy insurance buyer is to transfer as much risk to the carriers for the least amount of insurance premium. Most forget the first part, but that’s a whole other blog article. The goal of the insurance carriers is to charge as much over par as they can get from each insured ultimately driving their profits up. The brokers who place most of the policies are on the same food chain as the insurance carriers as their commission increases with the insurance premium. This classic tug of war is centuries old and describes most functioning marketplaces irrespective of the product or service.

Here’s the difference; you can gain much more control over the system that has been tilted for years against you. What drives your insurance premiums are your claims . Understand that when your premiums go up you are in effect rewarding your insurance broker for mishandling your account as they get a raise and you lose valuable profits. This happens because no one is focusing on the root causes and frankly why should they when the stakeholders on the other side are richly rewarded . Understand that when you have insurance claims you drive up  your cost by allowing the insurance carriers to surcharge you , which in turn drives up your insurance brokers  compensation. Hence the misaligned goals ; yours versus the insurance marketplace.

When we meet potential new clients many  make the same statements in our initial meeting. Our insurance costs have risen dramatically from last year to this year which took us completely by surprise. Further our previous carrier has cancelled us, our broker gave us 2 quotes that were substantially higher and said “there is nothing they can do, you have too many claims”! You are forced to make a six figure purchasing decision usually within 48 hours of losing your coverage.

Whose fault is that? We would argue it’s the buyer that continues to purchase their insurance from the same brokers instead of demanding more. More data , quicker so you can proactively manage the risk components inside your business that are driving your costs. Having this information faster , more timely then allows you to deploy resources up front fixing the pain points in your business before your cost escalate dramatically , impairing your competitive position.

Understand insurance premiums are a very poor lagging indicator. They reset only once a year and are underwritten based on your companies 5 year historical claims data which moves up throughout the year ; silently. Generally over time reserves and payouts increase which is called loss development. What we see sadly time and time again is the folks who purchase the insurance look at this data only once a year, at renewal time which is way too late. That’s like applying for a mortgage on a home only to find out once your in contract that your credit score is a mess. Too late as your stuck with the mess and all the increased cost.

Unfortunately most businesses only look to their brokers to process a transaction rather than helping them build systems , metrics and accountability that drive results and not simply poor outcomes. The good news is really well run organizations have figured this out and have put these systems in place which is giving them a huge advantage in their risk based costs making them more competitive than the also rans.

The vast majority of the insurance broker community has failed their clients simply because it’s not in their best interest to help them prevent and manage claims. The commercial insurance buyers have failed themselves because they haven’t realized how their goals and the insurance brokers goals are misaligned , and have not held either their insurance brokers or carriers accountable for helping them manage risk , not buy insurance.

This November as you head to the polls we urge you to hold your lawmakers and politicians accountable instead of complaining about how incompetent and dysfunctional Congress is. While your at it don’t simply complain about how high your insurance rates are, vote for yourself and chose a broker that has a strategic plan and resources to help you prevent and manage claims rather than simply let you purchase overpriced insurance policies. It’s your future, just sayin…..

Construction Practice Group Content, Food & Beverage Practice Group Content, Human Services Practice Group Content, Risk Management, Transportation Practice Group Content

How To Manage The 50 Or More Employee Health Mandate For Small Business

For businesses on the cusp of 50+ employees there now stands a major dilemma. Increase staff, hire independent contractors; stop growing? Due to a new law going into effect in 2014, if a company hits the 50 full-time employee threshold it will have to provide health coverage that meets government standards or potentially face a penalty.

While the new rule doesn’t go into effect until 2014, a business could be mandated to abide by it if during 2013 it averages 50 or more full time employees; thus smart companies understand they need to manage this from in front, now! The government issued the little-noticed regulatory guidance on Dec. 28. Thanks to our Risk Advisory team we are in front of the issue for you.

To avoid the health-care law’s penalties, many employers are considering hiring only part-time employees and some will even deliberately curb growth so that they have no need to hire. For others that need to grow the best solution could be to restructure, outsource certain functions, or hire independent contractors who would be able to take on certain tasks without upping full-time headcount. These strategies are not without their own challenges which is why we suggest a cost benefit analysis that overlays with your short and medium range goals.

Continue reading How To Manage The 50 Or More Employee Health Mandate For Small Business →

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Protecting Your Employees and Your Business

Does your business have the proper amount of workers’ compensation? Unless you are eligible for a legal exception, all businesses in New York State are required to carry this type of insurance. It is designed to kick in after an accident on the job to cover the expenses related to necessary medical care for the injured employee. It also covers the wages lost by the injured worker. If an accident results in death, it could also pay the families of the deceased death benefits.

Based on information from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, trade, transportation, and utilities industries saw the highest number of workplace fatalities in New York during 2010, while health care and social assistance reported the most nonfatal injuries and illnesses. While these occupations may have topped the charts based on the number of on-the-job accidents, it is important to remember all industries have the potential of being dangerous.

What sort of safety precautions do you have in place? After implementing them, did you see a substantial decrease in the amount of accidents at your business? You may be able to further reduce the incidents on the premises by holding regular safety training sessions and encouraging an open dialog between yourself and your workers. Ensuring the safety of your employees could help your business not only avoid workers’ comp claims, but also avoids losing the expert skills of essential staff members.

