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Best In-Class Business Insurance for Technology Firms & IT Consultants
Every day, millions of people around the world plug into a virtual workspace and sit down at their personal hub of information: the computer. Yet how many people think of computer security on a daily basis? And how many actually do something about it?
Today, November 30th, is National Computer Security Day. In honor of this day, we hope the information below will inspire you to enact some safer computer practices and be informed of the ways that cyber liability insurance can help your business keep its peace of mind.
Computer Security Day began back in 1988 at the beginning of the rise of computers. This was back before computers became household items and were mostly used in business and the government.
In the late 80s, the Internet was in its infancy. Although you may think it was safe back then, there were still hackers. The more advanced the Internet and computers became, the more information was stored to servers, which gave rise to security breaches and the ability for hackers to obtain valuable information.
It’s more important than ever before to secure your business information and computer equipment. Here are some quick tips to help you make the most of Computer Security Day.
Some of these may seem like simple tasks, but they could end up saving you and your company a lot of money and a lot of hassle.
Cyber liability insurance is a policy a business can take to protect themselves from liability situations arising from the accumulation and distribution of data and other forms of electronic liability.
For example, if a data breach were to occur, a cyber liability policy can cover the expenses related to investigation, notifying the involved parties, legal costs, and fines. It can also cover intellectual property rights infringement and network security liability.
If your company collects data about clients in the process of conducting business with them, you are always at risk that your computer systems and data will be vulnerable to a cyber attack or hacker. The resulting damage from that information getting out (social security numbers, credit card information, and personal information) can be devastating to your clients and result in lawsuits brought against your company.
Cyber liability insurance can alleviate the financial burden of handling the fallout from an unfortunate cyber attack, data breach, or failure of your network security.
Computer Security Day is something we can all learn from. Take one tip from above and practice it over the following months. Maybe your goal is to have stronger passwords, or perhaps you want to remember to log off your shared work computer at night.
Whatever it may be, take the time out to be aware of the many dangers there are with using computers. Also, keep in mind that cyber liability insurance can protect you in times of need, so another way to celebrate is to speak with one of our knowledgeable agents today!
The due date for filing 2016 Forms 1095-B and 1095-C has been extended by 30 days according to Notice 2016-70, issued by the Department of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service on November 18.
This extends the deadline for furnishing these forms from January 31, 2017 to March 2, 2017, but does not apply to the corresponding forms. Those due dates remain February 28, 2017 for forms not filed electronically and March 31, 2017 for forms filed electronically.
For employers who have shown they have made good faith efforts to report on or provide individuals with necessary information as required under sections 6055 and 6056, Notice 2016-70 also extends the “good faith effort” transition relief. The standard applies to the initial furnishing of statements to individuals, as well as filing for inaccurate or incomplete information reported on the return or statement with the IRS. This includes incorrect taxpayer identification numbers and dates of birth, among other information.
In order to determine good faith, the IRS will determine whether the employer or coverage provider has suitably made an effort to prepare the necessary information and provide it to individuals. Additionally, the IRS will determine if the employer or coverage provider is taking steps to ensure that it will be able to comply with 2017 reporting requirements, which are due in early 2018.
If you would like more information or have questions or concerns, please contact Gauri Gupta at gauri@insureyourcompany.com or (732) 832-7997 x2008.
Oftentimes, I receive emails from clients that they’ve had surgery, a procedure, or a diagnostic test, and then months later, a bill comes in the mail.
Naturally, the first thing they ask me is, “Why did I get this bill?”
Although you have insurance, it isn’t enough to ensure that you will not receive a bill in the mail. I recently underwent a total hip replacement surgery. The type of surgery was a common posterial procedure, which required a three-day hospital stay followed by 10 in-home physical therapy sessions over a two week period. After the in-home sessions, I had a post-operative visit with my doctor where he then gave me a prescription for outpatient physical therapy.
