As violence and mass shootings in American workplaces increasingly make the news, more and more businesses are taking added precautions to prevent acts of violence at their facilities, but they also face substantial costs if violence does erupt. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration reports nearly 2 million people suffer from workplace violence every year,…
InterWest’s Distinguished Employee: Karen Preston Karen lifts everyone’s spirits and never has a negative attitude. She consistently goes above and beyond to help her clients and co-workers. She is an advocate for each client getting the best possible outcome to serve their individual needs. She works fast and efficient, tackling the task at hand, no…
The owners of a California flooring installation company allegedly underreported their payroll amounts to workers’ compensation insurers to the tune of $30 million, costing the insurance company almost $4 million in premiums. The men are each facing three felony charges. These are the potential consequences for those who deliberately falsify their payroll records and reports…
As more Americans are returning to the workplace, employers are now faced with the difficult issue of transitioning reluctant staff back as well as complaints and legal action from the most reluctant of workers. Already some returning workers have started to sue their employers, often accusing them of not adequately protecting their workers against COVID-19…
California employers will recall that Cal/OSHA last November issued COVID-19 emergency temporary standards that were controversial. Now the agency is looking to implement revisions to the standards to make them less burdensome and more reflective of the current state of the pandemic in the U.S. as more and more people get vaccinated. The Cal/OSH Standards…
With the recent news of Colonial Pipeline paying nearly $5 million to hackers after the criminals had made the largest fuel pipeline network in the nation inoperable, many businesses are concerned that their operations could be next. While most firms aren’t operating sprawling fuel pipelines that millions of drivers rely on, ransomware criminals are happy…
InterWest’s Distinguished Employee: Judi Will Judi is a leader with empathy, resilience and integrity. 2020 brought unprecedented challenges, which she skillfully maneuvered. The HR leader’s job is tough under normal circumstances, but through the constantly changing COVID environment, she remained compassionate and focused. Judi leads by example with a sense of urgency, commitment and humor.…
California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has approved a regulatory filing that will change the premium threshold for employers to qualify for an experience modifier (X-Mod). The approval was part of a larger regulatory filing the Workers’ Compensation Rating Bureau made to also change expected claims costs, eliminate a few class codes and make new rules…
President Biden’s Labor Department has rescinded a Trump-era rule that would have made it easier for businesses to classify workers as independent contractors instead of employees under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. In the last month of the Trump administration, the Labor Department finalized a regulation to clarify for employers which workers are employees and which are independent contractors.…
As summer nears many companies are ramping up hiring of teen workers, and many companies are taking them on as they deal with the labor shortage as the country emerges from the pandemic. Others employ them year round. Taking on a teen worker comes with added responsibility in terms of compliance with state and federal…