Did you know that farm owners are legally responsible for providing workers' compensation insurance for all employees, even when using farm labor contractors? The Advocate for Business at the New York State Workers Compensation Board, Anthony Tomaselli, joins us to share insights on farm workplace safety and insurance requirements. Tomaselli addresses common issues like insurance coverage when using farm labor contractors and offers clear direction on legal obligations, filing timely injury claims, maintaining detailed records, and avoiding lapses in required coverage.He stresses the importance of actively engaging workers to identify and mitigate hazards and provides tips for implementing safety plans, shopping insurance rates, and more.
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(00:00):
The pandemic highlighted just how important farmers and their employees are in each of
(00:07):
our daily lives.
We depend on their essential work, which is why their health and safety are so important.
Hi, I'm Steve Ammerman, New York Farm Bureau's Director of Communications, and welcome to
News Bites.
Next week, from September 17th to the 23rd, it's National Farm Safety and Health Week.
It's a time to highlight how every farm must be as safe as possible for the people who
(00:30):
work there.
This includes protecting those who work with large equipment, in confined spaces, and employees
who handle livestock.
But farm safety should be examined more than just once a year, or rather every day on the
farm.
And should there be an accident, there are important steps to take to help protect the
employee and the workplace.
Today on News Bites, we're joined by Anthony Tomaselli.
(00:50):
He serves as the new advocate for business for the state's Workers' Compensation Board.
Part of his job is to work with employers, providing them with helpful assistance on
issues related to workers' comp, disability benefits, and paid family leave, while helping
them put safety first.
Well, hi, Anthony.
Thanks so much for talking to us today about the role of the Workers' Compensation Board.
(01:13):
And really, farm safety is a big priority for our farmers, for our farm workers, as
well as our safety group.
And I just want to kick off the conversation with learning more about you and your role
as the advocate for business at the Workers' Compensation Board.
What is it that you do there?
Well, first, I just want to say thank you for having me.
(01:34):
I really appreciate the opportunity to speak to your listeners, tell them a little bit
about myself and what we do here at the Workers' Compensation Board.
I'm an ombudsman.
I am the advocate for business here at the Workers' Compensation Board.
The really short answer to that is I'm supposed to act as the liaison between the Workers'
Compensation Board and the business community.
(01:54):
I kind of really look at that role as an educational role.
I think the best thing that I can do is educate employers about workers' compensation, about
the requirements, the coverage requirements that they must deal with in their day-to-day
operations and just helping them have a safe operation and stay out of trouble.
I listen.
(02:15):
I take feedback.
We have quite a few calls and emails coming in every single day with people, questions,
and concerns.
We have a staff here in our office that is happy to help however we can.
That's my personal background.
I've been working with small businesses in New York state government role for several
years now, and I'm very passionate about it.
(02:36):
That's what drives our state, what drives our economy.
So many good things happen when you get entrepreneurs out there successfully running their businesses,
hiring people, putting them to work.
It's really what makes the world go around, and I'm happy to try to do the best I can
to help employers in this particular role here now with the Workers' Compensation Board.
Well, I think it's important for people to understand that you are out there to serve
(02:58):
as a resource.
Obviously, with our safety group here at New York Farm Bureau, with our own workers' compensation
program, we have a great relationship with you and your staff there to help inform our
members about what's available to them.
What are some of the issues that are common or that your office comes across in talking
with farmers and farm workers?
(03:20):
Well, the most common issue that seems to come up over and over again is this question
when you're using farm labor contractors, who is really responsible for having the coverage?
I've been hearing that question over and over again because at a glance, if you're not really
familiar with insurance and risk management, it really kind of looks like there's some
overlap in the coverage.
(03:41):
And in some cases, there really is.
But the law is pretty clear about this.
In the workers' compensation law, a farm owner by statute is the employer and is responsible
for providing workers' compensation insurance for those employees.
When you're talking about the farm labor contractors, though, that doesn't mean that they don't
need to have any coverage at all because they probably are going to have employees that
(04:04):
are doing work for the farm labor contractor, not the actual farmers themselves, transportation
drivers, administrative staff.
So you really kind of need to talk to your agent, talk to your carrier, and really kind
of get into the details of exactly how you run your operation and find out exactly what
kind of coverage you need if you're a farm labor contractor.
(04:26):
But back to the farmers themselves, you're going to need to have that coverage.
So when it comes to making sure farmers understand what they need to do and also farm workers
to help them understand, is it something that farmers need to explain to their employees
as well about what the protections are and what workers' compensation covers and what
(04:47):
should happen if there is an accident?
Oh, yes, absolutely.
I think it's really important.
Kind of one of the things that I speak to all employers, not just farmers, is you need
to talk about workers' compensation insurance.
You need to talk about disability insurance.
You need to talk about paid family leave.
Your employees, your workers need to know.
