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Oct 05
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Tell ‘Em About It: Educating the Workforce about the ADA & Accommodations

By Your Employee Matters

ADA

The 25th anniversary of the signing of the ADA offers an opportune time to encourage businesses to educate the workforce about the ADA and disability employment issues. Informing employees, beyond simply posting an equal opportunity poster, can benefit businesses by creating a more knowledgeable and inclusive workforce, reducing the likelihood of discrimination through awareness, and improving productivity by recognizing value in providing reasonable accommodations. There are many ways to educate the workforce about the ADA and reasonable accommodation. Consider these strategies:

Train HR Professionals, Supervisors, and Managers. JAN cannot stress this enough. Train management staff on the ADA and accommodations – early and often. These key employees will have a significant impact on job performance success rates if properly informed, trained, and equipped with the information and tools necessary to comply with the ADA and engage in the interactive process. Here are some training tips that will benefit any management team:

  • Inform staff about the basic principles of the ADA and reasonable accommodation. They must know the employer’s obligations under the ADA, general accommodation requirements, and how to avoid discrimination.
  • Train staff how to recognize and respond to an accommodation request. This is where a formal reasonable accommodation procedure will help management engage and implement accommodations in a way that is fair and consistent. When an employee indicates that a medical condition is causing a work-related problem, a supervisor or manager should treat it as an accommodation request until a definite determination is made.
  • Limit the sharing of medical information. Employee medical information should be shared with only those who are considered to be on a need-to-know basis. In many cases, medical information is provided to HR, however, supervisors and managers often do not need to know an employee’s specific medical impairment to implement accommodations. Details about the accommodation may be all that is needed. Knowing fewer details about an employee’s medical impairment will be beneficial when other employees ask questions about accommodations – the manager won’t be in a position to unnecessarily reveal information s/he is not aware of.
  • Don’t perpetuate or tolerate harassment. Expect management staff to communicate respectfully and interact positively with employees who have accommodations, as should be expected with all employees. Management should refrain from making negative or derogatory remarks in response to an accommodation request or questions from co-workers about accommodations.
Implement a Reasonable Accommodation Policy … and Tell Everyone About It! There is no requirement under the ADA for employers to follow specific policies and procedures when trying to accommodate an applicant or employee with a disability. However, having a formal reasonable accommodation policy and procedures – and sharing them with everyone – is recommended. A formal process creates a standard of practice for HR professionals, managers, and supervisors to follow, which increases the likelihood that accommodation requests will be handled properly and consistently. When formal policies and procedures are shared with all employees, this helps all workers know about the ADA, how to request accommodations, what to expect after doing so, and also helps them understand (if they personally do not need accommodation) that other employees might be requesting and receiving accommodations. EEOC’s own accommodation procedures can be used as a model for employers who would like to draft their own. See, Procedures for Providing Reasonable Accommodation for Individuals with Disabilities. 

Make a Statement! … About Reasonable Accommodation. Another way to educate the workforce about the ADA and accommodations is to be sure the organization has a formal reasonable accommodation statement that is widely disseminated. A reasonable accommodation statement can be included as part of an equal opportunity (EO) statement that makes it clear that the organization has no intention to discriminate on the basis of disability or other legally prohibited bases. Employers should consider including an EO/RA statement in job postings, employee handbooks, on websites and intranet sites, in on-line applications, and other sources of workplace policies distributed to applicants and employees. For sample reasonable accommodation and EO statements, see JAN’s Consultants’ Corner article,Making a Statement – About Reasonable Accommodation and Equal Opportunity. 

Incorporate ADA & Accommodation Practices Into the Onboarding Process. The purpose of an onboarding process is to smoothly integrate new employees into their positions and company culture. The onboarding process should include information about the ADA and reasonable accommodation. If a new hire with a disability needs an accommodation, how will s/he know how to request it? Make sure new hires know that they can and should ask for an accommodation if they know or think they may need one. Many individuals who know they need an accommodation to do the job successfully will choose to make an accommodation request. Others may fear the job offer will be rescinded if they do so, and some may not be sure if they need an accommodation or may not know how to request what they need. To overcome these issues, the individual making the job offer or preparing the employee to start working can share information about the company’s desire to facilitate a smooth transition and integration for the new employee and explain various employment policies and procedures, including the organization’s reasonable accommodation policy. For more information, see JAN’s E-News article, Incorporate Reasonable Accommodation Practices into your Onboarding Process.

