Who should you communicate with when a disaster strikes your business?
One of the biggest factors you need to consider after a disaster strikes your business is communicating the disaster to the people necessary.
Your staff and customers are the top priority in terms of communication because you need to keep your staff informed and your customers comfortably knowledgeable during times of crisis.
Your staff is crucial to communicate with, because they have to know how changes in operations will occur and how they will have to continue their duties. This is key to keeping your ship running during times of emergency.
That doesn’t mean that your customers shouldn’t be informed. When a disaster occurs, and your customers are left in the dark about what’s going on, they don’t know if they’re investment into your business will still be worth their time.
Your customers need to know that everything is under control and that your business will continue with them once the dust has settled. Otherwise, they may end up turning to the competition.
Communication is key when it comes to running your business, especially in an emergency situation. Never leave anyone in the dark when your business is in jeopardy.
How would you communicate with your staff and customers in a time of crisis?
To learn more about how GDI can help you when crisis strikes click the button below!
How much could your company benefit from having excess liability insurance?
Often called umbrella insurance, excess liability insurance is one of the most important types of insurance your company can buy.
Think about why you carry an umbrella. You do so to protect yourself from an unexpected downpour so you’re not left exposed to the elements.
Excess Liability Insurance does the exact same thing for your company. It acts as an umbrella that protects your company from unforeseen occurrences that aren’t covered by your regular insurance policies.
Businesses choose Excess Liability Insurance to back up the limits contained in their underlying liability insurances. Every policy has holes that don’t cover against certain types of claims. While these instances are few and far between, having this type of umbrella could be what saves your company from going under in these instances.
It essentially acts as a type of coverage that protects you against anything your regular insurance doesn’t. While these situations may not occur often, having this coverage allows you to carry on with your business, even when you’re not regularly covered for an incident.
How prepared is your company to handle a situation you aren’t covered for?
No matter how much you train your team to stay safe, an accident is bound to happen.
That’s why you probably have a workers compensations policy in the first place. You want to make sure that your team can stay happy and healthy even when safety precautions fail.
However, effectively using your workers compensation policy can seem like a completely different challenge compared to getting an injured employee settled.
If a member of your team was on leave because of an injury, and seems to have recovered since an incident, it may not make complete sense to put them back on a job site until both of you are certain they’re completely healed.
For situations like this, it may be a good idea to put them onto modified duty.
Essentially, it may be a better option to pay the employee their wages and put them back to work in a different position rather than have them go back to doing harder labor that gave them the injury in the first place.
Until you and your team member are certain the injury has been healed, this may be a great option for you both until they’re healthy enough to get back in the thick of it.
This way, you’re ensuring that your team member stays healthy, and you continue to endorse a work safety mindset.
We’ve all had those days at work that we take home with us.
For some of us, that means taking home some rude customers or a long, hard day.
But for others that could mean a long lasting injury that leaves them scarred or leave them with a lasting medical condition.
Imagine this…
Your employees show up for a day on the job ready to start their day with the livestock. They gather up the cattle and get ready to start feeding.
But one of the cows seems to be particularly rambunctious that day, and is giving one of the employees a hard time.
The cow has decided that it’s had enough, and while the employee is standing behind it, the cow kicks the employee in the head leaving him with a concussion.
If you were the head of this dairy farm, you could be found liable for the physical damages and the medical expenses for that employee.
This is just one of the many reasons dairy farms need to protect themselves by having worker’s compensation insurance. GDI is dedicated to making sure your workers’ compensation programs fit your company and your budget, so why would you wait to keep your start keeping your staff safe?
Workers’ compensation insurance will ensure that:
✅ Your farm is covered when an injury takes place on the company’s time that could leave you liable.
✅ Your employee’s medical expenses are covered in case the incident leaves a lasting injury and they need to take time to recover.
✅ Your injured employees are able to return to work as healthy as possible after their recovery period.
There’s no excuse for neglecting to keep your workers as safe as possible when they’re under your watch, so why would you wait to give them the coverage they need if the worst were to happen?
Click the link below to see how our workers’ compensation plan can help you and your employees.
In recent years, ransomware attacks have steadily been on the rise. These incidents—which entail cybercriminals compromising a device or server and demanding a large payment be made before restoring the technology (as well as any data stored on it) for the victim—double extortion ransomware attacks are one of the most damaging cyberattack methods, incurring an average of $1 million in total losses per incident.
As these attacks become increasingly common, numerous ransomware techniques have also emerged. Specifically, double extortion ransomware attacks are now a potential cybersecurity concern for organizations across industry lines. This technique follows a similar protocol to that of a typical ransomware attack, but comes with an extra threat—the victim must pay a ransom not only to regain access to their technology and data, but also to keep that data from being uploaded publicly online.