They need to know that they're protected.
They need to know the details of that protection.
(05:11):
What are they entitled to?
What are we required to provide them as employers or you as an employer?
What are you required to provide them?
So they need to know about that.
You need to be aware of that.
As an employer, usually when you get your policy, you're going to get posters or certificates
that show your coverage.
You got to have that stuff displayed.
But again, just talking to your workers about it.
And then particularly the claim issue when there's an injury.
(05:33):
I can't stress enough that when a worker gets injured or sick on the job, you need to take
care of it right away.
Absolutely right away.
It doesn't require you to file a claim within 10 days.
But forgetting even about the law, when you've got somebody who's hurt or injured, the sooner
you deal with it, the faster you're going to get to the better outcome.
The faster that person is going to be able to return to work.
(05:54):
The faster the interruption to your operation that that illness or injury has caused is
going to be resolved.
That's the best case scenario.
So the best thing you do is talk to your employees, your workers, and let them know that, hey,
if you get sick or you get hurt on the job, we have coverage.
There's a process for this and there's a plan in place that we can take care of you and
(06:14):
we can get you fixed up and back to work so that you can take care of your family and
the employer can continue to operate their business.
What is that threshold if an employee gets sick or gets hurt to know that your office
needs to be contacted and a claim needs to be started?
(06:35):
Well without really getting too deep into the weeds on this.
And you can go to our website, you can go to the workers' conversation boards and really
look at the requirements.
But a general rule of thumb is if you need to apply first aid more than once, if you
need to apply first aid more than once, it might be a pretty serious issue that you should
probably take a deeper look at it.
(06:55):
Beyond that, you're really going to have to, again, talk to your employees, talk to the
people who are on site, your supervisors, and let them know.
Kind of get a sense.
You know what your people are capable of.
You know what's standard, what's typical, what's a usual kind of bump or bruise that's
going to happen on the job.
And you should hopefully know when things go beyond that.
But again, I would say as a good rule of thumb that if you can apply first aid more than
(07:20):
once, you might want to start taking that particular issue a little bit seriously.
And I think you probably always should err on the side of caution as well.
Absolutely.
Wouldn't be a safe bet there.
We're talking about people's lives and their health and their safety.
So when it comes to ensuring accuracy and avoiding risks, are there things that you
(07:43):
share with employers that they need to know when it comes to making a claim?
Oh, yes, absolutely.
First and foremost, and this is again, it's kind of a piece of advice that can apply to
all aspects of your business, but keep records.
Keep records of everything.
Keep records of who you have working for you, what their tasks are, what they're doing every
(08:04):
day.
If there is an unusual circumstance that happens during the day, keep a record of it.
Even the minor accidents and injuries, keep records of it.
Those records are what's going to come out in the end and help you.
And of course, there's always that fear of the workers compensation fraud that can come
up.
And again, your record keeping and your background on what's going on in your workplace and in
(08:29):
how you handle your employees is going to tell you if there's a legitimate claim there
or not.
That's another really good reason to get there and get to the doctor and get seen right away
is because the closer to the incident you get to the doctor and you get the professional
evaluation, the more accurate the records are.
And the easier it's going to be to be able to make that connection between the actual
(08:52):
injury or illness and the exact cause of the injury and illness.
Okay.
So let's kind of walk through a scenario.
There is an accident and an employee is injured.
What are the first steps that an employer or farm needs to do to file a claim?
Well, you can go right to your carrier.
(09:14):
That's really, I mean, probably another thing that needs to be stressed over and over again,
any situation, not just with farmers is you need to have a relationship with your carrier
and you need to communicate with your carrier.
The workers compensation board does not provide your insurance for you.
You have a policy.
Maybe you got it through an agent or broker, but it's with a carrier and that's where you're
(09:34):
going to go to file your claim.
And they should, most of the carriers should make it pretty easy.
If they're all competing for your business, they want to make it as user friendly as possible.
But just like with an auto accident or when you're making a claim on your homeowner's
policy, you're going to go to your carrier and you're going to tell them, hey, this is
what happened.
And the professionals are going to help you.
(09:55):
And in the farm bearers case, that is our safety groups.
They would call our office and file that claim.
Obviously if they don't, I'm assuming they're repercussion.
Oh yes.
If they don't file that claim.
The statute is you're supposed to file the claim within 10 days of the incident, and
beyond just following the law.
Again, you're going to develop your relationship with your carrier or in your case, your safety
(10:18):
group.
And if you start to show that you're not somebody that handles your business promptly, that's
going to affect your relationship.
So there's going to be repercussions beyond the potential legal penalties of not following
the law and filing that claim quickly, but also damaging your relationship with the people
you're depending on to provide your coverage for you.
(10:39):
And it's important to make sure that there are no laps in coverage as well, because this
is a requirement and you need to make sure that your policies are in place.
