Blog
Ridgemark Insurance Services

SCOTUS Sets High Bar for Rejecting Religious Accommodation Requests
A recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court will make it more difficult for employers to deny employees' requests for religious accommodations in the workplace. The unanimous decision by the court in the case of Groff vs. DeJoy basically upends a standard for...
Insurance Commissioner Orders Workers’ Comp Rate Reduction
California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has issued an order that cuts the average advisory workers' compensation benchmark rate across all classes by 2.6%, starting Sept. 1. After holding a public hearing in June, Lara rejected the Workers' Compensation...
Cyber Insurance Pricing Ebbs
After two years of massive rate increases, cyber insurance market pricing has been softening and transitioning into a buyers' market, according to a new report by Aon Plc. In 2021 and 2022, 100% rate increases for cyber liability insurers were common, but a number of...
Commercial Auto Insurance Rates Spiking
Skyrocketing claims costs and higher accident rates are pressuring the commercial auto insurance market, as insurers impose increasingly larger rate hikes and more are pulling out of the market or restricting who they will cover. While rate increases have been the...
Commercial Property Insurance Gets Scarce in At-Risk Areas
Commercial property insurance rates remain stubbornly high in California for businesses with properties that are susceptible to wildfire risks. Coverage is relatively easy to find at reasonable prices in any of California's larger cities, but in small cities and...
New Mandatory Workplace Poster Released, Update Yours Now
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has released an updated version of the "Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal" poster to account for upcoming changes to workplace anti-discrimination laws. The Pregnant Workers' Fairness Act, signed into law...
Get the Scoop on California’s Bereavement Leave Law
The California Civil Rights Department (CRD) recently released a detailed set of frequently asked questions about a new bereavement law that requires employers in the state with five or more workers to provide leave for up to five days to a worker who loses an...
New Ownership Disclosure Rules May Affect Your Business
Under new U.S. Treasury Department rules, businesses with fewer than 20 employees and less than $5 million in annual revenue will have to start reporting ownership and control information to the federal government every year. The requirement, issued under the...
EEOC Publishes Guidance on Using AI in Employment Decisions
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has issued new guidance on how employers can properly use software, algorithms and artificial intelligence-driven decision-making tools when screening job applicants and selecting candidates. The EEOC has grown...
Class Code Changes Coming after Rating Bureau Filing Approved
If you have staff who work remotely, you'll want to pay attention to changes that are coming to the workers' compensation class code you use for them. Starting Sept. 1, California's telecommuter class code will finally get its own pure premium rates, that is lower...