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Taking On Your First Employees

Is your small business in New York growing so fast that you need to start hiring help for the first time? Congratulations! Becoming an employer rather than a solo business operator is likely to have implications for many aspects of your business; for example, hiring your first worker means that it’s mandatory for your business to carry New York workers compensation insurance.

Workers’ compensation insurance pays medical and rehabilitation expenses and wages for an employee who suffers work-related illness or injury. Carrying workers compensation insurance provides you as a business owner with immunity from civil lawsuits filed by employees because of workplace injuries.

We would like to offer some advice to business owners who are about to become employers for the first time. While we realize that you may be keen to hire help so that you can be relieved of some of your workload, we recommend that you proceed with caution unless you have experience of the recruitment process from an employer’s perspective.

It’s not difficult for an inexperienced employer to unwittingly say or do something in the course of a job interview that a job applicant sees as discriminatory. To avoid the risk of employment practices lawsuits, you might want to engage an employment consultant to assist with recruitment.

Hiring help in your small business is an important commitment. Purchasing New York workers compensation insurance fulfills a legal requirement concerning your employees’ health and safety. However, the hiring process has the potential for other legal issues to arise and it’s important to approach the selection of workers with caution.

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Home Based Business – Where Do I Start? Will I Need New York Workers Insurance?

Are you planning to start a home-based business in New York?  Before you launch your business it’s important to consider the insurance implications of working from your home, such as home insurance, business insurance and New York workers compensation insurance.
Let’s get the easy part over with first. New York workers’ compensation insurance is mandatory if your business employs one or more workers.

As a business owner you should be considering property and liability coverage for your home business.  Property insurance covers business equipment, furniture and inventory that could be stolen by a burglar or lost in a house fire. Liability insurance protects you if a client or customer is hurt while visiting you or suffers harm because of a product you sell or a service you provide.

Home insurance policies provide a limited amount of coverage (typically up to $2,500) for business equipment in your home.  A standard home insurance policy is unlikely to cover business liability, accounts receivable if your financial records are lost or damaged, or loss of income if your business is interrupted because of damage to your home.

You have a few options if you want to protect your business; these include adding endorsements to your home insurance policy, purchasing a number of separate business insurance policies, and purchasing  a package policy designed for small businesses.  You may benefit from consulting an insurance agent to discuss how your insurance needs can be met.  Remember to talk to your agent about New York workers compensation insurance coverage if you intend to employ workers in your home business.

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Monitoring your Business and the Local Environment for Risks

One vital aspect of running a business is being able to understand the risks you face. Once you have a handle on that, you are in a much better place to initiate strategies for risk management. NY is a big, busy city with a large population that ranges from the very wealthy to people living on the streets, so there are huge variables in risk factors, depending on the type of business you own and where you are located.

To start with the basics go over your business plan to make sure you’re on track with your business activities and take the opportunity to review your insurance policies. From there, you can ask yourself whether your insurance is adequate for your business at the stage you have reached now. Or have you been so busy that your assets or risks have changed over time and you’ve not made the necessary changes to cover yourself against potential losses? Look at your location as well. Cities change over time too. What were previously considered high risk neighborhoods can become desirable up-market areas. Conversely, changing developments may mean that your area has become more industrialized or run down, leading to a different crime risk.

This kind of regular evaluation is an important part of risk management. NY offers many business opportunities, partly because of its vibrant, cosmopolitan nature. It can also be affected by natural disasters, severe weather events and acts of terrorism. Constant monitoring and maintaining awareness of developments, both in your business and its surrounds is a key to staying on top of the possible risks.

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IRS Releases 2012 Calendar for Small Business

The Internal Revenue Service just released their 2012 calendar for small business which includes all of the neccessary filing dates for most of your perfunctory transactions.

 

Although the corporate filing deadline remains  March 15th, on the personal side the filing deadline is April 17th due to the fact that April 15th falls on a Sunday.

 

Good to know. Need other important filing dates to put on your calendar Click IRS Small Business Calendar for the most up to date information.

 

There is alot of good solid info here from the IRS as to important 2012 dates and deadlines.  Filing taxes late results in a Net Income Loss to your organization which is why we want to push it out. We trust you found this helpful. If not we will keep trying…..

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Protecting your Supply Chain

Operating a business means maintaining complex operations. Streamlined operational procedures are vital – not least for keeping track of all the potential loose ends in your supply chains, which may be key for your risk management. NY is one of the busiest business hubs in the country, so protecting the efficiency of your supply chain can be a multi-faceted operation in itself.

Clearly, well-planned systems play a key role in the overall success of an efficient supply chain. However, a supply chain can be made up of many different components, from primary producers to small boutiques.

Many of the companies in your supply chain will have supply chains of their own to maintain. Hence, the potential for hold ups and delays multiplies. It is inevitable that at some point, you will experience a situation in which your productivity is compromised due to a supply chain issue.

The only real protection you can put in place is appropriate insurance that can provide you with a financial buffer in the event that some part of your supply chain breaks down. Speak to your insurance agent about coverage that can become part of your strategy for risk management. NY

-based insurance agents are available to help you with information that can help you make the most appropriate choices for your business.

 

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