May 31, 2023 The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $114,000 in back pay for 100 employee. An Orlando-based hotel staffing company that employs cleaning and maintenance workers unlawfully denied employees overtime, and has been ordered by the government to pay the workers what they’re owed — plus damages. The U.S. Department of Labor shared in a news release earlier this month that the agency had recovered $114,000 for 100 employees denied overtime pay. A federal investigation by the labor department’s Wage and Hour division found that APDC Cleaning Services Inc., a cleaning service company based in Orlando, failed to combine hours worked by 100 employees at several locations they service. Read more

May 17, 2023 According to one Florida business owner, all it took was the click of a mouse and the stroke of a keyboard for him to lose his company and its assets. SARASOTA, Fla. — Russ L’Hommedieu and his wife left New York for paradise. They quit their jobs and sold their home to live in sunny Florida. His dream was to own a lucrative boat towing company, so they made that happen and opened Cross Bay Marine. “On the Sunbiz profile, I was the incorporator and the president of the company, and I owned all of the shares,” L’Hommedieu said. That’s when he says their nightmare began. After months of hard work, someone hijacked his company. Read More

Studies show that an overworked and overtired workforce will ultimately cost the company money. As a safety professional, you need to be aware of the dangers of workplace fatigue and warn company management to consider the economic impact of driving workers too hard. But you’ll need solid evidence to support your argument. There are two studies published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (JOEM) you can use: one is on the relationship between fatigue and health-related lost productive time, and the other links weekly work schedules of 60 or more hours to health and safety problems. Fatigue in the Workforce Workers suffering from fatigue—physical and mental—are not only less productive and more prone to illness but also more distracted and thus more likely to be involved in a safety incident. For example, studies show that fatigued workers are more than twice as likely to experience health-related lost productive time. One study found that 37.9% of U.S. workers experience fatigue, costing companies approximately $136 billion in lost productivity. Read More

May 9, 2023 Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jimmy Patronis announced the arrest of a Southwest Florida resident on charges of Worker's Compensation Fraud and Unlicensed Contracting During a State of Emergency in a press release. Eric Harris has been accused of allegedly contracting to conduct home repairs without the required state licensure and insurance coverage. Read More

After many years of mild hurricane seasons, 2020 has proven to be extraordinarily active, resulting in widespread damage, deaths and injuries. There are steps employers can and should take to mitigate the consequences of these storms, as well as other natural and manmade disasters that can impact business operations any time of the year. In the wake of Hurricane Laura, attorneys at the law firm of Seyfarth Shaw offer a primer on how employers should prepare for natural disasters and other emergencies, what actions they should take while one is happening, and how they should clean up and resume business once it has passed. Under the Occupational Safety and Health Standards that are part of regulations issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), all workplaces with more than 10 employees are required to develop a written Emergency Action Plan (EAP) to identify and coordinate necessary employer and employee actions during an emergency. Click to read more:

RetailFirst Insurance Company and BusinessFirst Insurance Company have received a financial strength rating of A- (Excellent) from A.M. Best, upgraded from B++ (Good). The outlook of these ratings has been revised from positive to stable. A.M. Best is the world’s oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source. Click here to read more: