Parker, Smith & Feek

The story you are about to read is fictitious and intended to illustrate scenarios that we see in reality every day. The setting could be any city, state or region where medium-sized clothing, specialty food or mercantile retailers operate.

You can’t attend a Human Resource, Marketing, or Legal conference these days without a discussion on social media. My wife and I have toddler age twin boys, and I relate social media for employers to organic chocolate milk… It's organic, has milk, and the brand we purchase even advertises DHA and Omega 3’s! Did I mention it was milk? Truth is we limit the boys to one glass a week and they get plenty of exercise (running away from mom and dad). Similarly, social media for your organization is probably a good idea, but it’s important to put some policies and procedures in place and be consistent in your enforcement.

On Monday, June 14th the IRS, DOL, and HHS jointly released interim final rules regarding health reform grandfathered plan status. Some of the rules contained in the Affordable Care Act do not apply to grandfathered plans so employers have been waiting to find out what kind of changes can be made to a plan and still retain its grandfathered status. The rules will be published in the Federal Register on June 17th. The rules contain a few surprises and still leave a large question unanswered.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA or the Act) governs wage and hour employment matters for employees engaged in interstate commerce. The scope of the Act is broadly interpreted, making most employers subject to the FLSA. Further, state laws provide additional wage and hour regulations. One of the biggest areas of dispute surrounds the exemptions to the Act, notably the “white-collar” overtime exemptions for professional, executive, administrative and computer employees.

The life cycle of a closely held business can be compared to that of your typical family home. When you are considering the purchase of a home you analyze location, price, size, current mortgage rates and the overall appeal of the home. You have a title search done, radon and termite inspections, and some local authority walks through to make sure the home is structurally sound. The day before you move in the house is immaculate and there are few, if any, apparent problems.

Foodborne Illness – What’s at risk?

Accurate diagnosis is sometimes difficult, but it has been estimated that somewhere between 24 to 81 million foodborne illnesses occur each year, resulting in more than 10,000 foodborne-associated deaths with the consequential costs ranging anywhere from $7.7 to $23 billion.

After more than a year of often rancorous debate, it appears that the healthcare reform battle in Congress is over. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was signed into law on March 23rd, and later in the week Congress sent to the President a set of revisions which he signed today, March 30th. Although most aspects of reform will not be effective for a few years, there are many which will be effective within six months after the enactment date. The following is a timeline of the major provisions to give you an idea how the new law will impact you and your employees.

By Ed Chapin, Vice President

A construction contract will almost certainly specify who will supply the Builder’s Risk Insurance coverage for any construction project. This could be the projects owner, general contractor or sub-contractor.

By Jim Gregson, Account Executive

When health insurance premiums continue to increase at a rate in excess of general inflation or wage increases, many employers ask us whether self-insuring their health plan makes sense for them. Self-insuring is certainly a popular option. Surveys show that more than 50% of employees covered by employer-sponsored health plans are covered by self-insured plans. There is also no question that self-insuring, also referred to as self- funding, can save money in many cases; but the decision to self-fund should not be made arbitrarily as there is additional complexity and risk that should be considered before making the jump. The purpose of this article is to provide a basic education so that you can begin to assess whether self-funding makes sense for your plan.

When asked to participate on a nonprofit board; typically; the first reaction is to be flattered that someone would want our participation and the second reaction is to agree because it meets a personal or professional goal. After agreeing to sit on the board of an organization you may find that you did not learn everything about the organization and/or board interaction prior to joining their board. There are some steps you can take in advance of joining the board that will be helpful in determining if the organization is a good fit for you and vice versa, including attending a board meeting, meeting with the Executive Director and understanding what your role will be as board member, and asking to review minutes from prior meetings a well as the organization’s mission statement and strategic plan.

By Susan Stead, Account Executive

Property owners face a growing dilemma as to how they should provide accurate replacement cost values to their insurance company when market values are declining. Logically, it doesn’t make sense that the cost to rebuild your building has increased this year given the state of the economy over the past fifteen months, especially with the reduction in construction costs and decline in land values. What many owners do not consider are the fixed costs of supplies that are not decreasing.