From the Job Accommodation Network http://askjan.org/enews/2015/Enews-V13-I3.htm#5

 

Oct 05
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Editors Column: The Importance of EPLI

By Your Employee Matters
According to insurance industry estimates, fewer than 50% of companies carry EPLI. While most DonPhinlarge companies carry it, the smaller the employer, the lower the percentage of coverage. This mirrors feedback I get from CEO’s I speak to nationwide. Although the cost of coverage varies, a $1 million policy with a $10,000 deductible usually costs from $50 to $250/year per employee. When you think about obtaining EPLI, weigh the cost of this protection against the likelihood and impact of a claim, settlement, verdict, etc.

Check out the cost figures on claims, derived from the EEOC, Jury Verdict Research and other sources:

  • 88,778 cases were filed with the EEOC in 2014
  • Average employee verdict exceeds $200,000
  • 14% of all verdicts exceed $1 million
  • Average settlement is $75,000
  • Legal fees average over 100,000
  • Wasted time, an emotional roller coaster, impact on the company’s brand among all stakeholders — priceless.
That’s the potential exposure. What’s the potential of getting hit with it? According to CNA, an employer is more likely to face an EPLI claim than a Property or General Liability claim. Almost 75% of litigation against corporations involves employment disputes. More than 40% of Employment Practices claims are filed against companies with 15-100 employees.
Doing some rough math, there are about 6 million companies in the U.S. Although many of these firms are too small to bother suing, some 2.5 million businesses have 15 or more employees.

Experience tells me that tripling the number of EEOC claims give a fairly realistic number of total claims made with employers. Dividing 2.5 million companies by 300,000 claims comes to roughly a one in eight chance of experiencing a claim during a year — which means the firm can expect to face at least one employment-related claim over an eight-year period (this probability depends on the size of the company, location, compliance practices, culture, etc.).

By purchasing EPLI, you not only cap your risk at $5,000 to $25,000 a year, but you allow yourself the freedom to let go of poor performers without the threat of litigation. Let’s say a 50-person company pays $7,200 a year (an average of $120 per employee) for EPLI coverage. Building in a cost increase, over an eight-year period, estimate the total cost of $70,000. The company probably will face a claim during those eight years, which will cost an average of $75,000 just to settle, plus another $25,000 in legal fees, for $100,000 (see the average premium cost and settlement figures above). You’d still come out $30,000 ahead —plus eliminating much of the stress and hassle. If the case goes to verdict, those numbers can easily triple. Remember there is no way you can amortize this expense! Of course, you might easily face more than one claim during the policy term.

Last, not only do you get a cost of defense, you obtain an insurer’s expertise in claim management.

The bottom line: Not getting EPLI is a gamble that could significantly impact or even wipe out your cash flow. Talk to your broker about this coverage today.
Oct 05
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Managing Random Chance

By Construction Insurance Bulletin

No matter how dedicated you may be to workplace safety, you will never totally eliminate the possibility of danger. That’s why you have insurance, after all. If you could guarantee a 100% safe and riskless work environment, you wouldn’t need to take out a policy. Unfortunately, life just doesn’t work that way.

A worker with a perfect safety record might their first mistake a tremendous one, a machine might have a defect and catch fire after years of loyal service, a company car could have a blowout, and all of this could happen in spite of top-notch training and regular maintenance. Safety is not so much about eliminating the possibility of danger as it is about embracing the random nature of life and being sure that you’re able to manage risk. A professional poker player’s strategy is not “hope for good cards,” but to bluff and strategize and play the table so that they can handle the bad hands and make the most of the good ones.

The question then is: what can we do to better manage risk?

Like poker, managing risk on the job is a numbers game. A poker player knows how likely it is that they’re going to score a pair if they trade two cards in, a construction site manager should know the risks associated with any given task. Here are some numbers worth knowing:

– According to OSHA, fall protection standards violations were the most common violations found in 2014 during state and federal inspections. Related to this, scaffolding violations come in at number three.

