The Ventura County Star, in this Workers Compensation article is mentioning that the local District Attorney is sending investigators out to businesses. The DA’s staff simply shows up at any business and asks to see written proof of their Workers Compensation coverage.

If you have coverage, but don’t have immediate proof of it, they give you ten days to get the proof.

If the business lacks coverage, the owners face fines starting at $10,000. They also face Criminal Misdemeanor charges. This is detailed in Labor code section 3700.5

The article doesn’t mention that in addition to the fines, the business would likely be shut down until they can provide proof to the appropriate agencies and authorities that they have indeed obtained coverage.

How much lost business could that mean? How many days with doors closed?

Businesses should obviously have coverage to comply with known laws. And District Attorneys in various jurisdictions are beginning to enforce the laws that have been on their books for many years.

They’ve also been hearing from businesses which are covered, about the competitive disadvantage they face as they compete against un-insured businesses.

Some industries habitually claim that their staffpersons are all independent contractors, such as: Real Estate and Lending salespersons. Enough on that for now, just make certain that you have coverage, have proof of it, or that you get it, ASAP. It would be a good idea to do so before the premiums go up on January 1, 2009.

Cheers to the insured, Jeers to the uninsured.

This post is another call to those employers who haven’t yet obtained coverage.

As seen here in an article from the Californian, a Salinas based newspaper; the service station employer/owner was placed on probation for three years and is required to pay a $10,000 fine for not carrying coverage.

The article doesn’t mention this, but it’s likely that she was shut down until such time that she could prove that she obtained coverage. How many days could that have taken? Whatever it was, that’s a lot of revenue for a gas station to go without. Note also that she pleads guilty. She had no choice.

If you’re an employer without coverage, contact your local broker, (or myself), and get covered now.
Don’t take the chance that the Department of Industrial relations won’t find you.

Cheers, your work comp wonk.

Uninsured employers need work comp coverage

I doubt whether many readers of this blog are in the position of being an uninsured employer without Workers Compensation coverage. If you are, an article out of San Luis Obispo highlights the perils of being on either side of this problem. The writer, Colin Rigley, describes how the injured employee slipped and incurred injuries, only to find out that the employer had not obtained coverage after buying the business.

The employer has filed for bankruptcy, and is facing a civil lawsuit from the injured employee. He is also likely to have the Department of Industrial relations chasing him to recoup the payments the Uninsured Employers Benefits Trust Fund made to the employee for her treatments.

Employers, the message is clear; Don’t operate this way.
If you do, the risks to you and the injured person can be more than you can imagine.

Cheers, to those who operate properly