How the Economy Impacts Workers’ Compensation Claims

Employment in the United States continues to grow at a steady clip.

The most recent job statistics show over 300,000 jobs have been created in the U.S. during January 2019.

However, the Federal Reserve Bank has recently raised interest rates in an attempt to cool down the hypercharged job market.

In the wake of a campaign of interest rate hikes, the question remains: what impact will it have on the U.S. job market?

Changes in Job Market Affect the Amount of Injury Claims

A changing job market can increase or decrease the number of work-related injuries. The overall economy can have an impact on the number of workers’ compensation claims.

This is felt both in the number of people working as well as the type of work that people are doing.

At the same time, rising employment numbers in the U.S. also lead to an increasing number of workplace injuries.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, fatal workplace falls have increased nearly 26 percent from 2011 to 2016.

The increase coincides with a rebound in the U.S. employment picture and surging job creation.

Some of this can be expected since higher employment inherently creates more situations in which workers can get hurt on the job.

This will mean that there are more construction projects since the economy is in the midst of a period of prolonged growth.

It can be expected that if growth slows down in the economy, that workplace injury would decrease given that there is less employment overall.

The business cycle has a definite impact on workers’ compensation claims. These claims typically decline in a recession.

There are several reasons for this.

A Recession Means Layoffs

When recessions happen, businesses tend to keep their best and most experienced workers. These are the ones who are the least likely have any accidents on the job or sustain any injuries.

A Recession May Decrease Claims But Also Means More Claim Appeals

There is a reason why the insurance business never feels the brunt of a recession – not like other companies that are.

Since it’s the law for most if not all companies to hold insurance, insurance companies always have a guaranteed stream of cash coming in.

Then there is the fact that insurance companies fight tooth and nail in order to get out of paying out on a claim, no matter if the case appears pretty cut and dry.

During a recession, you can bet your bottom dollar most companies will also fight harder against employee injury claims since such cases can affect them in several ways.

Furthermore, even though insurance companies have guaranteed money coming in thanks to federal laws, they do lose some income when companies are folding and thus no longer a paying client.

These factors mean both the defendant and the insurance company will do all in their power to either beat the injury claim case or file as many appeals as they can until they’re exhausted.

According to Jason Mills of Jason D. Mills & Associates, “When an injured worker wins an appeal for a denied claim with a hearing officer, an employer or insurer may file an additional appeal or motion of stay that impacts benefit payments.”

A Good Economy Means Deadlines

When economic times are booming, businesses are more likely to be in a rush to complete the job to meet customer demands or to be able to move onto the next job that is waiting for them.

A rush means that employees are either working longer hours or are otherwise taking measures to increase speed. Sometimes, this comes at the expense of safety.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/business/how-the-economy-impacts-workers-compensation-claims/

How to Look Beautiful in Different Prom Dresses

Your prom event is nearing and it is the right time to buy a nice-looking dress for the event! Having made up your mind to buy a prom dress, you need to look at several factors that will assist in making the right purchase.

So, in this article, we will be sharing a few suggestions with you to select the best prom dress that not just meets all your desires, but also matches your figure and gives a perfect look to your image.

A-Line Prom Dress

This style of prom dress is the most appropriate for girls of different body types. These dresses have a soft texture as it is made from lace and chiffon fabric. This style is considered to be ideal for girls who have imperfect legs.

By wearing an A-line prom dress, you can showcase your waist and upper body. These dresses are the best ones for girls who want to appear taller and slimmer. You can find cheap prom dresses at many local and online clothing stores.

Mermaid Prom Dresses

Another popular type of prom dress is a mermaid dress. This dress is designed to tight-fitting as compared to other types of prom dresses. By wearing it, you can easily show your figure in a better way.

This dress is ideal for girls who are adorned with beautiful body curves. Girls who are bestowed with an hourglass figure should definitely try this dress as it will highlight their curves and beautify their look for a wonderful prom evening.

One important thing that needs to be noted is that mermaid dress is not suited for everyone. This means that girls who have a pear or apple shape body should not go for a mermaid dress. They should instead try the other styles of plus size prom dresses.

Sheath prom dress

A sheath prom dress is seen to very convenient to wear as compared to other prom dresses especially a mermaid style prom dress. A sheath dress is a tailored one that provides a slim fit to the wearer.