Double extortion ransomware attacks are particularly concerning, seeing as these incidents can further pressure organizations to comply with ransom demands in order to keep their data private. Review the following guidance to learn more about how double extortion ransomware attacks work and what your organization can do to prevent such an attack.
How Double Extortion Ransomware Attacks Work
To outline the general framework of a double extortion ransomware attack, this technique starts out like most other ransomware incidents, in which a cybercriminal first gains access to their target’s device or server—often via phishing scams, nonsecure websites or malicious attachments. From there, the cybercriminal is able to compromise the victim’s technology and encrypt data stored on it. Then, the cybercriminal delivers their ransom demand and accompanying consequences for noncompliance.
Contrary to a typical ransomware incident, however, these consequences are twofold. That is, failing to pay the ransom could result in the cybercriminal both permanently restricting the victim’s access to their technology and sensitive data, as well as sharing this data publicly on the internet. Although double extortion ransomware attacks can occur at any organization, these incidents are most common within establishments that store a considerable amount of sensitive data. This includes health care facilities, financial institutions, government organizations and large retail businesses.
Double extortion ransomware attacks can be significantly more damaging for affected organizations than typical ransomware incidents. This is because even if organizations have protocols in place (e.g., storing data in multiple secure locations) that allow them to recover their compromised information without paying a ransom, they may still be pressured to do so in order to keep their data from going public. After all, a data breach can lead to further ramifications—including reputational damages, regulatory fines and class action lawsuits.
What’s more, cybercriminals who conduct double extortion ransomware attacks are known to demand higher ransom payments, sell or trade stolen data to other attackers for future extortion attempts and still move forward with sharing data publicly even after the ransom is paid (whether on purpose or by accident)—making these attacks all the more damaging.
Preventing Double Extortion Ransomware Attacks
When it comes to combatting double extortion ransomware attacks, it’s important to prioritize standard ransomware prevention measures. This includes conducting routine employee training on how to detect potential ransomware risks (e.g., suspicious emails or attachments), implementing policies that prohibit browsing nonsecure websites on organizational servers or devices, and installing adequate security features on all workplace technology (e.g., a virtual private network, antivirus programs, data encryption software, email spam filters, an internet firewall and a patch management system).
In addition to these key prevention measures, the best course of action for reducing double extortion ransomware attack risks is to establish an effective cyber incident response plan for your organization. This plan should explicitly address double extortion ransomware attack scenarios and outline steps that employees should take to limit the damages during such an event.
Lastly, it’s vital to secure appropriate insurance coverage for ultimate peace of mind in the event of a ransomware attack. A dedicated cyber insurance policy can offer much-needed support and resources when an attack occurs, minimizing the potential damages and financial impact on your organization.
For additional risk management guidance and insurance solutions, contact us today.
California’s Leader in Insurance and Risk Management
As one of the fastest-growing agencies in California, GDI Insurance Agency, Inc. is able to provide its clients with the latest and greatest of what the insurance industry has to offer and much, much more. The GDI team has developed an “insurance cost reduction” quoting plan, that provides you with the best coverage at the best rate!
We are headquartered in Turlock, CA, with locations across the heart of California’s Central Valley, Northern California and beyond to provide a local feel to the solutions and services we provide our clients. We pride ourselves on exceeding our client’s expectations in every interaction to make sure that our client’s know how much we value and appreciate their business.
Direct and Indirect Workers’ Compensation Costs Explained
Workers’ compensation claims have a variety of different costs associated with them. Some of these costs are expected costs, while others are unexpected. Direct and indirect workers’ compensation costs explained, here’s the difference between these terms:
Expected costs are those that are covered by workers’ compensation insurance. Such expenses are commonly referred to as direct costs.
Unexpected costs are those that workers’ compensation insurance does not cover. These expenses are commonly referred to as indirect costs.
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), both direct and indirect costs can have a substantial impact on employers and their bottom lines. As such, it’s important for employers to understand the difference between direct and indirect costs, how to reduce these costs and why it’s important to do so.
Direct vs. Indirect Costs
Direct and indirect costs are determined by which expenses workers’ compensation insurance will or will not cover. To reiterate,direct costs are those that are covered by such insurance, which can include:
Employee wage benefits—These benefits include temporary total, temporary partial, permanent partial and permanent total disability. Employers have to pay these benefits when an employee is unable to work or return to work in full capacity.
Medical payments—These payments refer to any medical costs needed to treat an employee’s injury.
Vocational rehabilitation costs—These expenses are any costs associated with an employee’s rehabilitation (e.g., training and career counseling).
Death/dependency benefits—These benefits are for the spouse or dependents of an employee who was killed by a work-related injury. Such benefits vary by state.
