Using Social Media Can Lower Your Workers Compensation Rates

Social Media can be a key tool to communicate the high priority that your staffing company places on operating a safe staffing firm. In variably, as your employees and clients receive your information about work place safety issues, you will experience fewer workers compensation claims  which will translate into lower workers compensation rates.

All of Work Comp Staffing Solutions consulting clients  promote their safety practices and safety philosophy through weekly or monthly blogs via social media outlets like Linked In and E mail blog lists.   As their employees and clients read this material,  they understand that safety is an important value to their company.

Here are some immediate benefits of integrating safety issues into your social media marketing program.:

1. Clients  and prospective clients will know that you are a professional  staffing firm that is serious about safety issues.

2. Applicants and employees who have a history of filing fraudulent comp claims will see  that your staffing company is involved in all aspects of safety and claims management- putting your firm at less risk of being a target for workers compensation insurance fraud.

3.  Social media can help inform applicants, employees  and clients of new or updated safety procedures.

4. These safety messages can be E-communicated along with other marketing and sales information about your firm creating a brand  that reflects very positive staffing values.

Work Comp Staffing Solutions is ready to help develop your safety social media  campaign. Please give me contact us at davidstaffing@gmail or visit us at www.StaffingCompSolutions.com for a FREE workers compensation quote.

All the best
David Schek
President
StaffingCompSolutions.com
American Staffing Association Member
California Staffing Association Member
Exclusive PEO Broker for the United States Staffing  Association

Visit Work Comp Staffing Solutions at Booth 104 at the A. S. A. Orlando Conference

StaffingCompSolutions.com—-  Workers  Compensation  Specialists and Staffing Business Consultants For Over 20 Years.

 

How Do I Maintain My Gross Profit When My Workers Compensation Rates Are Increasing By 20,30, and 40+%?

I receive many comments from staffing owners asking how to maintain their businesses gross profit when they receive significant workers compensation rate increases.  Of course they can shop for a new policy with a Professional Employer Organization (PEO,) but for some, getting lower rates through a new policy just is not possible; especially if  their experience mods are too high.

Here are my suggestions for maintaining your gross profit that worked well with my national staffing company, as well as with  my current staffing consulting clients.

1.  Explain and provide back up support to your clients about the  hardened workers compensation market using some of the articles from Work Comp Staffing Solutionss previous blogs. https://StaffingCompSolutions.com/blog/

2.  Negotiate increases with clients so they  go into affect over a few months. For example on a code 9410, where your comp rate was 5 %, and is now  8 %, ask the client to accept a 3 point increase over 3-4 months instead of at one time.

3.  Try not to make sudden rate increases with a client. Study which codes are most affecting your Gross Profit and negotiate  with your client for those rates only. They will appreciate that you are willing not to raise rates across the board.

4. Communicate rate increases in person to your larger clients (or all your clients.) Buy your client lunch or coffee when chatting about this sensitive issue. Sending out template notices of rate increases can seem cold and usually alienates the client. Poor for relationship building!

5. As a last resort, be more creative with your temporaries pay in order to maintain margins, yet still get the same productivity. For example have a “starter” rate for new temporaries that may be .50 less than the “experience ” rate. This may help soften the impact to your total Gross Profit– depending on your turnover.

Remember to always be prospecting for new clients who may be more open to your new higher rates- especially if you can deliver superior service and value. Many of my staffing consulting clients use social media tools for this.

As we all know, the staffing industry is just getting its sea legs back after the rough economic storm called the Great Recession.

I have many more suggestions that I regularly share with my consulting clients to help their gross profits.

Please feel free to contact me at davidstaffing@gmail.com or visit our web site consulting page at https://StaffingCompSolutions.com/Work Comp Staffing Solutions-staffing-consulting-services/

All the best
David Schek
President
StaffingCompSolutions.com
American Staffing Association Member
California Staffing Association Member
Exclusive PEO Broker for the United States Staffing  Association

Visit Work Comp Staffing Solutions at Booth 104 at the A. S. A. Orlando Conference

StaffingCompSolutions.com—-  Workers  Compensation  Specialists and Staffing Business Consultants For Over 20 Years.

Big Data Meets Workers Compensation

Well it was only a matter of time before the two met.  And the results are not great for staffing companies. Insurance companies are using complex analytics (aka Big Data) as a substitute for human judgement  in the  underwriting process. The insurance carriers believe big data will better screen for risky clients and improve their overall profitability.

Underwriters have for decades consulted detailed actuarial tables that have helped them serve as gate keepers for insurance companies. Specifically, there was to some degree an element of human involvement  in this process —  that could work in a staffing client’s favor.