– Second on that list: poor hazard communication. Making sure that people are aware of hazards will allow them to better manage those hazards.

– The construction industry accounts for around one in five workplace deaths, with falls contributing to 302 out of 828 construction site deaths in 2013.

– Other leading factors in the “fatal four” are being struck my an object, at 10.1%, electrocutions at 8.6%, and caught-in/between at 2.5%. It’s estimated that better managing these risks could save nearly 500 lives a year.

Since OSHA was founded in 1971, workplace deaths have been reduced by 67%. There’s no reason we can’t bring that down another 67% with tighter safety standards on the job.

 

 

Oct 05
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Take Note

By Construction Insurance Bulletin

takenote

The memory is a fascinating thing. There’s an interesting breakdown of how memories work at www.tbiguide.com/memory.html if you have the time and interest to read it, and if you don’t, we’ll break down the article’s key points:

 

The Different Types of Memory

The brain is not a tape recorder, it’s more like an oral history. Even in your own mind, stories are passed down through time, changing shape with each retelling. A memory has several stages, listed below:

– Immediate Memory.

Immediate memory is sort of like playing the shell game, and trying to remember which cup initially held the rubber ball. Here, your memories are, if not quite perfect, not embellished, not filtered through guesswork or “I suppose what must have happened next was…” thinking. This is the type of memory that is engaged when you’re right in the middle of something, like fixing your morning coffee for instance, and remembering that you already put in one spoonful of sugar before you put in the second.

– Short Term Memory.

Short term memory could be defined as a thirty-minute span of time wherein a memory a memory is still fresh, but fading.

– Long Term Memory.

We recall long term memories after a day or a few weeks or even a decade. Long term memories involve some detective work. When you look at a brick wall, you’re not seeing every brick, you’re seeing maybe five or six of them, and your brain is telling you “I don’t have time to look at all of these, but we can safely assume that there are hundreds of bricks here, so just take my word for it.” Long term memory works a little like that. Your brain fills in the gaps in order to make sense of the story.

Now here’s what all of this has to do with the subjects of safety and insurance: You’re going to need an accurate report following any accident, but if you wait a day or two before writing anything down, you’re going to wind up with a version of the story that isn’t very precise, because your brain is telling you “Well Jerry tells me that he slipped on the stairs, so someone must have dropped some food, and his ankle got twisted so I suppose he landed on his foot…” Your brain can’t help it, it’s just trying to make sense of what happened, because that’s the nature of the human brain, but you don’t need to tell a story, you only need to record what happened as you experienced it, first hand. So taking notes while your short term memory is still fresh is absolutely vital.

 

Oct 05
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5 Things to Stop Being Lax About

By Construction Insurance Bulletin

safety-gogglesSafety is in the details. Not to say that things like fire drills, on-site medical staff and building maintenance aren’t important, but accidents are frequently caused by minor things creating a domino effect leading to serious injury. Here are five “no big deal” safety concerns that we would be well-advised to treat with a little more caution:

1. Proper Footwear
Not such a big deal in a carpeted office, but seriously important in a kitchen setting, and literally life-saving on construction sites. You don’t want people navigating scaffoldings in flip flops.
2. Loose Clothing and Hair
Ever see The Incredibles, where the superhero costume designer absolutely refuses to put anyone in a cape? Same principle.
3. Skipping Lunch
The lunch break isn’t just a chance to grab a bite to eat mid-day, it’s there because you simply cannot be alert and safe working eight hours straight. If someone wants to pick up an extra hour, let them do so at the end of the day.
4. Proper Eyewear
Sure, it’s a pain in the neck to go grab your goggles every time you use the tablesaw, but even if you’re lucky enough to avoid a serious eye injury, a piece of sawdust in your eyelash creates a momentary lapse of attention that can spiral into serious injury.
5. Lunchbreak Drinking
Some employers look the other way when it comes to drinking, as long as it’s not technically “on the job,” and their employees aren’t getting totally loaded. But even a couple of beers, and even in a low-risk setting like an office or a restaurant, can become a catalyst for an accident. Something as simple as a paper shredder or a deep frier can become very dangerous in the hands of even a mildly intoxicated employee.
Your employees might think you’re a bit of a stickler, but they’ll thank you in the long run. Even a minor slip-up can lead to a major situation.