Legal fees—These fees include those associated with a workers’ compensation claim, any civil liability expenses and settlement costs.
Indirect costs for a workers’ compensation claim are those not covered by such insurance. These costs can vary depending on the extent of an employee’s injury. Some indirect costs include:Wage and hour costs—These additional costs are incurred by employees who must work extra hours to compensate for another employee’s time away from work. This includes hiring temporary workers or having employees work overtime to fill in for the missing worker.
HR support expenses—This includes the increased work and time incurred by individuals who handle workers’ compensation claims and related paperwork.
Claim investigation costs—This includes costs associated with the investigation of a workers’ compensation claim if there is a concern of fraud.
Hazard mitigation costs—This includes costs associated with mitigating the hazard(s) that caused an employee’s injury.
Production deadline extensions—An injured employee’s absence can cause delays in production, thus increasing production costs and negatively affecting business contracts.
Training expenses—This refers to the costs of training other employees to fill in for an injured employee if they are unable to return to work in their original capacity. This can be a temporary or permanent arrangement. If it’s permanent, the company may have to cover the costs of hiring a new employee.
OSHA fines—If an employee is injured or killed at work, an inspection will be triggered and the employer may be subject to OSHA citations for any safety issues found during the inspection. Also, the more employee injuries and fatalities an employer experiences, the higher their business’s incident rate will be—thus triggering more OSHA inspections.
Insurance premium expenses—The more injury-related costs an employer experiences, the higher their experience modification factor will be. As a result, their business may be considered high risk and could receive increased premium rates.
Repair costs—Repair expenses associated with property or equipment can also be considered indirect costs, depending on whether or not the property or equipment was involved in an injury-causing incident.
Workplace culture concerns—A company with a high rate of injury may encounter poor employee morale, particularly because employees may begin to think that their employer does not care about their well-being. Typically, the lower morale is within a company, the higher incident rates will be.
Reputational struggles—A company with a high rate of workers’ compensation claims can garner a bad reputation. With a poor reputation, business contracts and qualified workers may be difficult to secure. A bad reputation can negatively impact an employer’s bottom line and even lead to their business closing down altogether.
Controlling these direct and indirect costs can be beneficial for employers. That’s why it’s crucial to be proactive.
Reducing Direct and Indirect Costs
It’s important for employers to understand that investing in their safety programs can positively affect the outcome of direct and indirect costs. For instance, managing safety programs at a business and having employees actively engage in hazard identification can reduce the likelihood of injuries. By reducing injuries, direct costs related to expenses such as wage benefits and medical payments will also decrease. This will, in turn, lower indirect costs as well. Having a successful safety program is the foundation of reducing workers’ compensation claims. If an employer cannot eliminate workers’ compensation claims, another way to reduce direct and indirect claims is to proactively manage claims. This can involve working with employees to get them back to work quicker after an injury and following up with claims handlers. Furthermore, participating in the claims process can improve communication between an employer and their employees, as well as the employer and their insurance company.
Having an effective return-to-work program can also help with reducing direct and indirect costs. Having other work options for employees that fit within their medical restrictions encourages employees to return to work quicker, thereby reducing a significant amount of direct and indirect costs.
The Importance of Reducing Direct and Indirect Workers’ Compensation Costs
Minimizing direct and indirect workers’ compensation costs is critical. By reducing injuries, a company can continue to function normally, avoid interruptions and prevent issues with production or business contracts.
According to the National Safety Council (NSC), work-related injury costs for employers in 2019 totaled $171 billion. This total can be broken down as follows:
$52.9 billion in wage and productivity losses
$35.5 billion in medical expenses
$59.7 billion in administrative expenses
Employers’ uninsured costs ($13.9 billion), property or equipment damage ($5 billion) and fire-related losses ($3.7 billion) also contributed to this total.
In breaking these costs down, the NSC found that such expenses came out to $1,100 per employee. Further, the average cost per fatality was $1.2 million, while the average cost of an injured employee’s medical treatment was $42,000.
Overall, by reducing employee injuries, employers can help create a positive work culture and lower workers’ compensation expenses— thus minimizing both direct and indirect costs.
Contact GDI Insurance Agency, Inc. to discuss your workers’ compensation needs.
California’s Leader in Insurance and Risk Management
As one of the fastest-growing agencies in California, GDI Insurance Agency, Inc. is able to provide its clients with the latest and greatest of what the insurance industry has to offer and much, much more. The GDI team has developed an “insurance cost reduction” quoting plan, that provides you with the best coverage at the best rate!
We are headquartered in Turlock, CA, with locations across the heart of California’s Central Valley, Northern California and beyond to provide a local feel to the solutions and services we provide our clients. We pride ourselves on exceeding our client’s expectations in every interaction to make sure that our client’s know how much we value and appreciate their business.
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