by Marc Millison, Partner at Risk Averse Insurance
It is looking more likely that COVID-19 is going to have a long-term impact on our economy. Businesses are being forced to close their doors which could spell the end for many and be a major setback for most. Sustaining your business through this time is going to require tightening your belt and cutting costs where you can.

As a commercial insurance brokerage, we’ve fielded many calls these last few weeks from clients with a lot of questions about this situation. But they all boiled down to two basic questions:

1. How will my insurance respond to this situation?
2. What can I do to cut costs during this time?

With this in mind, I put together some information which should be helpful for those of you who haven’t had an opportunity to reach out to your broker or haven’t received a clear response.

Update Provided By: Susie Cirilli at Paisner Litvin LLP

​As we near the beginning of the end (of 2019), it is crucial that employers account (literally and figuratively) for changes in the law. The Department of Labor announced earlier this year that effective January 1, 2020, the minimum salary for exempt employees will increase to $684 per week ($35,568 annually). This is an $11,908 jump from the current minimum salary of $455 per week ($23,660 annually).

The Federal Regulations afford employers some relief in that up to 10% of the exempt employee’s salary may be paid in the form of a bonus, incentive or commission on a quarterly or annual basis.
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It is important to remember that salary alone is insufficient for an employee to be exempt from the minimum wage and overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. (“FLSA”) The Act provides that employees classified as Professional, Administrative or Executive are exempt, provided that (1) the primary duty of the employee’s work is exempt, and (2) the employee meets the minimum salary amount. The following is a general overview of the primary duties for each exempt employee classification:

Ransomware is getting worse with no end in sight. What is ransomware? When hackers compromise your network, lock you out of your files and demand money. Typically, the hacker requests bitcoin for the ransom. It’s a risk if you’ll regain access or not and can be debilitating to your business.
 
Vince Caruso, owner of Nettology shared some tips for Small Business that can help you avoid a ransomware attack, as it’s becoming increasingly easier to hack into a business network.