 

Oct 05
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Authorization Required

By Construction Insurance Bulletin
5129445038_59f800f788There aren’t that many “top secret” construction projects. Maybe you’ll be asked to build a toolshed for the President someday, or you’ll install toilets in the pentagon, but… probably not. That being said, it is nevertheless of the utmost importance that, with rare exception, only those who are a direct part of a project should be allowed on a job site. Here’s why:
– Your electrician’s brother doesn’t know your safety procedures. He doesn’t know the on-site paramedic’s number, he doesn’t know how to operate a radio, he doesn’t know where you keep your first-aid kit, he might not even know what an OSHA sticker means when he sees it on a container of flammable liquid. He may be a great guy, but that doesn’t mean he has the proper training to manage the hazards inherent to a jobsite.
– Liability. If an outsider is hurt on your site, chances are that it’s going to be a lot more complicated and a lot more expensive than if a worker, who knows the risks of the job, sustains an injury.
– Your reputation. It can be tough to get work in construction once word gets around that some teenager wandered onto your project and lost a toe while playing around with a belt sander.
There are exceptions, sure. Those exceptions do not include “We really wanted a pizza and didn’t feel like meeting the delivery guy at the gate.” Any visitor for whom you make an exception should be loaned a hard hat and briefed on basic safety, and you shouldn’t be leaving unauthorized personnel to wander around and check out the sights on their own. Whether they’re just dropping something off or taking a tour of the job site, make sure that they have a guide.
Construction sites are full of stairways that end in a thirty foot drop, doors leading out to patios that aren’t quite finished, second floors with no railings, dangerous equipment, live wiring, you name it. Workers know their way around those hazards, visitors might not.
Oct 05
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The Dangers of a Tight Schedule

By Workplace Safety

ScheduleThere are many benefits to sticking to a schedule. When workers, engineers and foremen can see their work come to completion exactly as planned, it’s satisfying for everyone involved. It also helps keep costs down and investors feeling confident. However, planning doesn’t come easily to most people, and the costs can be disastrous.

Most people will cut corners when they can. This has nothing to do with work ethic, it’s simply human nature to save energy when possible. Tight schedules can mean skipped steps, which can make for unsafe workplaces. Communication and time budgeting can help you.

Talk It Out

When contracts are being signed and work is being discussed, odds are there are misaligned expectations on either end of the deal. It stems from being unable to cover every last detail, but you can minimize this miscommunication by delving into the specifics of what the schedule will look like. Weather, new regulatory rules, machine malfunctions, common contagious illnesses: uncontrollable events are bound to happen. When you address this with everyone involved in the process, they start to understand that it’s not laziness or incompetency that causes delays.

Take Your Time

You may need to budget for more time than you think you’ll need, even when you take into account the many things that can happen. Under-promising and over-delivering is a tool that is often misused in business. Everyone is so busy proclaiming themselves to be number one that they’re forgetting what that actually means. When you’re competing with companies that promise they’ll get everything done in no time for half the price, that’s the time to set yourself apart by letting clients know that you get things done right the first time, every time. Your company promotes safety and quality above all else.

No Pressure 

Some people do shine under pressure, but for many it just causes a lot of unnecessary stress. It only takes one mistake to lose a worker and be faced with a worker’s compensation nightmare. For the benefit of everyone, don’t put those kinds of expectations on your workers.

Oct 05
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Worker’s Comp Insurance in Missouri Sees a Fall in Rates

By Workplace Safety

When a company decides to follow the right path for their workers, it can seem like a road that never ends. Taking the time to fully vet employees, train them and ensure safe working conditions takes a lot of energy out of everyone involved. It can seem easier to cut corners, which a lot of companies do despite all of the risks and warnings involved, but Missouri is proving to businesses everywhere exactly what the fruits of taking the extra precautions and doing the right thing can mean.

