Return to Work Not Just for Workers’ Compensation Claimants

More employers are using return-to-work programs for injured workers even if they were not injured on the job, according to a study by Prudential Insurance Co. of America.

Many employers have a return-to-work program for their injured employees because it cuts down on workers’ comp claims costs and lets the worker get back to feeling productive.

But more employers have also started returning employees to work who have been off duty due to non-job-related ailments.

The survey found that 49% of large employers have a return-to-work program for their disability programs, and another 22% of employers plan to add such programs in the near future.

Prudential noted that workers’ comp and non-occupational disability return-to-work programs should be similar in approach, and that both can save a company money.

While the cost/benefit numbers are more readily apparent in the workers’ comp arena, they may not be as easily identified in programs for non-work-related injuries or disabilities.

But, if you have an experienced staff member that is out of action, and work is not getting done or it’s being performed by someone with less experience and skill, it can hurt your operations and bottom line.

The benefits of a return-to-work program include:

  • Improved productivity,
  • Improved morale across an organization,
  • Saving organizations time and money, and
  • Protecting you from losing talent.

Examples of effective return-to-work strategies include offering the opportunity to work part time, telecommuting, modifying work duties, modifying schedules, and implementing reasonable accommodations to provide employees with the tools and resources they need to carry out their responsibilities.

Efforts such as these can help employees return to work sooner, even while still recovering.

This allows the employee to protect their earning power while at the same time boosting the organization’s productivity.

Also, in many instances, the ability to return to work after injury or illness plays an important role in the employee’s recovery process.

Setting up a return-to-work program

Steps you can take to reintegrate an injured employee into the workplace include:

  • The worker and doctor should discuss recovery time, expected pain duration, need for drugs if any and options for returning to work.
  • The worker should resume, if possible, work that meets restrictions and requirements outlined by the treating physician.
  • Workplace guidelines should be written out and provided to the employee and employer.
  • The doctor should be included in determining if the physical demands of a modified job are appropriate for the recovering worker.
  • The doctor must understand the patient’s work tasks and create work-place guidelines for the worker and employer. The guidelines should be flexible and updated regularly to reflect the workers’ improving medical condition.
  • Physical therapy can be used to simulate specific job demands so that the worker can eventually resume previous work duties without re-injury during the return-to-work phase.

If you would like to speak with us call Gary Wallach at 914-806-5853 or click here to email or click here to visit our website.

BGES Group’s office, located in Larchmont, NY is a full service insurance agency offering, Property, Liability, Umbrella Liability, Business Auto, Bid & Performance Bonds, Inland Marine, Worker’s Compensation, New York State Disability, Group Health, Life insurance, Personal lines and Identity Theft.

Special Contractor Insurance Programs (NY, NJ, CT) – We we have 60+ insurance companies to market your general liability, umbrella liability, business auto, workers compensation, bid & performance bonds and group health coverages. We help contractors set up proper risk transfer. If you’re a contractor we offer extensive information about insurance markets, coverages, risk transfer, subcontractor screening, ways to lower your insurance costs.

BGES Group are Worker’s Compensation Specialists for the States of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut – Issues we address: 1) Lowering pricing – we have specialty programs that can save you up to 40%; 2) Finding a new company; 3) Replacing policies that are being cancelled or non renewed; 4) Audit disputes; 5) Company creating fictitious payroll at audit time; 6) Lowering high experience modifications factors; 7) Misclassification of payrolls; 8) Lowering or eliminating renewal deposits;  9) Getting coverage when you’ve been without for a few months; 10) Covering multiple states under one policy; 11) Eliminating 10% service or policy fees; 12) Timely issuance of certificates; 13) Always being able to get someone on the phone or by email when you need to.

If you would like to speak with us call Gary Wallach at 914-806-5853 or click here to email or click here to visit our website.

Company: BGES Group, 216A Larchmont Acres West, Larchmont, NY 10538

e-mail: bgesgroup@gmail.com

website: http://www.bgesgroup.com

© – Copyright – 2022 – BGES Group

Having any of the Following Issues with Your Worker’s Compensation Policy? We Can Help You Solve Them!

  1. High rates (finding you lower rates is what we are great at)
  2. Being cancelled or non renewed
  3. Feel like you overpaid for past Worker’s Compensation policies? At NO up front cost to YOU, let us do a review and there were, get you your money back!  Examples of refunds: $50,000, $230,000, $300,000 and $500,000.  We go back seven years so we are talking a lot of money!  We do all the work.  Great WIN WIN!  So easy to do.  Call Gary at 914-806-5853 to discuss.
  4. Poor loss experience
  5. High Experience Modification
  6. Your company’s audits are brutal. They ask for copies of contracts, purchase orders, what you pay vendors, everything!  Looking for a new company because you can’t stand your present one?
  7. Policy does not cover you while working out-of-state? State plans usually do not cover you properly when working out of states weeks at a time.  They leave you exposed to huge uncovered financial obligations that can knock you out of business.
  8. Payrolls misclassified
  9. Paying a fixed monthly installment BUT would like payments to be lower when business is slow?
  10. Having to come up with a 15%-25% renewal deposit every year. Would like to get rid of renewal deposit requirements.

If you need help with any of the above give us a call. We can offer you every conceivable option available and get the job done when others can’t. Please note we ONLY cover the states of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

If you would like to speak with us call Gary Wallach at 914-806-5853 or click here to email or click here to visit our website.

BGES Group’s office, located in Larchmont, NY is a full service insurance agency offering, Property, Liability, Umbrella Liability, Business Auto, Bid & Performance Bonds, Inland Marine, Worker’s Compensation, New York State Disability, Group Health, Life insurance, Personal lines and Identity Theft.

Special Contractor Insurance Programs (NY, NJ, CT) – We we have 60+ insurance companies to market your general liability, umbrella liability, business auto, workers compensation, bid & performance bonds and group health coverages. We help contractors set up proper risk transfer. If you’re a contractor we offer extensive information about insurance markets, coverages, risk transfer, subcontractor screening, ways to lower your insurance costs.

BGES Group are Worker’s Compensation Specialists for the States of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut – Issues we address: 1) Lowering pricing – we have specialty programs that can save you up to 40%; 2) Finding a new company; 3) Replacing policies that are being cancelled or non renewed; 4) Audit disputes; 5) Company creating fictitious payroll at audit time; 6) Lowering high experience modifications factors; 7) Misclassification of payrolls; 8) Lowering or eliminating renewal deposits;  9) Getting coverage when you’ve been without for a few months; 10) Covering multiple states under one policy; 11) Eliminating 10% service or policy fees; 12) Timely issuance of certificates; 13) Always being able to get someone on the phone or by email when you need to.

If you would like to speak with us call Gary Wallach at 914-806-5853 or click here to email or click here to visit our website.

Company: BGES Group, 216A Larchmont Acres West, Larchmont, NY 10538

e-mail: bgesgroup@gmail.com

website: http://www.bgesgroup.com

© – Copyright – 2022 – BGES Group

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Funds Transfer Fraud Increasingly Affects Small Firms

Funds Transfer Fraud Increasingly Affects Small Firms

While ransomware is making the headlines as the major cyber threat for businesses, small and mid-sized organizations are increasingly being targeted by lower fraud that dupes them into wiring criminals funds, according to a new report.

These funds transfer fraud crimes involve hackers gaining access to a company’s mailbox and extracting payments that go into their accounts through a variety of techniques. Worse, by the time a company realizes they were scammed, the money is long gone and the bank accounts are closed.

It’s imperative that companies have in place proper systems safeguards to combat these attacks, and that includes regularly training staff on how to identify these attempts to steal funds.

Losses from funds transfer fraud increased 69% for U.S. businesses between 2020 and 2021, according to cyber insurance and security firm Coalition’s “2022 Cyber Claims Report.”

But smaller and mid-sized companies saw attacks surge even more. Average initial losses from funds transfer fraud for small firms (those with less than $25 million in annual revenue) more than doubled to $309,000 in the second half of 2021, compared to the same period in 2020.

Additionally, enterprises with between $25 million and $100 million in revenue saw a 68% increase in the frequency of funds transfer fraud.

How it works

Criminals will often try to penetrate your servers by sending “spearphishing” e-mails. These messages look like they’re from a trusted sender to trick victims into revealing confidential information. That information lets criminals access company accounts, calendars, and data that gives them the details they need to carry out the scheme.

