California has experienced its two most destructive wildfire seasons back to back in 2017 and 2018. The fires in 2018 alone burned hundreds of thousands of acres, destroyed an estimated 18,000 homes and structures and cost nearly a hundred human lives. The official tally on insurance claims is $9.05 billion but is still growing.
Insurance lessons to be gained from the California wildfires
Women face a higher risk of injury at work
The National Safety Council recently analyzed workplace injury data from 2017. Those findings, which are published at Injury Facts, were informative, but the news is not good for women workers.
California teachers challenge union fees
The repercussions Supreme Court of the United State’s (SCOTUS) ruling of the Janus v. AFSCME continues to be felt. The latest example involves five teachers launching a class action against the California Teachers Association and its local union affiliates as well as five school district superintendents and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra. SCOTUS ruled in its last term that public sector unions needed to discontinue its decades-long practice of collecting fair share fees from non-union members for negotiating collective bargaining agreements. This practice, it said, violated an employee’s First Amendment Rights.
Addressing negative online reviews
One of the pillars of our society is freedom of speech. Regardless of whether we agree with other people, they are entitled to voice their opinion. However, it gets more complicated when someone voices their opinion via Yelp or another consumer platform, stating the products or services your business provides to customers seriously lacks in some way.
Employee flexing muscle on moral grounds
There are traditionally two different power structures in place for businesses. One is a top-down mindset where the owner or the board dictates the work to be done and how long it will take. The other is the bottom-up union or employee approach where the workers or their representatives exert considerable power.
The time to create a paper trail is when you don't need one
Running a business here in California or elsewhere leaves you vulnerable to disputes, complaints and litigation. These issues can arise from within your company as easily as from the outside. If you have employees, then the possibility of problems will exist.