For girls who are full-bodied, they can select these gowns. A slim dress is mostly designed to have a high waist that makes your legs appear longer. Also, by wearing this dress, you will look slimmer and taller.

Ball Gown Dress

Ball gown dress is a style that goes best for all body types. In a visual sense, the curvature of this style reflects the skinniness of the waist. This makes the body of the woman especially the back region more elegant and graceful.

To cater to the high-end and luxurious atmosphere at the prom event, some of the ball gown dresses are designed by using expensive and gorgeous materials. This dress is also appropriate for girls of varying sizes.

Conclusion

You can find different styles of prom dresses to accentuate your beautiful body features. Learning about these styles and its design would help you choose the right one for your shape.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/fashion/how-to-look-beautiful-in-different-prom-dresses/

Five Ways to Make Your Marketing Emails Even Better

Creating an email list and sending any kind of email is better than doing nothing at all, but don’t think that just because you send out emails regularly that your emails are the very best they can be.

The truth is, there are probably ways you can improve your emails right now, and it may not include as much time or as much money as you think!

If you want to make your emails even better, and in turn, increase the success of your business, give one or more of these ideas a try.

Make Sure They’re Secure

Online security is becoming more and more important as the years go by. Especially when the news always seems to feature companies who have been hacked, and important customer information has been stolen.

One of the best things you can do for your customers and clients who are signed up for your email list is to take the security of your email seriously.

That includes doing things like safeguarding messages with TLS, authenticating emails with DKIM and SPF, and setting up DMARC. If all this sounds like a lot of mumbo jumbo that you don’t have a lot of time for, hire a trusted email service provider who can offer the right security for your email messages.

Make Them as Personal as Possible

You probably already think you’re personalizing your messages if you address each one to individual recipients. That’s a good first step, but there are a lot more email personalization techniques out there you should be using that will make your email messages more special.

A few examples include:

• Build customer personas based on age, gender, or any other customer segments that would work for your business. Then, send each persona their own emails.
• Use location and time in your emails. For example, make sure your email is sent out at 10:00 a.m. in every timezone.
• Set up automated emails that are based on behavioral triggers. For example, send an email if a customer has items in their online cart, but hasn’t yet completed their purchase.

Encourage Participation from Your Readers

People like to feel like they matter to the brands and businesses they support. One of the best ways to make your readers feel like they matter is to encourage participation.

Participation from customers and clients comes with many benefits. It can help you develop new products and services, and it can show your customers that you care about their input.

Encourage participation on social media and make it easy for customers to send you a message on your website, but you should also encourage participation through email. It doesn’t necessarily mean they have to respond to your message either. This may not even be an option, depending on the email service you’re using.

Participation can include clicking on a link, taking a survey, or connecting on social media.

Add Something Fun or Unexpected

Most people have been inundated with marketing emails for years. You can stand apart from the crowd if you add something fun or unexpected to your messages.

There are many examples of awesome email marketing techniques. A few include:

• An animation, video, or sound
• Fun facts that catch the readers’ attention
• Explanation of what to expect from marketing emails

Don’t forget about special deals, coupons, and freebies! For something a little different, invite readers into your store to pick up a special gift.

Make It Simple for People to Unsubscribe

It may seem counterintuitive to make it easy for people to unsubscribe, but it is important if you want your company to be successful.

We’re all looking for ways to detox our inboxes. Sometimes, that means unsubscribing from emails that we were once interested in. It may even mean unsubscribing from brands we still like. We just like the brand enough to visit the website when we’re ready to make a purchase instead of getting regular emails.

Make the unsubscribe button easy to find, and allow readers to unsubscribe with a single click. It prevents frustration, which is a good thing. If you make unsubscribing easy, you can actually increase the likelihood of that person coming back to your brand in the future!

Once you’ve created some marketing emails, don’t think your job is done. You should always be looking for ways to make your messages even better. With the ideas on this list, you can make your marketing emails the very best they possibly can be.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/email-best-practices/make-marketing-emails-even-better/

Tips for Choosing a Pet-Friendly Rental Community

According to information compiled by the Insurance Information Institute, sixty-eight percent of households in the United States own pets. That is around 85 million pets. The research cited by the Insurance Information Institute comes from the National Pet Owners Survey from 2017 to 2018, conducted by the American Pet Products Association.

In 1988, which was the first year that this survey was conducted, only around 56 percent of American households reported having a pet.

Of the households with a pet in the U.S., most have a dog. In fact, more than 60 million households have a dog, and just over 47 million households have a cat.

