Several important developments have recently occurred in Washington state. We're addressing the following topics in this post - find the full articles below. New law creates more pandemic worker protections. On May 11, 2021, Governor Jay Inslee signed ESSB 5115, the Health Emergency Labor Standards Act (HELSA), creating labor standards that automatically take…
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On April 5, 2021, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey signed into law SB 1377, which protects covered individuals and businesses from liability for COVID-19 related injuries to customers, students, tenants, volunteers, guests, neighbors, or members of the public, if they acted in “good faith” to protect those people from the pandemic. SB 1377 aligns with the…
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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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Question: Some of our employees have expressed concern about the possibility of a mandatory vaccine policy. What could we do to incentivize our employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19? What legal issues should we worry about? Answer: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released a Vaccination Toolkit for…
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As the CFO of Vigilant I am often asked how I would evaluate a Retro program in Washington State and what would be my greatest objectives for such a program. Although my responsibilities as CFO lie largely in the financial area, my top objective would still be to provide a…
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As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, we are all realizing that business decisions aimed at the future cannot wait for the pandemic to be over. We are eager to shift from surviving the current climate, to thriving into the future. It is with this spirit that we have resumed our e-mail…
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California employees who test positive for COVID-19 (coronavirus) will have an easier time getting workers’ compensation benefits thanks to Senate Bill 1159, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom on September 17, 2020. As we previously reported, Governor Newsom issued an executive order in May creating this same presumption, but that order expired in…
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