A recent study by the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) spotlights the value of employer sponsored disability coverage in helping meet the health and financial well-being of workers.
According the Social Security Administration, one in every four employees will use their disability coverage at some point.
Despite this need, the nationwide survey found that fewer than two in five workers (39%) in the private sector have short-term disability (STD) coverage through their employers and only one in three (33%) have employer sponsored long term disability coverage (LTD).
Studies by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and Mathew Greenwald & Associates have found similar rates of participation in these programs.
CFA Executive Director Stephen Broback says, “Surveys have shown that disability insurance is a critically important part of the social safety net”. . . “that plays an essential role in protecting the emotional and financial lives of workers.” Based on the study’s findings, he urged “all employers to offer the option of obtaining disability coverage.”
The survey also found that when businesses don’t offer LTD, many workers would buy it for themselves if they could receive the lower group rates available through employer sponsored coverage. Most disability plans cost workers between $10 and $30 per month, and the average monthly premium for STD coverage comes to $18.
More and more employees are benefiting from these plans, an estimated 650,000 disabled workers received employer sponsored LTD payments last year.
If you’d like to offer your employees this valuable “peace of mind” benefit, or for a complimentary review of your disability plan,– feel free to get in touch with us at any time. It’s our pleasure to serve you.
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9 years ago
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by
Shawna Kreis ·
Comments Off on Employee Advocacy: How to target and recruit the right employees
Employees are more than just a warm body in your office. Being able to target and recruit the right ones not only makes your life run more smoothly, they actively bring your company closer to the goals you have set for it. There are three top priorities you need to keep in mind when you need to find an employee to fit your next job vacancy.
1. Position Criteria
The first step to finding the right employee is to know exactly what skills and knowledge you want them to bring to your organization. You also need to determine if this criteria can be obtained with experience, schooling or both. Consider the culture of your company and those attributes that successful employees must have to fit in there.
2. Recruitment Methods
These days, in order to obtain a diverse pool of applicants, you will likely need to advertise utilizing a variety of methods. While newspaper ads have fallen out of favor somewhat due to the rise in popularity of the internet, consider posting your job opening in a variety of different media outlets to capture the attention of as many qualified job seekers as possible.
3. Make Your Job Posting Count
Your job posting is the critical bridge that helps you connect with the right applicants. Partly an advertisement for your business and partly a laundry list of attributes you want the perfect job applicant to possess, your job posting needs to include key information. This includes items such as the opportunities that are available for applicants, what you expect from the person who fills the job opening and a synopsis of your company’s goals.
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9 years ago
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by
Shawna Kreis ·
Comments Off on Employee Advocacy: Key performance indicators to follow and set goals around
The employees you hire are the ones that you think will do their jobs to their best ability with the result being that your business reaps the benefits. Knowing how to determine that your employees’ actions are furthering your company’s success, though, is another matter completely. Use the following key performance indicators (KPIs) to set goals and assess actions.
Goal Oriented
Key performance indicators will likely vary depending on the individual business as well as the industry. For example, if you are in a service-oriented industry, you might have the goal of providing customers with service within a certain window of time while also completing the desired service to the customer’s satisfaction. Your KPIs would need to measure these factors to determine if they are being met.
Measurable
KPIs have to be measurable both in quality and quantity. You have to be able to measure that which you want to manage. A good example is customer service, an aspect that exists in almost every industry and one that is important to nearly every business. Being able to quantify good customer service means that you have to be able to measure whether a customer is satisfied rather than their degrees of satisfaction.
Linkable
There is no doubt that it is important for your employees to come to work each day. However, their attendance might not be correlated to their performance in the field when it comes to handling your customers or completing a repair in a timely manner that meets the customer’s expectations, for example.
Using KPIs as a way to fine-tune goals and focus strategies is the ideal method of ensuring that all your employees are performing those actions that are most likely to help you reach your goals.
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People are losing jobs to robots and technology at an accelerating rate. Have you used one of those self-serve checkout stands lately? One was installed at my local CVS only 3 months ago. Awkward at first but seems like old hat now. The manager there told me the new system allowed him to let two full time clerks go. Two jobs lost to robots and their technology that will never reappear. Here’s just some of the other jobs that are suffering the same fate as retail clerks:
- Pharmacists
- Soldiers
- Reporters
- Drivers
- Fast food workers
- Assembly workers
- Bank tellers
- Secretaries
- Stock traders
- Warehouse workers
- …and there is more
Technology alone changes the employment landscape. Objects like the iPhone have the consequence of laying off Kodak workers, as well as workers in the mapping, printing, alarm clock and record industry.