Prior to my surgery, I made calls to my carrier to know what my financial responsibility would be before I went to the hospital. I did not want to have any surprises when I returned home. While recovering, I wanted to focus on getting back on my feet without worrying about hospital bills that would make my pain more painful.
With insurance comes the responsibility to understand how it works and what your share of the cost might be. The ID card we all receive can be a big help.
First, it should always be presented at the time of surgery or any doctor or diagnostic visit to ensure the claims go to the correct carrier. There is a customer service number on the card so you can call customer service to ask any questions about your current plan, cost, and coverages.
Many times, I find clients get their information from the doctor’s office. Although doctors are knowledgeable, they cannot give you an accurate account of charges and your financial responsibility.
I wanted to get my information directly from the insurance carrier. Hence, I called and I called and I called again to check and double check the information. The first question I asked was if the surgery would be covered and if there would be any out of pocket expenses.
These are some of the particulars I asked to see what my costs would be:
Even after many calls to my insurance company, a few days after returning home, I still received a letter from the hospital saying my insurance would only cover a three-day stay, so I would have to pay for the other two.
Don’t panic if you get a bill. Call the insurance company. I was there only three days. I called my insurance carrier, explained my situation, and they told me I had nothing to worry about. It was an error.
A part of having insurance is the responsibility to do your research and ask questions before a surgery/procedure or diagnostic testing. The other part is to look at your Explanation of Benefits as they arrive. Many people never look at the EOBs, but they will give you the billing breakdown and tell you if there is any patient responsibility.
It has been two months since my surgery and luckily, all is well and there were no financial surprises!
Your employees work hard every day and for long hours. Have you considered what this does to their health?
There are many success stories out there about employee wellness programs, but perhaps you’ve held off on starting your own out of concern for time and cost. Or maybe the biggest worry is that your employees will rebel against the plan and do the opposite of what you suggest, even if it’s for their own good.
For employee wellness programs to work successfully, you need to bring unique incentives for keeping your employees healthy. Workers may not want to cooperate without having a compelling goal to strive for—or without consequences if they don’t.
While you’ll find some companies that impose penalties for not participating in individual EWPs, how you structure yours matters in genuine participation. Sometimes it requires stronger incentives to get them involved. The goal, after all, is to keep the experience positive overall.
If you’re not sure where to start with your employee wellness program, it’s smart to go by the model of what other companies do. Places like Google, Facebook, and HubSpot have great wellness programs you can learn from to keep employees motivated toward staying healthy.
Most employee wellness program analysts say you should only do health risk assessments with workers rather than pay for full checkups. By asking employees to fill out a questionnaire about their habits, you can tell a lot about their potential health problems.
Be sure to ask how physically active they are and whether they’re often subjected to stress. Some of this is perhaps obvious in your workplace if you know your employees well. Still, you want a clear understanding of their biggest health risks.
You can still work up a good health plan based on these criteria. It’s a better way over putting in the expense of full medical examinations, which many employees may refuse to do.
Some still debate about whether long-term incentives really work well in getting employees motivated. Financial incentives sometimes work, though they can also lead to internal problems in the workplace. In many cases, workers want to gain more out of improving their health than money.
What’s more important is bringing a staff camaraderie that promotes a culture of health. When everyone can work together toward a goal, you get more group motivation in cultivating improved lifestyles.
If you’ve already managed to get everyone on board in your company toward working on a project goal, wellness programs work much the same way.
Above all, you reduce absenteeism in the workplace, something you should note in your wellness program. Many of your employees may already suffer the consequences of having to work for those who constantly call in sick. Keeping everyone as healthy as possible ultimately increases productivity and puts less pressure on fill-ins.
Some of the best-known companies in the world put together health programs to ensure each employee stays physically fit and eats well.
Google, for instance, has on-site fitness centers so employees can work out during off hours. They even offer cafes and micro-kitchens that serve healthy food all day.
Facebook has had a strong health program in place for a number of years as well. Their push is to get employees healthy and keep them that way beyond the context of their jobs.