The combination of the emergence of big data over the last few years, and the insurance industry experiencing under preforming investment portfolios, has resulted in insurance carriers changing their traditional  underwriting methods. Now, they believe by removing the human element  in the underwriting  process,  they will experience greater returns in their workers compensation portfolios..   Here is an article that explains this change.

http://www.businessinsurance.com/article/20130113/NEWS04/301139979

This may be one reason why staffing companies are turning more and more to Professional Employer Organizations ( or PEO’s ) to meet their workers compensation and back office needs. To be sure, PEO’s use insurance carriers like everyone else, but they usually are allowed to take on more risk  because of their  significant financial relationship with the carrier. In fact most PEO’s  have  millions of dollars in deposits  with  their carriers.   Most staffing companies of course can not afford these types of deposits.

Let’s talk about how a PEO can help solve your workers compensation challenges. Contact me at davidstaffing@gmail.com and visit us at www.StaffingCompSolutions.com

All the best
David Schek
President
StaffingCompSolutions.com
American Staffing Association Member
California Staffing Association Member
Exclusive PEO Broker for the United States Staffing  Association

Visit Work Comp Staffing Solutions at Booth 104 at the A. S. A. Orlando Conference

What is Subrogation and How Can It Affect Your Workers Compensation Rates?

A few weeks ago one of my client’s employees was driving a fork lift and had an accident resulting in a potentially catastrophic injury and  workers compensation claim.  As my client began to research the claim, it appeared that the fork lift may have been improperly maintained and was in very poor working order.  All of which was their clients responsibility.  This situation may mean that the liability for the workers compensation accident, may be shared between the staffing company’s client and the insurer/ PEO for the staffing company.

This is a good example of Subrogation. The liability (and expense) associated with a workers compensation claim can be legally shared with another party– specifically the staffing company’s client.

Here is a link to an article that further explains how subrogation works, and why every staffing company should be aware of this when they speak to their insurance carriers and PEO’s about large work comp accidents.

http://www.athensadmin.com/athens-news/workers-compensation-subrogation/

Finally, please let me know if you need a FREE Workers Compensation quote. Contact us at  www.StaffingCompSolutions.com

The workers compensation market is  only getting worse for staffing companies with less than 150K in premium, and it is taking more time to find to an appropriate solution.

All the best
David Schek
President
Leaststaff.com
American Staffing Association Member
California Staffing Association Member
Exclusive PEO Broker for the United States Staffing  Association

Visit Work Comp Staffing Solutions at Booth 104 at the A. S. A. Orlando Conference

 

Everything You Wanted To Know About Why Workers Compensation Rates Are Going Higher….. But Were Afraid To Ask!

Rarely do I find such a concise and well written article about the causes of  higher workers compensation rates.  I knew immediately I had to share it with you. The many charts and graphs will add to your understanding of why workers compensation rates are increasing  and where they  are going.

Download Whitepaper

I would enjoy speaking to you about identifying least expensive workers compensation solutions. Please feel free to contact me at davidstaffing@gmail.com or visit us at www.StaffingCompSolutions.com.

All the best
David Schek
President
StaffingCompSolutions.com
American Staffing Association Member
California Staffing Association Member
Exclusive PEO Broker for the United States Staffing  Association

Be Sure to Visit us at Booth 104 at the ASA Show

Obese Employees Eat Into Your Workers Compensation Cost Saving Programs

In study after study, employees with obesity issues are devouring their employers profits by being involved in more workers compensation claims.  In fact they have higher workers compensation claim rates, spend more time getting back to work after an accident, and tend to be more affected by co-morbidity health issues. These facts are documented in multiple workers compensation studies from  the NCCI as well as academic institutions and large workers compensation health agencies.

For example, in the article below, the author cites one example “where a worker weighing more than 300 pounds sprained an ankle. Even though he was in his mid-20s, the worker’s treatment dragged on for seven months without reaching maximum medical improvement, despite physical therapy and light-duty job.”

http://www.businessinsurance.com/article/99999999/NEWS080104/399999789?tags=|331|329|304|92

In addition the author follows up with an insightful observation  that cases like this one involving an obese person “presents an additional challenge for workers comp managers because the longer an injured worker is away from the job, the greater risk they will “decondition” and gain additional weight, making it even harder to help them return to work, several sources said.”

Clearly this is a complicated health issue with wide scale implications for workers compensation costs– especially for light industrial staffing companies.   Americans are becoming more obese with each passing year and light duty is often hard to cost effectively coordinate.

A more positive trend among light industrial staffing companies this year is the use of Professional Employer Organization (PEO’s) to help them  decrease their use of expensive State Funds and eliminate  the need to  pay for internal administrative staff. This increased efficiency  helps staffing companies focus more on the sales and servicing of  their  clients.

For a FREE PEO quote from a PEO broker with 25 years of staffing industry experience, and who has seasoned relationships with PEO’s that specialize in partnering with light industrial staffing companies, contact me at davidstaffing@gmail.com or visit us at www.StaffingCompSolutions.com

All the best
David Schek
President
StaffingCompSolutions.com
American Staffing Association Member
California Staffing Association Member
Exclusive PEO Broker for the United States Staffing  Association