Are there common instances or just maybe just simple, honest mistakes that easily can be
avoided, whether it's wrong information or a farm transitioning maybe to the next generation?
(11:01):
What are some of the pitfalls to avoid in making sure that your coverage doesn't lapse?
Well that's a great point.
The vast majority of the telephone calls and emails that we get here in our office are
people whose coverage has lapsed.
And generally the coverage lapses when you stop paying the bill.
And that could happen for a number of reasons.
(11:22):
It is what you describe an oversight, a business changes ownership or transitions from one type
of business to another, and they don't update the FEI in with their carrier.
But most of the time, it's really just a case of, I didn't pay the bill.
And a lot of times we know money gets tight and we got to make choices about, maybe this
(11:43):
month I can't actually swing it.
Workers compensation insurance is not the thing to skip if you're short one month, because
these penalties will follow you and they'll grow very large and hang over your head for
a very, very long time.
So that's really, stay on top of it.
One mistake that we see very often is people will depend on a non-insurance professional
(12:07):
or even software, something like paychecks to handle all their business for them, to
handle paying for their policy, to tell them when they need to get a policy and how much
of a policy to get.
You really need to talk to an insurance professional about that and you really as an employer need
to stay on top of it.
You need to make sure that your software is taking care of your business appropriately.
(12:29):
You need to make sure if you're using a broker or an agent that they're taking care of your
business appropriately.
So you kind of need to just get familiar with the idea that you have to have workers compensation
coverage.
You have to have disability and pay family leave in most cases as well.
And you as the employer are responsible for staying on top of that and making sure whoever
is helping you, whether it's a paycheck software or your accountant or whoever is acting in
(12:54):
your best interest and making sure your business is getting handled.
Do you get questions about who is covered on the farm?
I mean, oftentimes there are extended family who work on a farm.
Are they covered typically under workers compensation?
That's a great question.
I know there are exceptions for the spouse and the minor children of a farmer when it
(13:15):
comes to workers compensation insurance, but that does not extend to any other family members.
So if you bring a cousin or an aunt or anyone else that's not your spouse or your minor
child, you're going to have to have workers compensation insurance coverage for them.
They're going to need it.
The rules are a little bit different with the disability and the paid family leave as
(13:38):
far as like with the minor children who are in school, they don't necessarily need to
have the disability and paid family leave.
And you can get a spousal exemption for disability and paid family leave, but that's only for
the spouse.
So again, if you're talking about other family members that you're bringing in that are outside
your immediate family, your spouse, your minor children, you're going to need coverage.
(14:00):
And I don't know if you play a role in how costs are determined.
I know for our safety group, you know, premiums have been coming down, which is great for
our farm bureau members who are taking part in the program.
But on the flip side, I would assume like, you know, if there's an accident, you know,
like your car insurance, you have an accident that could cause your premiums to go up.
How are costs and prices, you know, dictated, if you will, for workers compensation?
(14:27):
So there's another entity.
It's the New York State Compensation Insurance Rating Board, SERB, you hear them, that they're
kind of operate outside.
They're a nonpartisan group kind of operating separately that is setting the, mostly setting
the rates for coverage.
But then on an individual level, things like exactly what you just mentioned, your workplace
(14:49):
safety history, your history of claims, how many years you've been in business, things
like that all kind of factor in.
One thing that I constantly recommend to employers over and over again is shop around.
You really should shop around.
I mean, you see the commercials on TV for your auto insurance, right?
15 minutes will save you 50% tomorrow or whatever.
(15:10):
Check it out.
You know, don't just assume that, hey, I've got this rate.
That's the only game in town.
You know, go out there and see.
And then you could see when you're looking at one carrier versus another carrier versus
another carrier, you can kind of sort of see how are they, how are they putting these prices
together and start to understand what's going into it.
Yeah, great advice.
(15:30):
And certainly they should call New York Farm Bureau.
I mean, we've been around over 30 years offering the program, very competitive rates, so we
can help provide some of those answers and certainly provide competitive bids.
But are there ways to reduce your premium costs?
Like say, can a farm offer safety training, for instance?
Can that help reduce premiums?
(15:50):
Of course, of course.
And actually there's a program that's operated for the Department of Labor.
So Workplace Safety and Loss Prevention Program is also known as Code Rule 60, where if you
want to participate in this program, if you implement either a safety plan, well, there's
three different types of plans that you can implement as part of this program.
You can have a safety plan, a return to work plan for your injured or ill workers, and
(16:14):
then also an alcohol and substance abuse prevention plan.
That if you implement any of these plans and you get them approved through the program,
you can get a discount on your workers compensation insurance premiums.
Great advice, and by nature, farming can be a hazardous profession, dealing with large
(16:36):
equipment, dealing with large animals in some cases.
There definitely are inherent risks to working on farms.