When Boston Magazine wrote a profile on HubSpot a couple of years ago, the latter gave more details about their own health initiatives. They managed to not only bring exercise and nutritious eating to their workplaces, they even added nap rooms. This brought attention to how important sleep is to better health.
Here are a few fun ideas you may want to try that go beyond what the big guys are doing:
Of course, there are additional things that you can do as the employer to supplement these programs, including offering group health insurance. When employees have reliable health insurance, they’ll be more likely to keep up with their own health concerns, which can help avoid serious medical issues down the line that might put them out of commission. Plus, knowing that their employer is concerned for their overall well-being can provide a huge boost in morale and help retain (and recruit) valuable talent over time.
On May 19, 2016, the Obama administration, along with the Department of Labor, finalized details regarding the new overtime pay reform bill. This reform has been in the making since 2014 when President Obama signed an executive order requiring the Department to overhaul current overtime pay laws.
This new rule will be active and enforceable as of December 1, 2016. Once this rule takes effect, a projected 4.2 million additional American workers will be eligible for overtime.
To understand how this may affect your small business, it’s worth exploring the history of our country’s labor and overtime laws, as well as what changes this reform with bring.
During the height of the Great Depression, employers treated their workers poorly, thus ushering in the passage of the Fair Labor and Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 that:
Providing the impetus for the FLSA was the desire to prevent employees from being exploited. However, due to business flexibility necessities, the FLSA created exempt and non-exempt status for certain employees.
Salaried administrative, professional, and executive employees—along with many technology and outside sales employees—are exempt from overtime requirements, largely due to their already quite high salaries. Thus, whereas these exempt employees are not entitled to overtime pay, they must meet certain criteria regarding their responsibilities and wages.
Conversely, non-exempt employees are covered by FLSA and must be paid at least minimum wage and receive overtime pay at the rate of one-and-a-half times their regular pay for working over 40 hours in any given week.
Whereas FLSA overtime rules protected nearly 62 percent of full-time employees in 1975, this number dwindled to a measly eight percent over the years. The largest offenders were employers who reclassified some employees as “managers” and “supervisors” in lower paying retail and fast food jobs. These employees regularly worked over 40 hours per week without receiving additional pay.
First, the wage threshold will be officially set at $47,476. This means that any salaried, hourly, lower-wage, and non-managerial employee who earns less than this amount must receive one-and-a-half times his/her regular wage for any hours in excess of 40, worked in one week. Before this rule went into effect, the threshold amount was only $23,360 per year. This reform will affect nearly 4.2 million American workers who will qualify for overtime.
Every three years, this wage threshold will undergo adjustment to maintain the US’s effective coverage rate at 40 percent. Preliminary projections suggest the threshold will increase to $51,000 at its first adjustment on January 1, 2020. Reasons for this adjustment are to ensure ongoing attention regarding inflation and to prevent another significant gap between reforms.
Finally, employers’ use of commissions and non-discretionary bonuses may comprise only up to ten percent of an employee’s salary level.
As mentioned, this reform will increase the percentage of employees affected by overtime laws from eight percent to 40 percent, thus requiring all businesses to pay their employees based on their overtime hours. This additional cost is estimated at roughly $2,400 per year per employee.
A recent USA Today article lists compliance options for small businesses. Among them are:
Experts assert that ensuring quality employees are kept, that morale is high, and that the business can handle the extra costs are the three most important factors to consider.
Critics, such as Dan Bosch of the National Federation of Independent Business, argue that this new mandate is just one in a long line of many which disproportionately affect small businesses that include:
For more information, or to discuss how this new mandate may affect your business, please contact us.
Employee motivation plays a large role when it comes to the productivity and success of a small business. Employees who are enthusiastic about coming to work every day are naturally going to produce more than those who are indifferent.
In fact, a disengaged workforce can harm a company in many ways. There are several things you, as a manager or business owner, can do to foster a positive and energetic environment.
Let’s look at some of the best ways to keep your employees motivated.