More people are renting in the U.S. than at other times in history as well, making it fairly understandable that renters want pet-friendly features. Rental managers and property owners are focusing more than ever before on delivering desirable pet-friendly features and amenities to remain competitive in the rental marketplace.

If you’re a pet owner and you’re in the market for a new rental, the following are some things to look for.

Pet-Centric Services

A truly pet-friendly rental community isn’t just one that accepts pets—it’s one that embraces pets and makes them part of the lifestyle. Some rental communities will claim to be pet-friendly but there are no amenities or services for pets, and many have strict restrictions such as weight limits.

Your pet is a part of your family, and you want to feel they’re welcome where you live. You also want your rental community to make life easier for you. As part of that, consider a rental community offering concierge services. For example, more communities are starting to offer home cleaning & pet walking services to renters.

Other services might include pet sitting available on-demand, or even pet daycare where you can take your dog during the day while you’re at work or out and about.

On-Site Pet Amenities

Some of the possible pet amenities were described above, but there are plenty of other options as well. For example, does the community offer water bowls or treat stations around the property? Is there a place where you can wash your pets?

Are there baggies and scoopers out for when you take your pet for a walk on the property?

These are all not just conveniences, but they can be tell-tale signs that a community goes beyond marketing to pet owners and really does welcome them.

Narrowing Down Your Search

Sometimes being able to hone in on a community that’s truly pet-friendly versus one that says it is relies on doing some digging. One way to start your search and narrow down the right communities for you can be the use of tools like PeoplewithPets.

PeoplewithPets.com is a nationwide directory of pet-friendly apartments but also rental homes and hotels. You can search by property, state or city.

As well as being a pet-friendly apartment and rental directory, the site also includes details such as whether or not the properties have breed restrictions, and you can search for nearby pet-friendly amenities like dog parks and activities that are pet-friendly.

Think Beyond the Property

If you’re in the process of choosing a pet-friendly rental, you have to think about not only the community itself or the house itself but also the local area. Even if the property is extremely pet-friendly, if the nearby area isn’t, it’s not going to help you very much.

Are there dog parks and pet-friendly outdoor spaces nearby? Will it be easy to walk your dog in the area? Are there dog-friendly shops and restaurants in the neighborhood? What about trainers, groomers and pet-supply stores? Are any of those close to the property?

Do Other Residents Have Pets?

If you’ve found a few communities that you think would be a good home for you and your pet, take a visit during the day and possibly on the weekend. See if there are other residents with pets and if they’re out and about. If there are pet-friendly amenities, are a lot of other residents taking advantage of them?

Does it seem like a place where pet owners and their furry friends are happy?

Even if you find a rental where there are great pet-centric amenities, if you’re one of the few residents with a dog who’s out and walking around, it might not be a great fit. If you move into a community with a lot of pet owners, both you and your pet will have the opportunity to socialize.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/pets/choosing-pet-friendly-community/

Preparation Equals Success: The Importance of Having a Backup and Disaster Recovery Plan

Over 43 percent of the downtime and data loss experienced by small businesses each year is caused by hardware failure. Instead of waiting until disaster strikes to take disaster recovery planning seriously, now is the time to act.

The first step in creating an adequate disaster plan is finding the right online data backup solutions. By backing up your data via the cloud, you can get through disastrous situations like a network crash or ransomware attack with ease.

Before you decide on which online backup system to use, be sure to consider how secure the system in question is. Even if you have to pay a bit more for a system with iron-clad security, it will definitely pay off in the long run.

The following are some of the reasons why having a backup and disaster recovery plan is essential for every small business on the planet.

Hackers Aren’t Picky When It Comes to Stealing Data

One of the biggest mistakes you can make as a business owner is abiding by the “it won’t happen to me” philosophy when it comes to data hacks. Cyber-criminals want any type of data and they don’t care what type of business they are getting it from.

Whether you own a law firm, medical practice or a gas station, all of the data you collect needs to be secured. The best way to offer this security is by establishing an online backup of each of the files. Once you have done this, work on developing a plan in the event of a disaster. While this planning may seem pointless now, you will be happy you have it in the event of a data hack, natural disaster or a network outage.

Protecting Against Computer or Mobile Device Failure

Some business owners get so used to their computers and mobile devices working correctly that they fail to prepare for hardware failures. Eventually, the computers you rely on will let you down, which is why you need to be prepared.