Is there any other advice or safety advice that you would recommend for farmers and farm
workers?
Well, I think even outside of the formal program that I just mentioned, the Department of Labor,
(16:57):
on an informal level, or however formal you want to operate your business, you can set
up a safety program right there, a labor management safety committee, if you will, with your managers,
with your staff, and actually just kind of make it a regular routine thing to talk about
safety with your workers, to walk around the workplace looking at the different things
(17:21):
and the issues that have come up.
You may have, just talking to your workers, talk to your people, find out about these
things.
If you set up these kind of practices and you develop these relationships and make it
routine, make it part of your business, you'll see changes.
You'll see also, even in the morale of your workers, if they know that you actually really
take an interest and care about their safety and that you're willing to be proactive and
(17:45):
look for those hazards and try to mitigate them, it really does make a difference.
Absolutely, being proactive, because it isn't just about talking about safety on day one.
It really is an ongoing, continuous effort to make sure that the workplace is a good
place for everybody.
And I think that is very important.
(18:07):
I think you kind of hit on, too, that it can help morale.
On the flip side, if it's an unsafe work environment, that can seriously damage morale and make
it difficult to keep employees or encourage people to work on the farm.
So I think it probably is on the flip side as well.
(18:28):
And it also can be an emotional issue.
If your employee gets hurt, that can take a toll on the employee, the employee's family,
on you or your coworkers.
Is there any kind of, I don't know if support is the right word, but how would you walk
through someone who is calling, who is very emotional about what may have just happened
on their farm?
(18:50):
So on both sides here at the Workers' Conversation, we have the advocate for business myself.
And I'm going to be available if there's any type of workplace issue that an employer wants
to talk about.
You can reach out to me.
And if I can't solve the problem or answer the question, I can work with my colleagues
here at the board to get you the answer that you need.
(19:11):
But on the flip side of that, we also have an advocate for injured workers here at the
Workers' Conversation board.
So if you have a worker or an employee who's struggling with a claim issue, we can help
them with that too.
And I say that even to the employers to know that you may have an employee who's struggling
with a claim issue that has nothing to do with you as the employer.
It's between them and the carrier or them and the provider.
(19:33):
But you can get them help by connecting them with the advocate for injured workers here.
We also have quite a number of services here at the board.
We have social workers.
We have people who can help you with the vocational rehab of getting people trained up and the
right kind of therapy that they need to get back to work.
So there are a lot of people out there thinking about exactly what you're talking about trying
(19:55):
to address and focus on the cost of an accident or injury, not just the physical cost, but
the emotional cost, the stress, the worry, and the things that we can do to try to help
people get back onto their lives.
Because let's face it, work is life in a lot of cases.
This is how we put food on our tables.
We have to take care of each other.
(20:16):
We have to work together and be productive and look out for each other.
I think that's a great note to end on there, just stressing that importance.
Anything else that you think it may be important for folks to know about workplace safety or
your role at the Workers' Compensation Board?
Just on the topic of safety, just don't take it for granted.
(20:38):
Don't take safety for granted.
Don't take your insurance coverage for granted.
Stay on top of these things.
They're very important parts of your business.
Your relationship with your insurance carrier, your safety group, if you will, in your case,
that should be just as important to you as your relationship with your attorney or your
accountant.
I mean, this stuff is important.
As far as myself and my role as the advocate for business, I just want to let people know
(21:01):
that I'm here.
And I really want to hear from people, not just after they have a problem, but before
they have a problem.
Tell me what you're looking at down the road, what you see coming, and maybe I can help
you avoid it.
So don't be shy.
Reach out to us.
I'll plug my phone number in here.
518-486-3331.
That's the advocate for business number, 518-486-3331.
(21:25):
You can give us a call and we'll be happy to help you with whatever you need.
Then you have a website as well with all kinds of information too that people can check out.
Yeah, the Workers' Compensation Board, it's a little bit overwhelming for us because there's
a lot of information, but I have to say our team does a great job at organizing it.
There's a ton of valuable information on there for employers, for workers.
(21:47):
You should check it out.
You should browse the website.
You can learn a little bit about what kind of coverage requirements are affecting you
and also links to resources like I mentioned earlier.
Well, Anthony, thank you so much for spending a few minutes with us today and hopefully
our listeners got a lot out of it to make for a better, safer work environment on their
(22:08):
farm.
So thank you.
Oh, absolutely.
It's my pleasure.
Thank you so much for having me.
As we mentioned, New York Farm Bureau Safety Group 486 is the standard bearer for farm
workers' comp programs in New York.
It was started by farmers who understood the need for safety, security, and competitive
pricing and since 1967, it's been providing just that.
In addition, members receive free safety inspections to protect you, your employees, and your business
(22:33):
as well as getting access to training materials, posters, and online employee training.
