Leads & Introductions
Members introduced themselves and announced leads.

Board Update
At our board meeting last night, we discussed marketing MABE more using our website and also having another guest event.

Andy Jensen, Dave Lathrop and Steve Chilton will be leaving the board soon.  We will start the election process today with nominations.  Nominations will be held again next week.  Speeches and elections will take place the last week of this month.

Today's Nominations:

• Roman Okonowski nominated Nick Mawrenko.  The nomination was seconded and accepted.

• Don Ellis nominated Janice Jaicks. The nomination was seconded.  The nominee will consider it.

• Dave Crissman nominated  Jake Ulrich  The nomination was seconded and accepted.

• Dave Lathrop nominated Guy Sawyer  The nomination was seconded and accepted.

• Erin Jaicks nominated Lin Schmelzer  The nomination was seconded.  The nominee will consider it.

• Andy Jensen nominated Joe Hesch  The nomination was seconded and accepted.

• Don Ellis nominated Althea Bussert  The nomination was seconded.  The nominee will consider it.

Bio Photos
If you did not make it today you missed your chance to get your picture taken for the MABE brochure.  At this point, you will need to contact Herb Stokes to schedule an appointment.

Member Spotlight
This week's spotlight is Herb Stokes.  Please keep this member top of mind this week for referrals.

Next Week's Meeting
Round Table Discussions

Featured Program - Human Resource Follow-Up: Liability Issues
Roman Okonowski with The Arizona Group was our first presenter today.  He followed up to last week's meeting on human resources.  Today Roman focused on human resource insurance coverages.

If you have employees you should make sure to have workman's compensation coverage.  Governing agencies have no pity and you can get into some sticky situations if there is a serious injury or death on the job.

Make sure anyone you hire as an independent contractor are truly independent.  Have them provide proof that they have their own workman's compensation policy or have them give you a waiver.   If you hire someone to come in and work at your house and they get injured you could get drawn into an expensive situation so exercise caution.  Ask them to provide proof of coverage.

Employee benefit liability coverage is recommended.  It can protects you, for example, if you have a health enrollment period but fail to enroll an employee and they have an illness that would have been covered had they been enrolled.  It also includes 401K plans.

Discrimination, wrongful termination, harassment...There are of particular concern today because of economy.  Suits are rising.  If you did nothing wrong, you will still incur legal costs that could break you.  Tail coverage can help you in the event of an ongoing litigation process.  During that long period the attorney's ticker is running. 

Roman does not believe you should buy every coverage out there.  There is no policy that covers everything.  It is important to understand what your exposures are. 

Don't think you are immune.  You don't have to be guilty of anything.  You just have to be accused of something.  One thing that can get out of hand is relationships between employees.  Believe it or not, you could get dragged into it. 

Employment practices liability insurance is not necessarily an expensive policy but there is a thorough underwriting process which is often a deterrent.   Should you have a handbook?  Don't have a handbook "if you are not going to follow it".   

You need to understand what you are buying.  Read the exclusions.  You are buying peace of mind.

Nick Mawrenko took the podium to discuss how HR is about prevention.  No amount of coverage will cover you for stupidity. 

There are basic up front things all of us should take a look at when we go back to our office.  They are not about spending money.  Pick up you employment application and employee handbook.  Do you have  an employment application?  What does your employment application say?  Is it asking the wrong questions?  It is a simple thing to fix.  Eliminate possible exposures.  Do for one, do for all.  You can ask certain questions if they are a requirement of the job (for example, age for a driver).

You should have a contract with an independent contractor - some document that specifies this is not an employee.  Most people assume the independent contractor has workman's compensation.  You should ask for their workman's compensation certificate when they come onto your premises.  It doesn't cost you anything for an ounce of protection.

If you let things go you could get into trouble.  Don't make exceptions.  If you have it in policy, follow it and do it for everybody.  Interview everybody the same way.  Have the same evaluation form.  Have the same people involved in the process.  This is particularly important if you are a larger company that falls under federal rules.

So many of these things don't cost you any money.  If you start doing things the right way from day one you will be better off.  People make mistakes but at least you can show the effort was made.

If you need a handbook, Nick can send you a generic one.  Have it reviewed by your legal counsel before you start using it.