America’s 25 Most Successful Immigrants; Karma Comes Back to Life; Mexican Wines from Napa Valley Checking China in Southeast Asia; How Foreigners are Buying American; How Thrive Markets Philanthropy Embraer’s High Concept Planes; Givenchy Returns to the U.S.; Fall Fashion from Around the Globe WORK \ FINANCE \ LIFE WORTH.COM VOLUME 25 | EDITION 04 AT THE PEOPLE, TRENDS AND IDEAS SHAPING OUR FUTURE AN OPTIMISTIC AND UNEXPECTED LOOK E S T A B L I S H E D 1 9 9 2 W O R T H M A G A Z I N E
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America’s 25 Most Successful Immigrants; Karma Comes Back to Life; Mexican Wines from Napa Valley
Checking China in Southeast Asia; How Foreigners are Buying American; How Thrive Markets Philanthropy
Embraer’s High Concept Planes; Givenchy Returns to the U.S.; Fall Fashion from Around the Globe
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FEATURED ADVISORChristine Schrader, AAI, Vice President, Personal Insurance
INSURANCE SERVICES EXPERIENCE25 years
INSURANCE SERVICES PROVIDEDPersonal insurance sales and services
COOK MARAN & ASSOCIATES INC. 40 Marcus Drive, 3rd Floor, Melville, NY 11747 631.390.9700
L E A D I N G I N S U R A N C E A D V I S O R | M E L V I L L E , N Y
I L L U S T R A T I O N B Y K E V I N S P R O U L S
Should I purchase workers compensation and disability insurance for my domestic workers?B Y C H R I S T I N E S C H R A D E R , A A I
Front row, left to right: Meaghan Sullivan, Laura Kearney, Christine Schrader, Tim Brenneman, back row, left to right: Rosemary Whisler, Alison Schmidt, Caetlyn Fallon
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he short answer is yes. Many states require that an individual
employing household staff carry workers compensation and/or disability insur-ance. Because the legal obligations vary widely from state to state, our discus-sion will focus specifically on the state of New York.
Workers compensation insurance pro-vides several benefits: medical services to treat job-related injury or illness; tempo-rary or permanent cash benefits to help offset income loss; death benefits for the employee’s survivors; and protection for the employer against most lawsuits from on-the-job injuries/illnesses.
Domestic workers such as health aides, au pairs, housekeepers and gar-deners working with the same employer in a private household 40 hours or more per week are required to be covered by a workers compensation insurance pol-icy paid for by their employer.
Although workers comp is not required for an employee working less than 40 hours per week, it is important to understand that time spent at the residence, including sleep-ing and eating, as well as any additional time spent off-premises performing other duties for the employer, counts toward the total hours worked per week.
For example: A parent employs an au pair to work four consecutive eight-hour days, and the au pair sleeps at the family’s home for the three evenings in between “shifts.” While the total work hours per week would ordinarily be 32, according to state regula-tion, the au pair in this instance is employed well beyond the 40-hour mark, given the inclusion of overnight hours.
Should an employee bring a lawsuit against the employer as the result of an injury at work, the workers comp policy will provide coverage for defense costs and damages. Further, if an employee’s health insurer seeks reimbursement from the em-ployer for coverage provided following a work-related injury, the policy is designed to respond.
Beyond the benefits afforded to both employer and employee, the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board has severe penalties in place for those failing to secure insurance where required. An employer
would face a penalty of $2,000 per 10-day period of noncompliance, in addition to the actual award (compensation and medical), plus any other penalties the board assessed for noncompliance.
Even though a homeowners insurance policy may automatically come with some very limited workers compensation coverage
for “part-time” employees, the law states that this does not cover domestic employees for workers comp benefits.
As a result, people who employ household help for less than 40 hours per week would be wise to protect both themselves and their employees with a workers comp policy.
Disability insurance is an employee bene-fit that compensates employees for some lost earnings due to an injury or illness that is not work related. Similar to the require-ments for workers compensation, New York’s Disability Benefits Law states that the em-ployer must carry a disability policy if he or she employs one or more domestics in the home at least 40 hours a week (and if they work 30 or more days in a calendar year).
In contrast, whereas the workers comp must be paid in full by the employer, the dis-ability policy may be paid for either entirely by the employer or jointly by the employer and employee.
Workers compensation insurance policies can be purchased through the State Insur-ance Fund or privately through a handful of personal insurance carriers now offering coverage options. Select companies like AIG’s Private Client Group, which typically cover all of their customers’ exposures, pro-vide the advantage of an existing relation-ship with the insurance provider.
As always, our best advice is to seek the counsel of a professional insurance advisor in determining your responsibilities for pro-viding workers compensation and disability benefits coverage. l
C O O K M A R A N & A S S O C I A T E S I N C .
CHRISTINE SCHRADER IS AN INSURANCE ADVISOR RESPONSIBLE FOR
NEW CLIENT DEVELOPMENT AT COOK MARAN & ASSOCIATES. Serving
clients with exposures throughout the United States, Christine reviews and
designs insurance protection catered to the specific personal insurance needs of her
individual and family clients. She started her insurance career in 1984 at the Charles
E. Hyde Agency, a forerunner of Cook Maran & Associates Inc., and has been with the
firm ever since. She holds brokers licenses for both property and casualty insurance
as well as life and health insurance. Christine holds the Accredited Advisor in
Insurance designation through The Institute’s Risk and Insurance Knowledge Group.
She frequently participates in initiatives supporting The Humane Society and resides
in Coram, NY, with her husband. l
A B O U T U S
People who employ household help less than 40 hours per week would be wise to protect both themselves and their employees with a workers comp policy. T
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Cook Maran & Associates Inc. is featured in Worth® 2016 Leading Wealth Advisors™, a special section in every edition of Worth® magazine. All persons and firms appearing in this section have completed questionnaires, have been vetted by an advisory group following submission by Worth®, and thereafter paid the standard fees to Worth® to be featured in this section. The information contained herein is for informational purposes, and although the list of advisors presented in this section is drawn from sources believed to be reliable and independently reviewed, the accuracy or completeness of this information is not guaranteed. No person or firm listed in this section should be construed as an endorsement by Worth®, and Worth® will not be responsible for the performance, acts or omissions of any such advisor. It should not be assumed that the past performance of any advisors featured in this special section will equal or be an indicator of future performance. Worth®, a publication of the Worth Group LLC, is a financial publisher and does not recommend or endorse investment, legal or tax advisors, investment strategies or particular investments. Those seeking specific investment advice should consider a qualified and licensed investment professional. Worth® is a registered trademark of the Worth Group LLC.
Christine Schrader, AAI Vice President, Personal Insurance
Cook Maran & Associates Inc.40 Marcus Drive, 3rd Floor