They may also send malicious e-mails in the hope that an employee clicks on a bogus link. The link then releases malicious software that infiltrates company networks and gains access to legitimate e-mail threads about billing and invoices.

Once the criminals have access to your business mailbox, they can manipulate your contacts and modify payment instructions, sometimes without even triggering any security alerts.

One of the most common ways this is done is a criminal sending e-mails that appear to come from a known source making a legitimate request, like in these examples:

  • A vendor your company regularly deals with sends an invoice with an updated mailing address. But it’s a scam and the new address is bogus.
  • A vendor sends change-in-payment instructions that purport to come from a customer or vendor via a lookalike e-mail domain (sometimes criminals will compromise a customer or vendor’s e-mail system and send your organization an invoice).
  • A company CEO asks their assistant to purchase dozens of gift cards to send out as employee rewards. She asks for the serial numbers so she can e-mail them out right away. But the request is from a fraudster.

Protecting your enterprise

The Federal Bureau of Investigation recommends that all organizations follow these tips to reduce the chances of being hit with wire transfer fraud:

  • Don’t click on anything in an unsolicited e-mail or text message asking you to update or verify account information. Look up the company’s phone number on your own (don’t use the one a potential scammer is providing), and call them to ask if the request is legitimate.
  • Carefully examine the e-mail address, URL, and spelling used in any correspondence. Scammers use slight differences to trick your employees and gain your trust.
  • Be careful what you download. Instruct your staff to never open an e-mail attachment from someone they don’t know, and to be wary of e-mail attachments forwarded to them.
  • Set up two-factor (or multi-factor) authentication on your accounts.
  • Verify payment and purchase requests in person if possible, or by calling the person to make sure it is legitimate. You should verify any change in account number or payment procedures with the person making the request.
  • Be especially wary if the requestor is pressing you to act quickly.

Insurance options

The best option for coverage is a commercial crime insurance policy. Most of these policies cover acts like:

  • Employee dishonesty
  • Computer and funds transfer fraud
  • Forgery or alteration
  • Money and securities theft
  • Theft of client’s property.

Some policies may exclude funds transfer fraud, or they may have lower sublimits for such acts. In such cases you may need to get a policy extension to cover the risk.

There is also cyber liability insurance, which covers direct losses resulting from cyber crime. But these policies will often exclude coverage for social engineering attacks, which are the kinds that the criminals behind funds transfer fraud use.

You may be able to purchase a rider to your cyber liability policy that would cover these crimes.

If you would like to speak with us call Gary Wallach at 914-806-5853 or click here to email or click here to visit our website.

BGES Group’s office, located in Larchmont, NY is a full service insurance agency offering, Property, Liability, Umbrella Liability, Business Auto, Bid & Performance Bonds, Inland Marine, Worker’s Compensation, New York State Disability, Group Health, Life insurance, Personal lines and Identity Theft.

Special Contractor Insurance Programs (NY, NJ, CT) – We we have 60+ insurance companies to market your general liability, umbrella liability, business auto, workers compensation, bid & performance bonds and group health coverages. We help contractors set up proper risk transfer. If you’re a contractor we offer extensive information about insurance markets, coverages, risk transfer, subcontractor screening, ways to lower your insurance costs.

BGES Group are Worker’s Compensation Specialists for the States of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut – Issues we address: 1) Lowering pricing – we have specialty programs that can save you up to 40%; 2) Finding a new company; 3) Replacing policies that are being cancelled or non renewed; 4) Audit disputes; 5) Company creating fictitious payroll at audit time; 6) Lowering high experience modifications factors; 7) Misclassification of payrolls; 8) Lowering or eliminating renewal deposits;  9) Getting coverage when you’ve been without for a few months; 10) Covering multiple states under one policy; 11) Eliminating 10% service or policy fees; 12) Timely issuance of certificates; 13) Always being able to get someone on the phone or by email when you need to.

If you would like to speak with us call Gary Wallach at 914-806-5853 or click here to email or click here to visit our website.

Company: BGES Group, 216A Larchmont Acres West, Larchmont, NY 10538

e-mail: bgesgroup@gmail.com

website: http://www.bgesgroup.com

© – Copyright – 2022 – BGES Group