You can get more information by checking out the program tab on our website, nyfb.org,
or you can call the State New York Farm Bureau office and speak with one of our professional
safety group representatives.
That will do it for today's edition of News Bites.
Thanks to Seth Moser Katz for editing this production and until next time, stay safe
(22:57):
and thank a farmer for all that they do.
The pandemic highlighted just how important farmers and their employees are in each of
(00:07):
our daily lives.
We depend on their essential work, which is why their health and safety are so important.
Hi, I'm Steve Ammerman, New York Farm Bureau's Director of Communications, and welcome to
News Bites.
Next week, from September 17th to the 23rd, it's National Farm Safety and Health Week.
It's a time to highlight how every farm must be as safe as possible for the people who
(00:30):
work there.
This includes protecting those who work with large equipment, in confined spaces, and employees
who handle livestock.
But farm safety should be examined more than just once a year, or rather every day on the
farm.
And should there be an accident, there are important steps to take to help protect the
employee and the workplace.
Today on News Bites, we're joined by Anthony Tomaselli.
(00:50):
He serves as the new advocate for business for the state's Workers' Compensation Board.
Part of his job is to work with employers, providing them with helpful assistance on
issues related to workers' comp, disability benefits, and paid family leave, while helping
them put safety first.
Well, hi, Anthony.
Thanks so much for talking to us today about the role of the Workers' Compensation Board.
(01:13):
And really, farm safety is a big priority for our farmers, for our farm workers, as
well as our safety group.
And I just want to kick off the conversation with learning more about you and your role
as the advocate for business at the Workers' Compensation Board.
What is it that you do there?
Well, first, I just want to say thank you for having me.
(01:34):
I really appreciate the opportunity to speak to your listeners, tell them a little bit
about myself and what we do here at the Workers' Compensation Board.
I'm an ombudsman.
I am the advocate for business here at the Workers' Compensation Board.
The really short answer to that is I'm supposed to act as the liaison between the Workers'
Compensation Board and the business community.
(01:54):
I kind of really look at that role as an educational role.
I think the best thing that I can do is educate employers about workers' compensation, about
the requirements, the coverage requirements that they must deal with in their day-to-day
operations and just helping them have a safe operation and stay out of trouble.
I listen.
(02:15):
I take feedback.
We have quite a few calls and emails coming in every single day with people, questions,
and concerns.
We have a staff here in our office that is happy to help however we can.
That's my personal background.
I've been working with small businesses in New York state government role for several
years now, and I'm very passionate about it.
(02:36):
That's what drives our state, what drives our economy.
So many good things happen when you get entrepreneurs out there successfully running their businesses,
hiring people, putting them to work.
It's really what makes the world go around, and I'm happy to try to do the best I can
to help employers in this particular role here now with the Workers' Compensation Board.
Well, I think it's important for people to understand that you are out there to serve
(02:58):
as a resource.
Obviously, with our safety group here at New York Farm Bureau, with our own workers' compensation
program, we have a great relationship with you and your staff there to help inform our
members about what's available to them.
What are some of the issues that are common or that your office comes across in talking
with farmers and farm workers?
(03:20):
Well, the most common issue that seems to come up over and over again is this question
when you're using farm labor contractors, who is really responsible for having the coverage?
I've been hearing that question over and over again because at a glance, if you're not really
familiar with insurance and risk management, it really kind of looks like there's some
overlap in the coverage.
(03:41):
And in some cases, there really is.
But the law is pretty clear about this.
In the workers' compensation law, a farm owner by statute is the employer and is responsible
for providing workers' compensation insurance for those employees.
When you're talking about the farm labor contractors, though, that doesn't mean that they don't
need to have any coverage at all because they probably are going to have employees that
(04:04):
are doing work for the farm labor contractor, not the actual farmers themselves, transportation
drivers, administrative staff.
So you really kind of need to talk to your agent, talk to your carrier, and really kind
of get into the details of exactly how you run your operation and find out exactly what
kind of coverage you need if you're a farm labor contractor.
(04:26):
But back to the farmers themselves, you're going to need to have that coverage.
So when it comes to making sure farmers understand what they need to do and also farm workers
to help them understand, is it something that farmers need to explain to their employees
as well about what the protections are and what workers' compensation covers and what
(04:47):
should happen if there is an accident?
Oh, yes, absolutely.
I think it's really important.
Kind of one of the things that I speak to all employers, not just farmers, is you need
to talk about workers' compensation insurance.
You need to talk about disability insurance.
You need to talk about paid family leave.
Your employees, your workers need to know.
They need to know that they're protected.
They need to know the details of that protection.
(05:11):
What are they entitled to?
What are we required to provide them as employers or you as an employer?
What are you required to provide them?
So they need to know about that.
You need to be aware of that.
As an employer, usually when you get your policy, you're going to get posters or certificates
that show your coverage.