Backing up all of the files on your devices and computers can help you deal with outages with ease. If the hardware on one of your machines fails, you can get a new one and load all of your files on it in a matter of hours.

Are you unsure about how to establish a cloud-based backup? If so, working with IT professionals is a good idea. With their guidance, you can get this system in place quickly and correctly.

Preventing the Damage Caused By Human Error

Regardless of how well you think you have trained your employees, they are bound to make mistakes. Accidentally deleting important files or downloading viruses via email attachments can bring your company’s computer network to a grinding halt. Without a backup in place, you may lose important data due to these human errors.

The money you invest in an adequate cloud-based backup system will pale in comparison to what you will lose without it. Human error is unavoidable, which is why you need to work on reducing the damage these errors cause when they occur.

Downtime Affects Your Bottom Line

If you are like most business owners, one of the main concerns you have is keeping productivity levels high. When network crashes happen, it will affect productivity levels greatly. Instead of losing money due to excessive downtime, you need to work on getting a backup and disaster recovery strategy in place. With a bit of professional guidance, you can iron out the details of this strategy with ease.

The time and effort you invest in creating a backup and disaster recovery strategy will definitely pay off in the long run. Allowing IT professionals to assist you during this process can help you avoid costly mistakes.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/business/preparation-equals-success-the-importance-of-having-a-backup-and-disaster-recovery-plan/

Learning How to Fix Your Own Car

For many, learning how to fix your own car can seem like a daunting task. There are so many different parts, that identifying the issue, let alone fixing it, seems impossible. However, if you can learn how to fix your own car, you’ll be rewarded with a tremendous sense of accomplishment. Not only that, but because mechanics often charge so much, you could safe yourself a decent amount of money.

If you’re the type of person who likes to do things for themselves, or if you’d like to become that person, it’s time you learned how to fix your own car. Here are the things you’ll need to know to get started.

Finding a Good Spot to Work

First up, you need to have a place in which you can work on your car. If you live in the city, you’re going to have some trouble fixing your car if you must do it on a crowded street. Or, if you live in a less populated place, but you have a sloped driveway, this isn’t great for fixing cars either.

What you need is a flat, spacious, protected place from which you can repair your car. Garages work best, but for many of us our garages are either being used for storage or simply aren’t big enough to hold the car. If you can’t use your garage, you need a flat space outside your home. The street is fine if you don’t get much traffic, but a flat driveway would be better.

Another option you have is looking into metal carport kits. If you have the yard space, you could build a metal carport and give yourself all the space you need to start working on your car. It’s a little more work, but the added benefit is you’ll now have someplace safe to park your car once you’re done.

Assemble the Right Tools

Next, you need to have the right tools for the job. Unfortunately, the tool you need will largely depend on what you’re trying to fix. You’ll need different tools to replace a broken brake light than you will a worn down brake pad. Still, there are a few basics you should invest in to get stared.

A good socket set will come in handy, as will screwdrivers of different sizes. If you ever need to get underneath your car, a good car jack will really help, and you’ll want to get some jack stands to keep yourself safe. Finally, you’ll probably come across some jobs where you need a good pair of pliers, so add one of these to your tool boxes. As you go on you can add the tools that you need for specific jobs, but this list should give you a good base to work off.

Learn to Identify the Problem

Next, you need to figure out what the problem is with your car. Ideally, the first fix you try will be the correct one, but you can’t do this without knowing the problem. Guessing will only waste your time and money, so you want to be as sure as you can before you start fixing something.

If you’re having a problem with your car, jot down the symptoms you’re experiencing. Is there a bad smell? A loss of power on the highway? It won’t start? Then type these symptoms into Google, along with your car make and model. This will give you a good start, and you can begin your search for the problem.

Read and Watch Tutorials

Once you diagnose the problems, it’s time to learn how to fix it. Luckily, there are thousands of tutorials and guides online that can help you out. For every problem out there, there’s probably a video of someone fixing something similar. All you need to do is watch a bunch of tutorials, then try to follow along with your own car. It’s going to take some time, and you won’t always get things right, but if you keep at it and keep trying to learn, you’ll get a lot better at fixing your car over time.