Employees tend to feel better about work when they know that someone is available to listen to their concerns. Simply being visible as much as possible—as opposed to being locked in your office—goes a long way toward cultivating this feeling.
Beyond this, make it a point to talk to employees and ask them how they feel about the latest policies around the office. Employees, of course, must believe that you want their honest opinion and aren’t simply looking for rote praise or an affirmation of your brilliance.
People are individuals and motivated by different approaches. Some people love the limelight while others prefer to maintain a low-key presence. Some respond best to a blunt and direct approach while others are more sensitive and are more likely to give their best effort if you talk to them in a nuanced manner.
Take the time to observe each employee’s personality and keep this in mind when assigning tasks and giving feedback.
Today’s workplace is becoming increasingly flexible, as workers telecommute, choose their own vacation time, and in some cases, even choose their own hours. The degree of flexibility you allow is partly determined by your industry and the kind of business you run.
However, giving employees more freedom helps to motivate them. Modern technology makes it possible to run an efficient workplace without adhering to a rigid schedule. Flexibility lets employees balance work with their other responsibilities and interests.
Employees will feel more motivated in an atmosphere that encourages learning, growth, and constant improvement. Cross-training is a strategy that has benefits to the business as well as workers. You end up with a staff with multiple competencies. This stimulates employees and provides you with a workforce with a wide range of skills.
If you want to take this principle to the next level, send employees to seminars and training programs or, if possible, pay for them to obtain advanced degrees.
A business’s productivity and profits are obviously a priority. At the same time, you need a healthy balance between work and fun. Motivation will suffer if people feel the constant pressure to perform or if they feel as if they’re being micromanaged.
You can make work more fun by planning lunches, parties, and employee outings. Such activities are valuable in a number of ways. They give people a chance to relax while fostering bonding and teamwork.
It’s important to consistently provide feedback to let employees know how they’re doing. If you want to motivate people, make sure you do this in a way that’s helpful, constructive, and truly informative.
It’s best to provide feedback in a timely way rather than waiting for formal employee reviews. Be sure to mention what people are doing well in addition to areas where they need to improve. When providing feedback, make sure it’s a two-way conversation.
For example, you might ask the employee for ideas on how he or she might improve in a certain area. This makes employees feel engaged rather than simply being told to do better.
Employees who have access to good health insurance, life insurance, a 401K, vacation time, and other attractive benefits are likely to feel motivated. A solid benefits package gives employees a sense of security and is a factor that contributes to motivation and feelings of loyalty to the business.
Considering offering group health insurance, but not sure where to start? We created an ebook that will teach you the ins and outs of offering health benefits. The best part? It’s free!
The right time to decide what you’ll do about a data disaster is before it happens. Once it occurs, if you don’t have a data recovery plan in place, it’s too late. Your business will most likely fail.
If you’ve prepared for trouble, though, your organization has a good chance of survival.
Fires, natural disasters, and crime can wreak serious damage on a business’s computers, including its on-site backups. Insurance may cover the hardware, but no amount of money can replace data that’s permanently lost. Without critical customer and employee records, there might be no way to continue.
A disaster recovery plan will cover everything necessary to surviving a data catastrophe. It will let you determine what you’ll have to recover, how to do it, and who will do it.
The first step is to identify all your critical data assets. What systems do you have that carry out essential processes and hold necessary data? Be sure to include any machines that might sit half-forgotten, yet play an essential role.
Do you have any systems that are so old, they’ll be hard to replace? If you’re stuck with an ancient system that you can’t easily replace, be sure to export its data regularly to a more usable archive format. That way, other software will be able to pick it up, even if it takes some work.
Having backups is important, but if a disaster ruins your entire network, a local backup isn’t enough. The backup drive is likely to suffer as much damage as the original. You need to keep a copy of all your essential data in a remote location. Cloud backup is a safe and economical way to do this.
Choose a reliable service that will still be around when you need it. A well-established, reputable cloud service with redundant locations gives you the highest level of safety.
