I advise Washington employers A LOT about discipline and terminations. One of my recent calls went like this: “Hi, we have a two-year employee who has horrible attendance and a bad attitude. No one likes working with her. She always complains about anxiety, and last week she was a no-call, no-show. When…
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Got workers’ comp questions? We’ve got answers. It’s hard to keep track of all the Workers’ Compensation acronyms, definitions, best practices and more! So we’re sharing a few frequently asked questions we recently received from our Vigilant Manufacturing Retro members. What is Standard Premium; is it the same premium I pay to L&I? Standard premium is the…
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Question: Our employee was injured at work and needs to be off work for two months. The employee filed a workers’ compensation claim, which was accepted. The plant manager told the employee that medical leave is covered by workers’ comp and to call when they’re cleared to come back to work. Are we missing…
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Vigilant recently submitted comments on behalf of our members in response to the Washington Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) draft administrative policy addressing hours worked. This draft policy proposes changes to the existing policy ES.C.2, which was last revised on September 2, 2008. The revised policy attempts to clarify the…
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Question: “What action can we take to lower our upfront workers' comp premium? Where do we even start?” Answer: From Vigilant's VP of Workers' Comp, Dan Beaty. I get asked this question daily. My reply? We're here to help, and here's a hint: high frequency/impact injuries, and a strategic use of kept-on-salary(KOS). To lower upfront cost of premium and…
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Dear Washington Manufacturer: Lowering workers’ compensation costs is a desire I hear from most of the companies I work with in Washington State. There are a lot of steps a company can take to do this that require sophisticated data analytics as well as the ability to interpret and put them into…
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Lately I’ve received a lot of questions about Vigilant’s perspective on Kept-On-Salary mandates. Here’s where we stand: We oppose KOS Mandates Our fundamental objection to KOS mandates is that they ALWAYS benefit a group retro program and its association sponsor, but do NOT ALWAYS best serve the individual member companies that are paying for it. In…
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Washington Manufacturers: On my daughter’s 7th birthday she was gifted a Magic 8-ball. You know, the one with the blue liquid that you shake and it magically answers whatever question you’ve asked. Often the response would be a non-committal answer like “Ask Again Later” or “Cannot Predict Now.” Feverishly, she would ask the question again, shake it…
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Washington Manufacturer: Who do you contact within Labor & Industries (L&I) to help you with a difficult workers’ compensation claim issue? Who is advocating for your interests with the Department? Not knowing where to start and how to be impactful can be overwhelming, frustrating, and even demoralizing. Just as the company you keep is…
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Washington Manufacturer: I am personally persuaded that there is no greater purpose in life than to love and serve others well. This is the reason why I find so much gratification leading our Vigilant team in our mission to help employers promote safe, fulfilling, legally compliant, and productive work environments, improving…
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