I recently listened to an interesting podcast (all Radiolab podcasts are interesting!) about work in a shipping warehouse for online mega-providers, such as Amazon. If you thought stop watches were banned in the workplace at the beginning of the last century, guess what – they’re back! Technology, along with its gamification, is reducing worker output to a competitive logarithm using the most minute of performance indicators.
Years ago Buckminster Fuller (otherwise known as “Bucky”) surmised that the rise of computers and technology would bring use to a place where it is inefficient to have full scale employment. It would actually be cheaper to pay people to stay at home. And we are getting there. Even in a “good” economy we have 7% unemployment. And we are being asked to pay for those folks who have to stay at home…because there are no jobs. This has more to do with the macro-economics of production than it does anything a politician can influence.
While Bucky believed that less is more, most folks don’t think that way. In their idleness they will want to be serviced, entertained and otherwise cared for, by a growing service class economy. So the fantasy of growing the middle class back to where it was before all these technology changes is a pipe dream. A political football divorced from reality. There will be a continued division between highly paid knowledge workers and low paid service workers. Sooner or later we will end up paying service workers to stay home or do some form of public service.
As we march forward you will either be a highly paid knowledge worker who cannot yet be replaced by a machine or a low paid service worker who cannot yet be replaced by a machine. That’s true for your kids’ future too!
FYI – Looks like John Henry would be out of a job today. Now trains lay their own tracks http://www.wimp.com/traintrack/
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In most aspects of life there exists insurance to help in protecting assets in the case of damage or unfortunate loss. When it comes to farms this is no exception; however, the typical business insurance or ordinary car insurance will not meet the bar when it comes to insuring the farm and tractors. It is advisable that if your business is farming or you are thinking about purchasing a weekend farm getaway that you consult with an insurance professional with experience in farming.
There is a famous saying that “knowing is half the battle,” so our goal is to review a few areas that have specific insurance needs. This way when you meet with an insurance professional you can get on the right track. As a general rule farm property is covered under specifically qualified policies to include farm machinery, livestock, farm trailers and even irrigation equipment. Depending on the coverage there may even be automatic coverage for new equipment up to $100,000 for the first 60 days – similar to a new born child being under the parents insurance until the child is individually registered. There are other types of equipment such as antennas and satellite radio devices typical on farms in extremely rural areas. In addition to coverage for these types of items there are other optional coverages that should be considered.
Depending on the exact type of farm things like chicken coups, silos, fences and feed racks have the ability to be covered under a farm policy. For those living in the city the details of a chicken farm and the equipment to keep it functioning are just not a reality. However for the farmer, these are essential aspects to their daily life. This is precisely why insurance companies carefully address all the details involved in farm life. Additional coverages are even defined as to the type of use of the equipment, because farm life can vary drastically.
One of our insurance professionals will review your farm and equipment to explain all available coverages and its intricacies.
Content provided by Transformer Marketing.
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On Saturday, August 9th a 2014 Ford Fusion was involved in a one car crash that left one person dead. 24 year old, Gwynne Coye of Aptos, a passenger in the vehicle, was killed and the driver, Marquis Edwards was arrested. Murder, Felony evading a police officer resulting in death, and other charges were filed against Marquis Edwards.
If Marquis is convicted on all counts, he faces life in prison. His next court date is Aug. 22nd.
Watson Murder Law
The Watson Murder Law was enacted after the case of People v. Watson. Defendant Watson had several prior convictions for drinking and driving. In this case, his actions resulted in the death of another human being. Implied malice is the term prosecutors use in order to charge a defendant with murder. When you drink and drive, a person knows that their actions can cause the death of another human, hence implied malice. Generally, murder charges in a drinking and driving case are only imposed against a defendant who has prior convictions for DUI.
Insurance and DUI
If you have been convicted of a DUI, you could find yourself without insurance. If you find an insurance company who will provide coverage, they will need to provide you with an SR-22 so you can file with your local DMV.
Scurich Insurance Services can assist you with any questions you may have if you are in this situation.
Content provided by Transformer Marketing.
Sources: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/santacruz/ci_26332756/driver-charged-murder-santa-cruz-crash
http://www.avvo.com/legal-guides/ugc/california-dui-murder-aka-the-watson-murder-rule
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