The backup process and storage both need to be secure. You’re sending all your files over the Internet, and it’s important—often legally required—to make sure no one can intercept and read them. The backup has to transfer and store all data in a strongly encrypted form.
Recovery in case of a disaster is more complicated than normal restoration from a backup. You might not have the original machine. Your recovery plan needs to include the information necessary to rebuild your systems, not just the data files on them.
This information includes full descriptions of the computers, their operating systems, the network configuration, and the software. You should have all the information necessary to acquire replacement hardware, configure the machines to match the originals, and install the necessary software.
You need to be sure all the information necessary to restore your data will be available in spite of a disaster. The passwords or keys required to start the restoration process need to survive whatever happens. If the only copy of a critical key is in the office, it might burn up along with the computers. Keep this information in a safely locked box off the premises.
Preparation is the key. The recovery plan should specify who is responsible, how to reach them, and who can back them up. If the disaster affects the whole area, some employees might not be reachable right away. Recovery shouldn’t depend critically on any one person’s availability.
Everyone with a role in the recovery process should be familiar with the plan and know what actions to take. The plan should get an annual review, to make sure that it takes any changes to the network into account.
Disaster drills will help to make sure people understand the plan and are able to carry out their roles. Simulating a disaster and seeing how people respond to it will uncover any defects in the plan or in people’s understanding of it. It’s better to discover the problems before a disaster happens than after.
It’s important to have an idea how long recovery will take. It will take time to acquire new computers, set them up, and restore the backup files to them. The business needs to last long enough to accomplish this, and it needs to let customers and other stakeholders know how long this will be. Failover machines on a cloud service allow the quickest recovery.
A disaster recovery plan can make the difference between continuing in business and having to shut down. If no disaster ever happens, it still gives you the increased peace of mind from knowing that you would be able to deal with one.
With a solid insurance policy and a good disaster recovery plan, you’re ready to face whatever the future brings. Please contact us for a quote.
As of 2016, 77% of Americans say that money and work are the leading causes of stress in their lives, which takes a toll on business owners everywhere, as well as their employees.
This results in an annual cost of over $300 billion paid out by US companies for stress-related health care and missed work, which is especially detrimental because of the continuously rising costs of health care. It ends up being part of a vicious cycle, one where stress begins to affect your entire life, making you feel unhappy and unmotivated, which can be detrimental to company morale and affect your personal life.
So how can you take on the causes of your stress and learn to manage or eliminate them?
On November 2nd of every year, America celebrates National Stress Awareness Day, a holiday which promotes the understanding of stress factors in our everyday lives and how to handle them.
National Stress Awareness Day was originally established in 1998 by the International Stress Management Association. It was created as a day to bring attention to the way stress affects us and those around us, as well as some helpful ways to cope with the avoidable and unavoidable stresses in our lives, such as work, relationships, diet and overall health.
So what can we do to relieve ourselves of excessive pressure and anxiety? And what can you do as an employer to help your employees manage their workplace stress in a healthy way?
Here are some great tips the International Stress Management Association promotes as ways to reduce stress.
Sit down and prioritize all of the things you have to do during any given day or week in order of importance. This will allow you to systematically work through your list more efficiently.
If you’re a business owner or employer, understand that your employees have a lot on their plates. Help them to set a schedule if they need guidance. Make sure you’re delegating tasks efficiently and not just to the same one or two people.
When you feel better physically, you will also feel better mentally. A great way to deal with stress is to make sure you’re staying hydrated, eating well, and exercising regularly. Exercising is a proven way to release endorphins that put you in a better frame of mind and make you physically feel great.
As a business owner, this is especially important. Don’t take on more than you can handle. You have to be able to delegate tasks when you can, as well as say no when you’ve already got too much on your plate.
Take some time to figure out why you’re stressed. Do you have a big deadline coming up? Are you in an emotionally exhausting relationship? Are you worried about things that may never happen?
Consider what might be bothering you and work toward fixing the problem or accepting the things you cannot change.
