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Ridgemark Insurance Services
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...
Hard Commercial Property Market Lingers
The commercial property insurance market continues hardening, with average rates up 9.3% in the first quarter of 2023, according to MarketScout. Rates for business properties have been climbing steadily for the last six years, but those increases have grown at a...
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...
Cal/OSHA Proposes Ground-Breaking Indoor Heat Illness Prevention Standard
Cal/OSHA has proposed its long-awaited indoor heat illness prevention standard as increasingly hot summers are affecting workers in indoor spaces like warehouses, production operations, restaurants and more. The proposed standard, largely based on the state agency's...
Rating Bureau to File for 0.3% Workers’ Comp Rate Hike
In a sign of the long-lasting effects of reforms enacted a decade ago, California's workers' compensation rate-making agency will recommend that average benchmark rates increase a mere 0.3%. The recommendation by the Workers' Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau,...
FAIR Plan More Than Doubles Its Commercial Property Coverage Limits
With more and more California businesses being forced to go to the California FAIR Plan for their coverage, the market of last resort has moved to increase its commercial property coverage limits significantly. This should bring a semblance of relief to companies...
Careful Handling of Construction Materials Saves Lives and Money
Material handling accidents account for thousands of injuries and a number of deaths each year on construction sites. They are one of the top injuries in the construction trade and can result in serious injuries and death depending on the material, the weight of the...
Think Twice Before Scanning That QR Code
QR codes — short for Quick Response codes — are everywhere these days, on the tables at restaurants, on posters, print and electronic advertising, and even during TV programming and commercials. By training your smartphone camera on one, you’ll get a prompt to click...
New Guidance: Workers Can Take FMLA Leave in Hourly Increments
The U.S. Department of Labor recently issued new guidance on the federal Family Medical Leave Act that has upended the notion of what qualifies as leave under the statute. Its Wage and Hour Division in February issued a guidance letter noting that employees with a...