You got to have that stuff displayed.
But again, just talking to your workers about it.
And then particularly the claim issue when there's an injury.
(05:33):
I can't stress enough that when a worker gets injured or sick on the job, you need to take
care of it right away.
Absolutely right away.
It doesn't require you to file a claim within 10 days.
But forgetting even about the law, when you've got somebody who's hurt or injured, the sooner
you deal with it, the faster you're going to get to the better outcome.
The faster that person is going to be able to return to work.
(05:54):
The faster the interruption to your operation that that illness or injury has caused is
going to be resolved.
That's the best case scenario.
So the best thing you do is talk to your employees, your workers, and let them know that, hey,
if you get sick or you get hurt on the job, we have coverage.
There's a process for this and there's a plan in place that we can take care of you and
(06:14):
we can get you fixed up and back to work so that you can take care of your family and
the employer can continue to operate their business.
What is that threshold if an employee gets sick or gets hurt to know that your office
needs to be contacted and a claim needs to be started?
(06:35):
Well without really getting too deep into the weeds on this.
And you can go to our website, you can go to the workers' conversation boards and really
look at the requirements.
But a general rule of thumb is if you need to apply first aid more than once, if you
need to apply first aid more than once, it might be a pretty serious issue that you should
probably take a deeper look at it.
(06:55):
Beyond that, you're really going to have to, again, talk to your employees, talk to the
people who are on site, your supervisors, and let them know.
Kind of get a sense.
You know what your people are capable of.
You know what's standard, what's typical, what's a usual kind of bump or bruise that's
going to happen on the job.
And you should hopefully know when things go beyond that.
But again, I would say as a good rule of thumb that if you can apply first aid more than
(07:20):
once, you might want to start taking that particular issue a little bit seriously.
And I think you probably always should err on the side of caution as well.
Absolutely.
Wouldn't be a safe bet there.
We're talking about people's lives and their health and their safety.
So when it comes to ensuring accuracy and avoiding risks, are there things that you
(07:43):
share with employers that they need to know when it comes to making a claim?
Oh, yes, absolutely.
First and foremost, and this is again, it's kind of a piece of advice that can apply to
all aspects of your business, but keep records.
Keep records of everything.
Keep records of who you have working for you, what their tasks are, what they're doing every
(08:04):
day.
If there is an unusual circumstance that happens during the day, keep a record of it.
Even the minor accidents and injuries, keep records of it.
Those records are what's going to come out in the end and help you.
And of course, there's always that fear of the workers compensation fraud that can come
up.
And again, your record keeping and your background on what's going on in your workplace and in
(08:29):
how you handle your employees is going to tell you if there's a legitimate claim there
or not.
That's another really good reason to get there and get to the doctor and get seen right away
is because the closer to the incident you get to the doctor and you get the professional
evaluation, the more accurate the records are.
And the easier it's going to be to be able to make that connection between the actual
(08:52):
injury or illness and the exact cause of the injury and illness.
Okay.
So let's kind of walk through a scenario.
There is an accident and an employee is injured.
What are the first steps that an employer or farm needs to do to file a claim?
Well, you can go right to your carrier.
(09:14):
That's really, I mean, probably another thing that needs to be stressed over and over again,
any situation, not just with farmers is you need to have a relationship with your carrier
and you need to communicate with your carrier.
The workers compensation board does not provide your insurance for you.
You have a policy.
Maybe you got it through an agent or broker, but it's with a carrier and that's where you're
(09:34):
going to go to file your claim.
And they should, most of the carriers should make it pretty easy.
If they're all competing for your business, they want to make it as user friendly as possible.
But just like with an auto accident or when you're making a claim on your homeowner's
policy, you're going to go to your carrier and you're going to tell them, hey, this is
what happened.
And the professionals are going to help you.
(09:55):
And in the farm bearers case, that is our safety groups.
They would call our office and file that claim.
Obviously if they don't, I'm assuming they're repercussion.
Oh yes.
If they don't file that claim.
The statute is you're supposed to file the claim within 10 days of the incident, and
beyond just following the law.
Again, you're going to develop your relationship with your carrier or in your case, your safety
(10:18):
group.
And if you start to show that you're not somebody that handles your business promptly, that's
going to affect your relationship.
So there's going to be repercussions beyond the potential legal penalties of not following
the law and filing that claim quickly, but also damaging your relationship with the people
you're depending on to provide your coverage for you.
(10:39):
And it's important to make sure that there are no laps in coverage as well, because this
is a requirement and you need to make sure that your policies are in place.
Are there common instances or just maybe just simple, honest mistakes that easily can be
avoided, whether it's wrong information or a farm transitioning maybe to the next generation?
(11:01):
What are some of the pitfalls to avoid in making sure that your coverage doesn't lapse?
Well that's a great point.
