Articles

• O.S.H.A. FAQ
• Business Structures in Florida
• Four Steps to Selecting a Floor plan

 

Wise Words

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."

- Aristotle

Hot Topics

Workers Comp efforts by the NFIB

Visit the NFIB at: www.nfib.com

We all need to know what is going on in our State and at the National level concerning business related new statutes and regulations. In my opinion, NFIB, a nation wide lobbying association, has been hitting home runs for us, consider supporting them. The following are exerts from their website.

Workers' Compensation Attorneys' Fees

NFIB's Agenda: Support legislation to reinstate attorney fee provision to keep workers' comp rates down.

Issue Summary: In 2003, the Florida Legislature enacted significant reforms to the state's workers' compensation system. The reforms included a limit on attorneys' fees, eliminating the hourly rate in favor of a percentage of the award. This change resulted in a significant drop in the frequency of claims and lawsuits, culminating in a 60 percent decrease in workers' compensation premiums over five years. In October 2008, the Florida Supreme Court reversed these reforms and eliminated the cap on attorneys' fees, effectively returning the state to the pre-2003 workers' compensation system. A 6.4 percent rate increase has already been approved effective April 1, 2009, and additional rate increases are inevitable if the Legislature fails to reenact a limit on attorney fees.

Card Check / Secret Ballot

NFIB's Agenda: Card Check / Secret Ballot

Issue Summary: Labor unions are pressing the U.S. Congress to pass card-check legislation which would take away the right to a secret ballot for workers voting in a union organization election. This legislation represents a direct threat to the ability of small business to create jobs and grow the economy. Organizing by card check radically initiates the unionization of small businesses from the outside, not internally by employees themselves, and would keep small-business owners uninformed about organizing drives. Unfortunately, there is no constitutional right to a secret ballot in any election, but NFIB is working with Rep. Hasner and Sen. Richter to pass this resolution this year to put an initiative on the 2010 ballot guaranteeing Florida citizens that right in all elections, including union organizing efforts.

Not Business Related, but Just Plain Stupid...

Parental Liability Waiver Rights

NFIB's Agenda: Support legislation to allow the use of liability waivers at Florida businesses.

Issue Summary: For decades businesses have executed liability waivers, which are signed by a parent or legal guardian to allow children to participate in a wide range of commercial activities, including football, baseball, basketball, soccer, gymnastics, motorsports, horseback riding, scuba diving, etc. In December 2008, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that parents do not have the right to release a service provider from liability on behalf of a minor. Insurance for such activities will quickly become prohibitively expensive, and those businesses who decide to take the risk on themselves face financial ruin in the event of injury or death to a minor. Current law does not specifically give the right or prohibit a parent from signing a waiver, meaning legislative action allowing the use of such waivers will negate the Court's decision.