In 2004, at the age of 18, Antonio Enriquez suffered a traumatic brain injury as the result of falling 20 feet from a scaffold during a painting job. With the resulting settlement becoming final in February, The settlement was signed Jan. 25 and became final on Feb. 25. It was made public this week. The structured settlement will be paid monthly over the extent of Enriquez’ life. While this case may be the biggest workers’ compensation settlement in California history, the point for your business is to make sure you have the insurance coverage you need and the safety procedures and equipment appropriate for your workforce. Workplace safety is promoted through: Safety equipment Having the right safety equipment on hand for employees is important to prevent liability exposure if something were to happen. Facility Safety The design of your facility can help contribute to employee safety. But, it’s not just the facility as seen through the lense of a perfect day, it must also be seen ...

The Workers Compensation Research Institute of Cambridge, Mass., examined medical cost data from 17 high-population states between 2003 and 2009 and found the costs for common surgeries for workplace injuries cost less in states that utilize a per-procedure schedule. In recent years, more states have adopted a per-procedure fee schedule system for workers’ compensation claims, in an effort to control costs. Costs trended higher when outpatient hospital costs had no fee schedule. But, when states used insurance reimbursement fees based on specific procedures, the costs trended lower. Even in states that utilize a fee schedule, when the outpatient costs are calculated as a percentage of total hospital charges, the total spent is significantly higher than when the outpatient activities have individual procedure costs. There was also a large variation in the amount reimbursed for the same type of procedures, some times as much as eight times higher. Outpatient knee and shoulder surgeries were a huge f ...

Your employee wellness program might want to include some suggestions on phone apps, as indicated by a recent survey conducted by incentaHEALTH. The survey indicated: 51% of employees want health-related apps for their phone. 54% want weather-related apps. 53% want music on their phone. Breaking down the health-related wants: Exercise apps 32% Tracking food intake and data such as blood pressure and weight 30% Many employees are now looking to use their phones as the tool that helps keep them on track for their health goals. So, reminders from online services focused on exercise goals and community tools on Facebook to share health progress are becoming more and more popular. As a business owner, you have an opportunity to help your employees engage in your employee wellness program at a deeper level than ever before. Consider researching online and mobile 3rd party health tools that can help your employees start and stay on track. A quick way to start this process is to p ...

A recent study by Wells Fargo and Gallup indicates that investors feel they are either “better off” (40%) or “no worse off” (32%) than they were back in 2008. Continuing with the positive attituve, 2/3 of investors said there is “plenty” of opportunity in the U.S. to “get ahead”. But, 58% of them said they have “little” to “no” control over their ability to build retirement savings. This figure is down from 65%, only six months ago. A “politically divided federal government” is rated as the most important factor currently affecting the U.S. investment climate. 75% of investors said this factor is hurting the investment arena. It now ranks above deficit concerns, unemployment and energy prices. “It’s great to see Americans feeling positive, but it is combined with a sense that saving for retirement is not in their control,” says John Papadopulos, head of Wells Fargo Retirement. “We don’t want th ...

Outsourcing’s growing popularity is being driven by many business trends including the ability to have a more flexible staff without many of the costs associated with a traditional new-hire, like office space, new employee orientation and benefit packages. Some of the more popular reasons to look at outsourcing are: Access to skilled expertise Many times, finding and recruiting specially skilled employees can be a big challenge. Characterizing the current state of trying to hire employees is that there is a glut of people looking for low-skilled positions, while there is a shortage of qualified skilled-position applicants. Avoiding costs associated with supporting skilled employees The costs associated with maintaining specially skilled in-house employees can be a burden when they need on-going training and tools to remain competitive in their field. Many kinds of outsources also need to spend extensive time and training keeping up-to-date with compliance legislation that may affect their field, ...