Governor Nixon announced that 2016 is expected to see a 2.4% loss in worker’s comp claims as compared to 2015. Contracting is where they’re likely to see the biggest drop at 4.9%. Missouri’s earning a well-deserved reputation of having the skilled workers and safe conditions to make a significant difference in their numbers, and their rates are definitely showing their success as compared to their neighboring states. Missouri’s economic growth is sure to be fueled by this change as employer’s pay less for injuries and more for salaries, upgraded equipment and a larger workforce.

Ultimately, the regulation and final decisions comes down to the Division of Workers’ Compensation in the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations working in tandem with the Department of Insurance. However, with the steady improvements that they’ve seen over 2015, there’s every reason to believe that these rates will become in reality in just a few short months.

Hopefully this piece of news helps to inspire those states with more wide-spread problems to start to rethink their policies and analyze their processes. Besides it being costly and time-consuming to file claims, it also opens up a public relations nightmare if their practices start to result in workers becoming injured on the job. Families and individuals alike rely on these companies to provide them with the income and benefits to lead healthy and productive lives, but too much pressure or a lack of attention to detail can threaten the well-being for everyone involved. Thankfully, Missouri is a strong example of the many benefits of doing things right.

Oct 05
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Worker’s Comp in the Digital Age: Uber’s Settlement to Alaskan Drivers

By Workplace Safety

As technology progresses, so too must society. However, technology goes much faster than bureaucracy and with that disconnect comes lots of problems. Uber has developed a platform that allows people to become their own bosses by taking their car out and giving rides to those who need them. It’s typically cheaper and more convenient than a cab, allowing people to simply input what they need into an app and then have a driver come straight to them. But exactly what does all this mean for the drivers in terms of worker’s protection?

Calling someone a contractor rather than an employee allows you to get out of a whole slew of federal requirements regarding fair practices.Uber has slapped that label onto their drivers under the guise that it makes the driver their own C.E.O of their transportation business, but some people are challenging their judgment here. Alaska has ruled that Uber needs to start treating their drivers like employees, meaning (among other things) that if people are injured on the job they’d need to provide worker’s compensation according to state law.

In the light of all the new ways to work, it opens up a myriad of questions as to how people should be treated, and both federal and state governments seem to need to push through the bureaucracy to start making decisions faster due to the immediate nature of technology. Uberpaid $77,900 to the Department of Labor because of their assumptions, and this certainly won’t be the last time something like this comes up.

Erring on the side of caution probably seemed far too costly for Uber, but the time and effort that was put into this settlement was likely not something they could really afford either. The Alaskan drivers who signed up to work for Uber likely had no idea what their rights were, and many of them probably still don’t know. If you’re operating in something of a legal grey matter like Uber is, you need to be aware that all jobs come with their fair share of risks. The money you save today could end up costing you much more down the line.

 

Oct 05
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Almost Does Count in Accidents

By Workplace Safety

Human-Resource-Management (1)It’s easy to measure how safe you are in terms of the number of injuries or accidents on a work site or within an office, but the number that is reported doesn’t tell the full story. If you have a number of close calls, then your luck won’t last forever and it’s likely indicative that you policies need to be changed.

Encouraging Communication

You can’t be everywhere at all times, which is why you’ll need people to be entirely honest with you about what they’ve been doing on the job. Employees might assume something was an isolated incident or just a mistake on their end, and those kinds of assumptions could spell trouble for your company. You can’t prevent every incident, but you can start to see patterns emerge when you make it clear that information is valued when it comes to their day-to-day activities. By definition of almost, nothing has happened. It’s easy for us to forget about things that didn’t happen which is another reason why it’s often not reported. So instead of being infuriated by having a team meeting where one person brings it up and then 6 other people agree, work out a way to talk to your people or have an official reporting system about would-be accidents.

Proper Follow-Up

It’s quite possible that workers are requesting changes that aren’t possible on a short-term basis or ones that are too costly for the company to consider right now. You’ll need to think of the proper work-around solution that can minimize the chances of something else happening. This can be as simple as having one team member assist another during difficult tasks as an extra pair of hands may do the job. There also is something to be said for having your best people on the job, as some can utilize their skill sets more. If you do have an employee who can consistently perform a difficult task whereas others seem to think they may be hurt at some point, then you should find how to use everyone’s strengths to the company’s advantage.

 

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