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 […]
In an unusual move, the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California has filed with the Department of Insurance a recommendation that benchmark workers’ comp rates in the state be increased by an average of 2.7%, effective Sept. 1 of this year. Typically, the Rating Bureau will only file for Jan. 1 or mid-year rate […]
The deadline is fast approaching for employers with 50 or more staff in California, and who do not already offer their employees a retirement plan, to register for the CalSavers Retirement Savings Program. As of April 7, more than 10,000 employers had already registered for the program, which will allow employees to set aside a […]
The costs for businesses when their employees are involved in car accidents on and off the job are staggering, at $72.2 billion a year, according to a new study. The “Cost of Vehicle Crashes to Employers ― 2019” study, released in March 2021 by the Network for Employers for Traffic Safety, looks at how much […]
Governor Newsom signed legislation in March that requires California employers with more than 25 workers to provide them with up to 80 hours of COVID-19-related paid sick leave. The new law even requires employers to pay workers that took COVID-19-related sick leave prior to March for the time they took off. The law is retroactive to […]
The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) that President Biden signed into law on March 11 contains a number of provisions intended to help small businesses and other organizations hurt by the pandemic. Foremost, it includes additional Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans to struggling businesses, and a number of special grants to companies in […]
Cyber insurance rates are going to increase dramatically in 2021, driven by more frequent and more severe insured losses, according to a recent industry study. The report by global insurance firm Aon plc predicted that rates would jump by 20% to 50% this year due to two main factors: 1. Cyber attacks are becoming more […]
New legislation would, if passed, bar employers in California from testing for cannabis use to deny or terminate employment. The measure, AB 1256, would bar employers from using hair or urine tests to check if their employees use marijuana, because such checks do not test actual impairment but rather that a person has used marijuana […]
While companies scramble to protect themselves against cybercriminals and malicious attacks on their servers, there is a growing amount of business compromise crime that uses both technology and a human touch to extract funds from businesses. Businesses have lost millions of dollars to social engineering scams, where attackers impersonate a company president or executive who […]