September, 2018 - InsureYourCompany

If you are not enjoying what you do in your career, it will slowly seep into other aspects of your life and chips away at your psyche. If you are working too long of hours, feel overwhelmed by the tasks at hand, feel pressure to perform you will be climbing an exhausting uphill battle. When you are exhausted, overwhelmed and feeling pulled in a thousand directions at your job your work will suffer, causing you to have even more stress.

So, how do you make your current role go from something you aren’t enjoying into a role you do? You have to start off by changing your work attitude into a mindset of gratitude and look for parts of the role you love. You will see a spike in your energy, mindset, ability to take control of your workload and better overall performance. Stop yourself from merely going through the motions, take pride in what you are producing and ensure each thing you work on has your stamp of expertise all over it. Being able to take ownership of the tasks given to you and going above and beyond with them, will increase your value as an employee to the business. This in turn (over time) increases your job status and compensation.

Change your mindset and that will change your career projection.

When you purchase a business, there are many things to account for in the business plan. You know that you must cover overhead — mortgage, rent, utilities, employee wages, supplies, and worker’s compensation. It’s typical to budget for one-time expenses and recurring expenses and hopes that your monthly revenue will be sufficient to satisfy these obligations. If you can’t, then you must have savings or a credit line to cover your overhead. When business owners plan for disasters, they will ensure the cost of the building and its contents, but they may not add coverage for business interruption.

Learn the Facts About Business Interruption Insurance

We don’t want your business to be overly vulnerable to the aftermath of a disaster. Please be sure to ask us your questions, but we invite you to first consider these insights into business interruption insurance:

You should understand there will be costs not covered by your commercial property insurance. A fire or windstorm, for example, may damage the contents of the building. In addition, there could be a shutdown that lasts longer than you anticipate, including days, weeks, or months of repairs or renovations that must occur before you can restore the business to full operations. The loss of use of the facility can interrupt production or the delivery of services to customers.
You must purchase business interruption coverage as an add-on to your commercial property insurance. This benefit is not sold separately.
You want this type of insurance benefit to cover the wages you and your employees would earn if you didn’t have to shut down the company.
You should plan for enough days of coverage because a benefit that applies to only a few days or a couple weeks may not cover the length of time the firm is inoperational. A severe disaster can mean weeks to months of partial or full closure.
You want to plan for an alternate location where employees can work, but this is easier for some businesses to achieve than other businesses. For example, a computer-based business such as an accounting practice is usually easier to relocate than a restaurant, especially if the latter’s kitchen equipment is a total loss.
You want to plan for the exclusionary period that applies to a business interruption benefit, which could be 48 hours or more. Any period of time that your business is inoperational will reduce your revenues for the month.

Plan Ahead

It’s not just enough to purchase the business interruption add-on. As a business owner, you must also maintain the appropriate kinds of financial records throughout the year. Following any disaster, the burden of proof will be on the business owner to show the normal revenues that would have flowed into the business if the building was operational. That being said, it’s wise to back up your financial records in a separate location, which could be a cloud-based data center. The backup source will help you prepare this information for the insurance company and get reimbursed for all business interruption losses in a timely manner. Purchasing more coverage than you need is preferable to having little or no insurance. If a period of an operational shutdown is long enough, an unprepared company might go out of business permanently, especially if the company owner failed to add the benefit to his or her commercial insurance policy.

We have more ideas on protecting businesses of every size from different kinds of loss exposures. There are other types of benefits you might need to include on your commercial insurance policy to keep you and your employees safe and to offset the aftermath of unforeseen events. While you may have peace of mind that your building structure and equipment is covered, consider how to continue operations when the normal way of doing things is disrupted.

As of today, there are eight states in the US that have legalized the use of recreational marijuana. New Jersey is currently poised to become number nine. Though popular support is growing, the legalization of marijuana places New Jersey business owners in a precarious position as marijuana remains illegal under the Federal Controlled Substances Act. Many employers, especially those with federal contracts, are reluctant to imply they would violate federal law by condoning the use of marijuana, even if it is permissible in their state. Moreover, many business owners are merely apprehensive due to stigma, client perception, and concerns over employee safety.

A particularly difficult position for employers is addressing an employee’s request to use marijuana as an accommodation for a disability. Case law on the topic does not provide a clear answer. Some states have found that an employer has no obligation to accommodate while other states have taken the opposite view. In the state of New Jersey, a Court recently ordered an insurance carrier to pay for medical marijuana treatment after the employee suffered an on-the-job accident. This decision may set the stage for greater acceptance of marijuana use despite that, under current law, employers are entitled to enforce a zero tolerance policy when it comes to medical marijuana. Should an employee request to use medical marijuana due to a disability, the employer may reject this accommodation but must still work to find reasonable alternative accommodation.

