Risk & Business

Hiring employees and managing them to help your company grow is a daunting task. A strong insurance portfolio and good risk management is needed especially when you have to fire someone. Most business owners work in States that have employment "at will" which many believe make it easier to terminate an employee. This is just not the case. Federal laws and regulations have set up protections for many employees. FMLA, Anti-Discrimination Laws, and Fair Employment Standards Act, are some of the laws that protect employees from "wrongful termination". Also,  many states have their own protections.  Firing can be even more problematic when you take into consideration the employer's responsibility in managing the run off of the health and benefit plans. To have employees work for you, means that you need a good insurance and risk management strategy. The risk of a wrongful termination lawsuit is greater than its ever been. Make sure your work comp and Employers Pract

Many business owners are using drones in their daily operations. Surveying job sites, properties, and aiding in repairs, are all practical uses of drones. However there could be problems with insurance. The Federal Aviation Administration now requires any drone .55lbs or greater to be registered. In addition pilots must be certified if the drone is to be used commercially. This is where the insurance issues come in play. Most commercial liability policies exclude damage caused by aircraft. Once a drone becomes registered it is now classified as an aircraft. Business owners are using their registered drones and not realizing they have no coverage if the drone was to damage something or someone.  Also, the property policy will not cover physical damage to the drone itself. There is good news however. The insurance industry is responding with endorsements that add coverage for the use of drones. Also there are special insurance programs that cover many of the risks when using drones, an

The state of Texas currently allows qualified employers to "opt out" of the work comp system. This allows  businesses to take care of worker injuries outside of the rules and regulations of the law. Proponents of this option are testing other state legislatures in an effort to mirror Texas. Recently, Oklahoma courts declared this to be unconstitutional , but the fight for "opt out" goes on. Work comp laws were put in place many years ago to make sure employee work related injuries were taken care of and the employers were protected from injured worker lawsuits. This was deemed the "exclusive remedy"  between employees and employers. It has worked well for almost a century. However businesses have been plagued with skyrocketing work comp premium costs and rising medical costs. So business owners are looking for a way to control these costs and feel that opting out of the work comp system may be the ticket.  The risk for  business is they no longer get the