By Cliff Rudolph, Account Executive

A criminal indictment announced last week charged three people with the largest hacking and identity-theft case in history. In addition, 30 civil lawsuits have been filed against one of the hacked companies, Heartland Payment Systems. These suits were filed by financial institutions, consumers and investors. More than 650 institutions were affected by the breach.

By Cliff Rudolph, Account Executive

The FDIC expects more bank failures as the financial crisis continues. On May 27th the FDIC released the Quarterly Banking Profile that represents a report card of the industry status and performance. It concluded that FDIC insured institutions reported a net income of $7.6 Billion in the first quarter of 2009, representing a significant recovery from the $32.1 Billion loss in the fourth quarter of 2008. However, this is 60.8% lower than the first quarter of 2008, a year in which we saw a decline of $32.7 Billion. The fourth quarter of 2008 represented the first quarterly loss since 1990. One third of all insured institutions were not profitable in the fourth quarter of 2008, and overall earnings were outweighed by sizeable losses at a number of large banks. Furthermore, during the first quarter of 2009, twenty-one financial institutions failed; the highest quarterly total since 1992.

By Cliff Rudolph. Account Executive

In many of the world’s leading danger zones -- Mexico, Ecuador, Venezuela, Brazil and Colombia -- the kidnapping of North American executives for ransom has long been a growth industry. Today, as the age of corporate globalization collides with international terrorism, U.S. companies are expanding their risks as rapidly as they broaden their reach. 

By Sharon Hall, Vice President

The recent outbreak of the H1N1 (swine) flu virus has led many of us to question the potential impact a pandemic event would have on our employees and business operations. Human nature often causes people to overlook risks that have never turned into loss-causing events. And while it may seem that the worst case scenario may not occur with this influenza outbreak, it provides a great opportunity to develop or fine tune your pandemic flu disaster plans. Public health officials remain concerned about the re-emergence of a more severe strain of H1N1 in conjunction with the fall influenza season.

By Susan Stead, Vice President

Things are changing quickly in today’s economic environment including the cost of posting Letters of Credit to meet various obligations. Traditionally a Letter of Credit has been a more competitive option than obtaining a Surety Bond. With these changes in the economic environment over the last six months, Surety Bonds have become a more viable option and in some cases, frees up cash associated with a traditional Letter of Credit.

By Susan Stead, Vice President

As a building developer/owner you invest a lot of money in building a LEED certified project.  Has your broker discussed the potential gaps in a traditional property insurance policy versus a policy enhanced to include the ‘green’ endorsement now offered by many carriers?

By Susan Stead, Vice President

With the recent turmoil in the financial markets, including challenges faced by various insurance companies, we are receiving a lot of questions about carrier stability and how their performance is being monitored by outside regulatory agencies. The AM Best Company was founded in 1899 and is the oldest and most widely recognized rating agency dedicated to the insurance industry. Within our industry AM Best is considered one of the main barometers of the financial strength for insurance companies and is inclusive of all lines of business. In addition to tracking the domestic insurance market, AM Best also monitors the status of many international carriers.  

40% of Washington’s twenty-five Largest Private Companies as identified by the Puget Sound Business Journal rely on Parker, Smith & Feek to provide some of their insurance needs.

By John Schmidt, Account Executive

The recent magnitude 5.4 quake in Southern California may have been moderate in severity and caused minimal damage, but it certainly rattled our memory that we too live in a seismically active area.  Most of us remember exactly where we were when the Nisqually quake hit.  Personally, I remember rocking and rolling on the 23rd floor of a downtown Seattle high-rise and rushing to pick up my 3 year old son from daycare who upon my arrival happily asked me…..why was the ground dancing?  But do we remember how our earthquake insurance was structured and if/how it responded to our magnitude 6.8 event back in late February of 2001?  Do we know if our current policy(ies) will stand up tall should another event hit our region?

An often overlooked part of "green building" is the impact of construction on human health and the environment during the course of a project. Today, land developers, property owners, and construction companies are increasingly realizing the health, environmental and energy security benefits of using cleaner-burning biodiesel in construction equipment.