The vast majority of the telephone calls and emails that we get here in our office are
people whose coverage has lapsed.
And generally the coverage lapses when you stop paying the bill.
And that could happen for a number of reasons.
(11:22):
It is what you describe an oversight, a business changes ownership or transitions from one type
of business to another, and they don't update the FEI in with their carrier.
But most of the time, it's really just a case of, I didn't pay the bill.
And a lot of times we know money gets tight and we got to make choices about, maybe this
(11:43):
month I can't actually swing it.
Workers compensation insurance is not the thing to skip if you're short one month, because
these penalties will follow you and they'll grow very large and hang over your head for
a very, very long time.
So that's really, stay on top of it.
One mistake that we see very often is people will depend on a non-insurance professional
(12:07):
or even software, something like paychecks to handle all their business for them, to
handle paying for their policy, to tell them when they need to get a policy and how much
of a policy to get.
You really need to talk to an insurance professional about that and you really as an employer need
to stay on top of it.
You need to make sure that your software is taking care of your business appropriately.
(12:29):
You need to make sure if you're using a broker or an agent that they're taking care of your
business appropriately.
So you kind of need to just get familiar with the idea that you have to have workers compensation
coverage.
You have to have disability and pay family leave in most cases as well.
And you as the employer are responsible for staying on top of that and making sure whoever
is helping you, whether it's a paycheck software or your accountant or whoever is acting in
(12:54):
your best interest and making sure your business is getting handled.
Do you get questions about who is covered on the farm?
I mean, oftentimes there are extended family who work on a farm.
Are they covered typically under workers compensation?
That's a great question.
I know there are exceptions for the spouse and the minor children of a farmer when it
(13:15):
comes to workers compensation insurance, but that does not extend to any other family members.
So if you bring a cousin or an aunt or anyone else that's not your spouse or your minor
child, you're going to have to have workers compensation insurance coverage for them.
They're going to need it.
The rules are a little bit different with the disability and the paid family leave as
(13:38):
far as like with the minor children who are in school, they don't necessarily need to
have the disability and paid family leave.
And you can get a spousal exemption for disability and paid family leave, but that's only for
the spouse.
So again, if you're talking about other family members that you're bringing in that are outside
your immediate family, your spouse, your minor children, you're going to need coverage.
(14:00):
And I don't know if you play a role in how costs are determined.
I know for our safety group, you know, premiums have been coming down, which is great for
our farm bureau members who are taking part in the program.
But on the flip side, I would assume like, you know, if there's an accident, you know,
like your car insurance, you have an accident that could cause your premiums to go up.
How are costs and prices, you know, dictated, if you will, for workers compensation?
(14:27):
So there's another entity.
It's the New York State Compensation Insurance Rating Board, SERB, you hear them, that they're
kind of operate outside.
They're a nonpartisan group kind of operating separately that is setting the, mostly setting
the rates for coverage.
But then on an individual level, things like exactly what you just mentioned, your workplace
(14:49):
safety history, your history of claims, how many years you've been in business, things
like that all kind of factor in.
One thing that I constantly recommend to employers over and over again is shop around.
You really should shop around.
I mean, you see the commercials on TV for your auto insurance, right?
15 minutes will save you 50% tomorrow or whatever.
(15:10):
Check it out.
You know, don't just assume that, hey, I've got this rate.
That's the only game in town.
You know, go out there and see.
And then you could see when you're looking at one carrier versus another carrier versus
another carrier, you can kind of sort of see how are they, how are they putting these prices
together and start to understand what's going into it.
Yeah, great advice.
(15:30):
And certainly they should call New York Farm Bureau.
I mean, we've been around over 30 years offering the program, very competitive rates, so we
can help provide some of those answers and certainly provide competitive bids.
But are there ways to reduce your premium costs?
Like say, can a farm offer safety training, for instance?
Can that help reduce premiums?
(15:50):
Of course, of course.
And actually there's a program that's operated for the Department of Labor.
So Workplace Safety and Loss Prevention Program is also known as Code Rule 60, where if you
want to participate in this program, if you implement either a safety plan, well, there's
three different types of plans that you can implement as part of this program.
You can have a safety plan, a return to work plan for your injured or ill workers, and
(16:14):
then also an alcohol and substance abuse prevention plan.
That if you implement any of these plans and you get them approved through the program,
you can get a discount on your workers compensation insurance premiums.
Great advice, and by nature, farming can be a hazardous profession, dealing with large
(16:36):
equipment, dealing with large animals in some cases.
There definitely are inherent risks to working on farms.
Is there any other advice or safety advice that you would recommend for farmers and farm
workers?
Well, I think even outside of the formal program that I just mentioned, the Department of Labor,
(16:57):
on an informal level, or however formal you want to operate your business, you can set
up a safety program right there, a labor management safety committee, if you will, with your managers,
with your staff, and actually just kind of make it a regular routine thing to talk about
safety with your workers, to walk around the workplace looking at the different things
(17:21):
and the issues that have come up.