Studies show that if you regularly take short breaks, you will work more efficiently and with a clearer mind. As a company owner, encourage your employees to get up and stretch for five minutes or do a lap around the building to get some fresh air. They will return energized and ready to start working again.
Meeting up with friends occasionally is a great way to de-stress. You’ll be able to relax and talk (maybe even about what is the cause of your stress). Often when getting together with friends, you’ll have a good laugh, which is shown to help boost your immune system, one of the things affected by over-stressing.
Offer company-sanctioned outings or “team bonding” events to let your employees relax a little bit and get to know their coworkers and superiors in a way that will allow them to feel comfortable enough to reach out for help if they have a problem and maybe minimize some future stress.
Before you automatically assume the outcome will be the worst possible case, consider what you can do to make it better. If you spend a lot of time overthinking and internalizing a problem, you’ll find that you may have blown it out of proportion.
If you need some help shining a positive light on the situation, try talking it over with a colleague or friend and see if that helps to change your thoughts.
Nicotine and caffeine are both stimulants that hype you up and exacerbate the stress you are already feeling. Additionally, alcohol is a depressant, which can make any negative thoughts even worse, adding to your stress in a different way.
Ultimately, stress is an unavoidable part of our lives. But the results of stress, like increased blood pressure, a declining immune system, heart attacks, strokes, and depression, can all be avoided by learning stress management. This will end up benefiting you and your employees mentally and physically, as well as help reduce costly charges to your business and its group health insurance plan.
So take a deep, calming breath and celebrate National Stress Awareness Day 2016 with us at InsureYourCompany.com!
There are many reasons a business may want to cancel their policy prior to the expiration date, but no matter the reason, a policy holder can cancel the policy at any time.
Most insurance policies are issued on an annual term. 12 months is standard for commercial insurance policies. If the policy is no longer needed, it can be canceled at any time.
The insurance company will typically pro-rate the amount of money owed based on the number of days the policy was active. Earned premium is the amount of premium that the insurance company has earned on your policy as of any given date.
For example, on January 1, you may purchase an annual insurance policy that costs $1,000. On July 1 (exactly 6 months later), the earned premium is $500.
Some policies are subject to a minimum earned premium percentage upon cancellation.
Common minimum earned premiums are 25%, 50%, and 100% of the total premium. If your policy is subject to this, the early cancellation may not result in a straight pro-rate of the earned premium.
For example, a 50% minimum earned premium means you are responsible for paying half of the total premium regardless of when the policy actually cancels—even if coverage was only in place for a week.
Please be aware that most state taxes and filing fees cannot be pro-rated or refunded after the policy is issued. Some policies are subject to a 100% minimum earned premium. This means you can cancel the policy early, but will be on the hook for paying the full premium anyway. In this case, there is no benefit or reason to cancel the policy prior to the expiration date.
This is commonly seen on builder’s risk and liability policies for construction projects.
The insurance companies have minimum earned premiums to discourage policyholders from buying an annual policy when they only need coverage for a short-term project or event. There is also a lot of administrative work that goes on behind the scenes to get a policy issued.
The minimum earned premium is a way for the insurance carrier to ensure they can recoup their administrative costs should a policyholder cancel early. If applicable, the minimum earned premium will be shown on the quote prior to purchasing your policy.
Understanding the minimum earned premium will help prevent any surprises when it comes time to cancel your policy. If you are unsure, just ask your agent—that’s what we are here for.
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InsureYourCompany.com has been treating clients like family for over 15 years. You’ll never have to talk to an automated phone system—we have business insurance experts ready to provide personalized customer service, not only helping you with your insurance and employee benefits needs, but showing you how to be a smarter business owner.
If you are in the IT industry InsureYourCompany.com is the insurance agent you want to work with, we are technology insurance experts and have changed the way you do business. See below a list of professionals who we help today.
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We believe in supporting our clients through every step of the insurance process. From choosing the right coverage to filing a claim, we are here to offer guidance and support. Request a free quote today and get coverage that meets your unique needs.