Get Replacement Parts

In many cases you’ll need to order replacement parts to fix your car. When ordering replacement parts, it pays to do your research to make sure you are getting the right thing. You don’t want to spend money on a part you don’t need, or on a part that doesn’t fit your vehicle’s make and model. There are plenty of online stores that can help you find the right part you need, or you can visit a local auto parts store. If all else fails, or you want to save some money, head to a local junk yard and see what they have available.

Know When to Ask for Help

Finally, sometimes you won’t be able to do everything on your own. When this happens, it’s important to recognize you need help. Either call up a buddy who’s good with cars and can help, or give in and take it to a pro. At the end of the day you want your car to be safe to drive, so if you’re unsure of what you’re doing, let a professional handle it.

Hopefully this guide was able to show that it isn’t hard to get started with fixing your own car. You just need to be willing to do the research and try some things out. The worst case scenario is that you end up having to take it to a mechanic anyway, so you might as well try to fix it on your own first. Good luck!

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/auto/learning-how-to-fix-your-own-car/

AI Will Replace Some Jobs and Augment Others – Here’s How to Tell Which

For years now, experts in the fields of machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) have predicted that the technologies would lead to a significant disruption of today’s workforce. In general, most have insisted that it’s repetitive task and low-skill jobs that are at risk, but that doesn’t really cover the full impact that AI is about to have on workers and businesses all around the world. In reality, AI is likely to alter as many jobs as it replaces, leaving a wholly reconfigured labor landscape in its wake.

The key to figuring out where the biggest impacts will be is to understand the conditions that AI and ML systems require to flourish, and where they’re more suited to a complementary role. For businesses, it’s a required exercise in future forecasting that many can ill-afford to get wrong. Here are the factors that they should be paying attention to when looking ahead to the AI-powered future, so they’ll be able to plan accordingly.

Data, Not Skills

When most people think of repetitive task jobs, they likely imagine an assembly line or a shipping fulfillment center. While some of those jobs do certainly fit the bill, it isn’t quite that simple. In reality, AI and ML systems can already do far more than move items from one place to another reliably. They’re already capable of performing much more complex tasks, which involve conditional variation based on factors like external input, context, and desired outcome. The key is how much data they have to use as an input, and what the required level of output precision is. For example, AI can already handle things like routine medical diagnostics, because of the sheer number of existing medical records available to study. In fact, an AI built by a UK firm has already passed a test given to human doctors that assess their diagnostic capabilities. That doesn’t mean, however, that doctors are about to be replaced by machines.

Supporting Roles

The reason that doctors make such a useful example for those attempting to forecast where AI is going to have the greatest impact is that they’re a perfect illustration of a role that will be hybridized, rather than replaced. That’s because their jobs also require a fair amount of soft skills and human interaction that isn’t handled well by AI and ML systems. For example, diagnosing a patient with an aggressive form of cancer may be easy for an AI, but delivering the news to the patient and providing the required emotional support may not be. That’s the dividing line that most businesses will need to pay attention to when they make their assessment of where AI fits into their strategic plans. It is the jobs that require few interpersonal and creative skills that will be absorbed by AI, and the others will be augmented by it, at most.

Replacing Experts

Since AI and ML systems excel at data-rich tasks, they will be able to replace some workers that fall on the higher end of the skills spectrum as well. This is especially true for jobs that require industry-specific expertise that’s not subjective. The IBM Watson-powered gemologist Rosi illustrates this quite well. Since precious stones like diamonds can be judged by specific, defined qualities, an AI was able to master the skill of selecting the right stone for a customer by learning alongside human experts. It’s an object lesson for businesses that proves that jobs that many considered safe from AI encroachment may be affected all the same. An identical lesson may be drawn from existing AI advances into industries like insurance and financial management. The bottom line is, if there’s enough available input to teach a machine to produce reliable results, it won’t be long until the machine is adept enough to be a viable option in the real world.

The Key Takeaway

For businesses that are just now starting to gauge how they expect ML and AI systems to impact their future plans and labor needs, the main point here is to focus not on the subjective difficulty of the work under examination. Instead, focus on what soft skills the work requires, and the organic process that led current staff to their level of expertise in their jobs. Jobs that require little human interaction and that one can master through an iterative approach are the ones that will be ripe for disruption, no matter how ‘high-level’ they seem to be. In short, it may be today’s CEOs that should be nervous, but the front-line customer service representative that fields calls from dissatisfied customers may be in the clear – but only time will tell.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/technology/ai-will-replace-some-jobs-and-augment-others-heres-how-to-tell-which/