You may have, just talking to your workers, talk to your people, find out about these
things.
If you set up these kind of practices and you develop these relationships and make it
routine, make it part of your business, you'll see changes.
You'll see also, even in the morale of your workers, if they know that you actually really
take an interest and care about their safety and that you're willing to be proactive and
(17:45):
look for those hazards and try to mitigate them, it really does make a difference.
Absolutely, being proactive, because it isn't just about talking about safety on day one.
It really is an ongoing, continuous effort to make sure that the workplace is a good
place for everybody.
And I think that is very important.
(18:07):
I think you kind of hit on, too, that it can help morale.
On the flip side, if it's an unsafe work environment, that can seriously damage morale and make
it difficult to keep employees or encourage people to work on the farm.
So I think it probably is on the flip side as well.
(18:28):
And it also can be an emotional issue.
If your employee gets hurt, that can take a toll on the employee, the employee's family,
on you or your coworkers.
Is there any kind of, I don't know if support is the right word, but how would you walk
through someone who is calling, who is very emotional about what may have just happened
on their farm?
(18:50):
So on both sides here at the Workers' Conversation, we have the advocate for business myself.
And I'm going to be available if there's any type of workplace issue that an employer wants
to talk about.
You can reach out to me.
And if I can't solve the problem or answer the question, I can work with my colleagues
here at the board to get you the answer that you need.
(19:11):
But on the flip side of that, we also have an advocate for injured workers here at the
Workers' Conversation board.
So if you have a worker or an employee who's struggling with a claim issue, we can help
them with that too.
And I say that even to the employers to know that you may have an employee who's struggling
with a claim issue that has nothing to do with you as the employer.
It's between them and the carrier or them and the provider.
(19:33):
But you can get them help by connecting them with the advocate for injured workers here.
We also have quite a number of services here at the board.
We have social workers.
We have people who can help you with the vocational rehab of getting people trained up and the
right kind of therapy that they need to get back to work.
So there are a lot of people out there thinking about exactly what you're talking about trying
(19:55):
to address and focus on the cost of an accident or injury, not just the physical cost, but
the emotional cost, the stress, the worry, and the things that we can do to try to help
people get back onto their lives.
Because let's face it, work is life in a lot of cases.
This is how we put food on our tables.
We have to take care of each other.
(20:16):
We have to work together and be productive and look out for each other.
I think that's a great note to end on there, just stressing that importance.
Anything else that you think it may be important for folks to know about workplace safety or
your role at the Workers' Compensation Board?
Just on the topic of safety, just don't take it for granted.
(20:38):
Don't take safety for granted.
Don't take your insurance coverage for granted.
Stay on top of these things.
They're very important parts of your business.
Your relationship with your insurance carrier, your safety group, if you will, in your case,
that should be just as important to you as your relationship with your attorney or your
accountant.
I mean, this stuff is important.
As far as myself and my role as the advocate for business, I just want to let people know
(21:01):
that I'm here.
And I really want to hear from people, not just after they have a problem, but before
they have a problem.
Tell me what you're looking at down the road, what you see coming, and maybe I can help
you avoid it.
So don't be shy.
Reach out to us.
I'll plug my phone number in here.
518-486-3331.
That's the advocate for business number, 518-486-3331.
(21:25):
You can give us a call and we'll be happy to help you with whatever you need.
Then you have a website as well with all kinds of information too that people can check out.
Yeah, the Workers' Compensation Board, it's a little bit overwhelming for us because there's
a lot of information, but I have to say our team does a great job at organizing it.
There's a ton of valuable information on there for employers, for workers.
(21:47):
You should check it out.
You should browse the website.
You can learn a little bit about what kind of coverage requirements are affecting you
and also links to resources like I mentioned earlier.
Well, Anthony, thank you so much for spending a few minutes with us today and hopefully
our listeners got a lot out of it to make for a better, safer work environment on their
(22:08):
farm.
So thank you.
Oh, absolutely.
It's my pleasure.
Thank you so much for having me.
As we mentioned, New York Farm Bureau Safety Group 486 is the standard bearer for farm
workers' comp programs in New York.
It was started by farmers who understood the need for safety, security, and competitive
pricing and since 1967, it's been providing just that.
In addition, members receive free safety inspections to protect you, your employees, and your business
(22:33):
as well as getting access to training materials, posters, and online employee training.
You can get more information by checking out the program tab on our website, nyfb.org,
or you can call the State New York Farm Bureau office and speak with one of our professional
safety group representatives.
That will do it for today's edition of News Bites.
Thanks to Seth Moser Katz for editing this production and until next time, stay safe
(22:57):
and thank a farmer for all that they do.
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