Employee Safety Concerns

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The largest employee safety concerns we see within the tech industry are during employee travel, and going to and from the office during early or late hours.

Talk to your employees about safe traveling practices and what would happen if there was a medical issue abroad. They will appreciate the thoughtfulness and pre planning on these types of events can severely mitigate damages. Coverage can be purchased that will immediately cover for your employee to be stabilized then expedited to the U.S. Handling this sort of event for your employee out of pocket may cost $20,000 just for the transportation. The medical bills abroad can be confusing to understand and sort through to pay. Some countries may provide service only on current payment.

When you employees are coming too and from work during dark hours of the day (flexible schedule is a boast in the tech industry), they can be more easily robbed/mugged, etc. Make sure pathways are well lit and that there is keycard or keyed entry with an automatic lock upon close. Talk to your employees so they can be aware and keen when they arrive and depart the office in these situations.

These aren’t everyday occurrences but they do happen and can be financially devastating. You can include this in your crisis management policy if you are a larger employer.

Chris Larmore

Parenti Insurance 

When should I get workers compensation?

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You need to get workers compensation as soon as you have an employee on regular pay.

You also need to get workers compensation if you pay a “contractor” 1099 but dictate 100% of their time for 40 hours or more of work. If the contractor has work comp themselves, it creates a gray area.

As an owner of a company in the state of CA, you are not required to carry workers compensation on yourself. However, we discuss this in depth with our clients and typically suggest that they cover themselves because it is the only on the job disability that most small business owners have. If you have disability insurance already in place (24 hrs a day coverage vs just at work place), then you do not need to cover yourself under work comp.

Chris Larmore

Parenti Insurance

Is theft covered on my property policy?

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If you asking, then the best answer I can provide is “hopefully”.

Property coverage can be bought as “basic”, “broad” or “special” forms. The special form includes theft. We select that form as often as possible since a lot of the tech related property claims we experience are theft. The black market for computers and equipment (especially monitors) is pretty hot in the area, so burglars do not have a problem unloading stolen goods quickly.

Make sure that your broker has included theft coverage and that you are properly notifying your broker as you purchase property for your company. Many start ups fail to properly notify their brokers as they become busy. This coverage is cheap enough that a decent estimate can be done up front and insured to, that should cover the first year. Once you exceed that amount in purchases, revisit it and request additional limits.

Chris Larmore

Parenti Insurance 

I receive others computers/servers to work on, where is that covered?

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Great question!!!

This is one of the most underinsured exposures in tech. Very frequently we see companies obtaining product prototypes, servers, computers, etc getting passed to vendors to be worked on. These products need to be covered in a specific area called “property of others under your care”. Some carriers call it “property of others under your supervision” or just “property of others”.

Many bop products contain a small sublimit for this (5K?) but that is insufficient for the types of exposures we typically see. You should insure to max value in this area, even if it costs additional premium. When you have another companies property, your reputation is also in jeopardy. In the event of a loss, you will want to pay them quickly without bickering too much about value. Proper insurance is the best way to do that.

Chris Larmore

Parenti Insurance

Do tech companies get inspected by OSHA?

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Yes, but usually only if there is some sort of tip off call or you have had workers compensation claim issues. Tech is a low injury work space compared to the industries OSHA typically gets involved with (contractors, manufacturing, restaurants, etc).

With that in mind, instill ergonomics into the heart of your company. Your employees dedicate a significant amount of time to your company. Make sure they are getting up and stretching at least once every half hour. Their work stations should be customized and chairs should be individually adjusted so they are in line with the keyboard, mouse, and screens in a natural posture.

Encouraging exercise is good for repetition based claims, and also can help lower medical insurance premiums. If you would like a few sheets on the basics of ergonomics, I would be happy to email you them. Youtube.com also has some good ergonomic videos.

Chris Larmore

Parenti Insurance

Harassment

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It Happens!!! Even in the socially conscious area we live in, discrimination and sexual harassment do happen. We are surprised at how often we see these claims. EPLI policies will cover this type of exposure and can also cover wage/hour/overtime claims if the policy is purchased to provide that additional coverage.

EPLI claims are now more frequently reported than general liability claims. Even if you are in the “right”, the legal costs will probably be $15,000+!

Review this exposure with your broker to see if you should get an EPLI policy. If your company is aggressively growing, has higher than a 35% annual turnover, or will be performing  layoffs, make sure you have EPLI in place.

Chris Larmore

Parenti Insurance

What are most tech companies offering in a benefits package?

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Benefits packages in Silicon Valley are very rich. We frequently see companies paying for 100% of employee, and 50% of spouse, for a PPO $30-$50 plan or $30/$1,500 deductible plan, as well as vision and dental. Depending on how competitive your specific niche is within tech, you may need to offer similar benefits. The less specialized your employees are, the less you need to strive to retain them. You also need to make sure the plans meet you budget as well.

When we provide new group plans, we discuss a 5 year term on it. We need to assume plans will continue to go up 10% annually as they have over the past 5-8 years. In selecting a plan, how would you deal with it 4 years down the road at a 40% higher cost.

Can you switch to a higher copay for savings? Have the employees contribute more? Is the companies cash flow growth generous enough to provide these great benefits moving forward?

Chris Larmore

Parenti Insurance

What can I use my HSA money for?

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HSA money is getting more and more difficult to use as the IRS (and employers) figure out how lenient they have been in letting this money get utilized on non medical emergency supplies and over the counter products. New carrier guidelines and legislation control what you can use the money on. Any reasonable accident/sickness/doctor visits, etc are going to be pretty easy to get approved on. Over the counter products are becoming significantly more difficult.

Keep in mind that FSA (flexibles) are significantly more broad in scope than HSAs.

Your broker should be able to provide you a current list of acceptable expenditures/categories. I would post one up, but it changes so fast it would be negligent.

Chris Larmore

Parenti Insurance

Are my laptops covered on my general liability

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NO! General liability is a third party policy and will only pay out to third parties in the event of a lawsuit or claim substantiating damages to that third party. None of your property is covered by general liability.

People frequently get this confused because many business owner policies (bops) combine property with general liability (and can also add Tech E&O, and symbols 8/9 on auto!). Many of these same policies also come with a plethora of small limits on certain types of coverage that the carrier adds in for free on their bop products. Even that coverage doesn’t cover laptop well. The coverage you are looking for on that is called “computers and equipment”. Any electronic data processing equipment/hardware should be put in that limit, and not into “business property” which most brokers use as a catch all.

Chris Larmore

Parenti Insurance 

What is the huge difference between an HMO and PPO?

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I get this all the time! Most of the HMO plans only have coverage (better coverage usually) within their networks. They are also more limited on what is in or out of networks so while travelling, you may lose significant coverage. Also, they require you to use a primary care physician. On an apples to apples basis they would be less expensive, but they often contain richer in network benefits and employees appreciate that.

PPOs are advantegous if you strongly prefer to pick you own doctors and require some random out of network coverage. They tend to be more flexible, and cost less since their benefit plans are a little less rich.

If a PPO and HMO did have the same exact coverage, the HMO would be cheaper since the primary care physician gate keeps the use of expensive specialists.

Chris Larmore

Parenti Insurance