However, as the workplace grows less centralized with the rise of remote access, the modern workforce no longer operates exclusively in the office or between the hours of 9 to 5. Therefore, an employer that permits employees to use medical marijuana outside the office or normal working hours runs the risk of having these employees work while under the influence.

A recent example of this is a New Jersey man who was diagnosed with cancer and subsequently prescribed medical marijuana. While at work, the man was involved in an accident. Although he was not under the influence at the time of the accident, the employee failed a drug test and was terminated for violating the employer’s drug policy. The employee sued for disability discrimination and failure to accommodate under the New Jersey Law against discrimination. A Superior Court Judge dismissed the case, but it is on appeal and employers around the state are waiting for the result. Should the case stand, New Jersey employers may enforce a zero tolerance policy disciplines or terminates ploys found to have used marijuana, regardless of when the drug was used.

Also, proposed legislation seeks to add protection for those who use medical marijuana. If this legislation passes, employers will need to make difficult decisions on the technicalities of how to monitor off-duty use of medical marijuana. While an overly strict policy may trigger a lawsuit, too lenient of a plan may result in an employee working under the influence and a potential lawsuit against the company if the employee is involved in an accident.

Conclusion

In addition to addressing the use of medical marijuana, employers will need to respond to recreational marijuana use if it is legalized. While legislation on the issue is pending, the topic exposes business owners to litigation, regardless of the authenticity of the allegations.

As it stands, the current state administration endorses legalizing and medical marijuana use, but it also appears unlikely that the federal government will change its stance on the drug shortly. This places employers in an awkward position. Until a bill New Jersey is finalized, put into law, and tested in the Courts, the employer’s specific responsibilities will remain unclear.

We are following this issue for new developments.

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Some hurricanes still come as a surprise even with the vast assortment of weather-predicting technology in the world. Therefore, you must think ahead and consider the possibility that a massive storm may hit your commercial property one day. If you implement smart strategies to protect your business, you can stay open to serve your community even if the worst happens. These tips will help you prepare your building for a hurricane:

1. Purchase Hurricane Insurance

Your first step toward protecting your assets in a hurricane is to obtain hurricane insurance. Regular commercial policies do not cover hurricane destruction. You need a specific plan that will shield you by covering things like:

Roof damage
Flood damage
Foundation destruction
Personal property loss
Debris removal
Alternative housing costs

Each policy differs, so you need to speak with an agent about your needs and what the company offers. Your first line of defense is securing a policy so that a vicious storm doesn’t catch you by surprise.

2. Stock Essentials

You more than likely have an area within your building where you can stock essential items for a hurricane. The storm may leave you and your employees stranded inside the building and without food, clothing, and toiletries for an extended period. The wise thing to do would be to invest in such items now and store them in a secure area for a time when your staff will need them. Examples of some items you will need are:

Long-lasting dry foods
Water
Batteries and light sources
Blankets
First aid kits
Communication devices
Toiletries

You can order survival kits now that have food in them that won’t expire for decades. If you invest now, you can feel confident you and your workers will have the coverage they need later.

3. Create an Emergency Plan

Many businesses and homeowners get stuck in a hurricane because they do not take the time to develop an emergency plan. You must take the time to talk to your employees and management staff and discuss emergency procedures. You should at least hold one meeting in which you discuss such storms and what you will do if one ever hits your workplace. You should designate team leaders, evacuation plans, and inner-building survival techniques to put in place if you all get stuck inside. Half of the battle in a hurricane is that you know what to do when one hits.

4. Implement Data Backup

Massive storms like hurricanes can wipe out all of your existing data if you don’t think ahead. A colossal data loss can set your business back ages. It’s time to shop around and find a reliable backup option for all of your data. That way, the integrity of your company will remain even if a monstrous storm shocks you.

5. Choose Power Alternatives

While you’re shopping for data backup services, you should also look for portable generators and other power sources you can activate if a hurricane strikes. You’ll save a heap of time later if you find a solution now. You’ll also reduce stress levels during the disturbance.

Let Us Help You With Step One

We can’t take care of all the essentials for you, but we can help you find an insurance policy that meets your needs. Contact us and converse with one of our dedicated agents who can help you navigate through the hurricane insurance options to find the most viable solution. We want you to be 100% ready for anything that comes your way so that your business can thrive.

We have covered a number of different attributes that make up our different Law of Success, this next one is incredibly important. Being able to have a good handle on your self-control is a major factor in your continuing success in rising to the top of your industry. In order to be the best at what you do, you have to be able to control your emotions, thoughts, and behavior.

There are a time and a place for everything in business. You have to be able to think before you say certain things. This is to ensure you’re saying the right thing, being encouraging (not negative), keeping confidential things to yourself (should an employee tell you something in confidence), and ensure your emotions are the right reaction for each instance.

In order to make sure you are doing everything you can to have the best self-control practices, click the video below!