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As a small business owner, you have a responsibility to care for your employees. On top of offering them an appropriate salary, you’ll have to consider various types of insurance. When it comes to providing coverage for your workers, where do you start?

The kind of insurance you legally have to offer varies from state to state. You may even want to provide non-required coverage as an added benefit. Here’s a list of different types of insurance you can and may have to consider.

Unemployment Insurance

Unemployment insurance doesn’t work like most other forms of coverage, but the law requires it, so it’s worth the mention. The Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) requires you to pay unemployment taxes based on what your employees earn. Depending on your state, this rate will vary.

Instead of buying through a vendor, you’ll fund unemployment insurance through taxes. If you just started hiring employees, though, you should be aware that you’ll have to start this process.

Health Insurance

When you think of employee benefits, you probably consider health insurance. You may have to provide coverage, depending on your state and the kind of business you run. Even if you’re not required to, though, offering health insurance is a good idea.

Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), you may qualify for tax credits for providing healthcare. Going above and beyond the requirements, like offering dental insurance, can also improve morale.

Life Insurance

The law doesn’t require you to offer life insurance, but your employees will appreciate it. Providing it will give your workers, especially those with families, some peace of mind about the future. You have a lot of options, too.

Life insurance types vary by factors like coverage and length, as well as cost and payout type. Look at the options in your area and think of your employees’ needs to find the best fit.

Workers’ Compensation

The requirements for workers’ comp vary quite a bit from state to state. You may have to provide it no matter what, or you may only need to if you have enough employees. Check with your state laws to see what you need to do.

In most states, you can get this coverage from private insurers, but a few require you to go through the government.

Disability Insurance

Disability insurance serves as a kind of extension to workers’ comp. It provides payment to employees if they’re unable to work because of a job-related injury or illness. Depending on your location, you may or may not have to provide disability insurance.

Disability insurance comes in two forms — long-term and short-term. While some states require that you offer short-term coverage, nowhere requires long-term disability insurance, though it’s popular. Providing this kind of coverage can improve employee morale, especially if you work in a risky industry.

Balancing Legality, Benefits and Budget

You have a lot of options when it comes to offering insurance to your employees. Consider your legal requirements, what’s available, your budget and how you want to help employees. If you can afford it, going above the legal obligations can be an excellent decision for your business.

Providing competitive insurance benefits improves morale, attracts new workers and inspires loyalty. If nothing else, think of how you’re helping your employees. With all these options, you should have no trouble finding a solution that fits your needs and budget.

The message that this white liberal heard the loudest the last few weeks is that “Do no harm” is not enough. It’s not enough to try to treat everyone decently. Antiracism requires more than passivity.

African Americans are understandably tired of whites asking them for suggestions of what to do. Yet it can be hard to figure it out, especially for introverts uncomfortable with agitation. (Acknowledgment: our comfort level may be irrelevant.) My past actions, like volunteering to tutor and to cook meals, won’t help change underlying systemic racism.

This post isn’t going to conclude with an answer, but heeding How to Be an Antiracist author Ibram X. Kendi’s call for self-examination, I can think about questions such as the following:

• I’ve lived in a big city for 30 years but not among African Americans. I experience black people mostly as store clerks, transit employees, and strangers on the sidewalk. How has that affected my notions?

• I can count on my fingers the number of African Americans colleagues I had in all of my jobs combined. But why didn’t I reach out to the few, asking them to lunch and taking more time to chat? When they seemed to keep to themselves, why did I assume that was their preference?

• There have been a few times that I’ve felt rudely treated by black strangers. A couple of weeks ago I wrote about one. Why did I feel guilty about standing up for myself? Was race relevant? Was it biased of me to detect an attitude? Could I have misinterpreted because I don’t understand black behavioral norms ? On the other hand, isn’t it offensive to attribute what feels like rudeness to racial difference?

• I have ventured into few neighborhoods on the South and West Sides because of the assumption that it would be unsafe to do so. Why haven’t I double-checked that assumption, neighborhood by neighborhood?

• How should I have responded when an acquaintance said, “I did not enslave anyone, I’m not guilty”?

* How have I benefited from white privilege?

• Why does it make me uncomfortable to hear that I’m part of the problem if I’m not doing anything to solve it? There are so many people discriminated against — other minority groups, women, people with disabilities, lesbians and gays, gender-nonconforming people, seniors, etc. — how could a single person take action for all?

*****

ANTI-TRUMP COMMENTS: 118TH IN AN ONGOING SERIES

The planned Trump rally in Tulsa is “an extraordinarily dangerous move for the people participating and the people who may know them and love them and see them afterward.”

— Dr. Ashish Jha, director of Harvard’s Global Health Institute

This blog post is the 24th in a series about my (and my twin sister’s) preventative breast cancer screening journey that began when we were 30 years old in July 2019. The 1st post is about my first mammogram ever; the 2nd post is about my consultation at Mayo Clinic’s Breast Clinic; the 3rd post is about my stereotactic core biopsy at Mayo Clinic’s Breast Clinic; the 4th post is about my diagnosis with “Stage 0” DCIS breast cancer; the 5th post is about my in-person DCIS diagnosis at Mayo Clinic, beginning thoughts on my surgery timeline, and discovering that my twin sister might have breast cancer, too; the 6th post is about my twin sister’s invasive ductal carcinoma clinical stage 2A breast cancer diagnosis; the 7th post is about my breast MRI and two ultrasounds to investigate “suspicious” spots on my right breast and liver; the 8th post is about my second DCIS diagnosis following a week of MRIs, ultrasounds, and biopsies at Mayo Clinic; the 9th post is about preparing for my twin sister’s chemotherapy appointments, including details about her egg banking procedure in the city; the 10th post is a summary of my sister’s ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome and visit to the emergency room; the 11th post is a summary of my double mastectomy surgery plan scheduled to occur on December 3rd, 2019 at Mayo Clinic’s Methodist Campus Hospital in Rochester; the 12th post is about my twin sister’s first chemotherapy infusion at Mayo Clinic; the 13th post is about foobs, photo shoots and nipple tattoos (my plastic / reconstructive surgery plan); the 14th post is a recap of my successful double mastectomy and immediate direct-to-implant reconstruction operation; the 15th post is about my surgical recovery and day full of follow-up appointments at Mayo Clinic in Rochester; the 16th post is about my one-month-post-surgical-follow-up appointment and preventative baseline ovarian cancer screenings at Mayo Clinic; the 17th post is about a suspicious rash I developed a month after my surgery called “pigmented purpura,” my consultation with a gynecological oncologist about ovarian cancer prevention, and my sister’s fifth chemotherapy infusion; the 18th post is about the end of my twin sister’s six neoadjuvant chemotherapy infusions (TCHP); the 19th post was about my twin sister’s double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery plan (amid the global outbreak of COVID19); the 20th post was about my twin sister’s double mastectomy with immediate reconstruction; the 21st post was about my twin sister’s surgical recovery; the 22nd post was about my twin sister’s first infusion of T-DM1 at Mayo Clinic; and the 23rd post was about my six-month survivorship clinic visit. To keep tabs on new posts, sign up for the “A Daily Miracle” email list at this link.

Here is my sister and her husband with the Mayo Brothers statue outside of the Gonda Building!

My twin sister just completed her second infusion of TDM1/Kadcyla–also known as “chemotherapy lite”–at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, last Friday! She and her husband arrived for her blood test at 10am, which showed that her blood levels were all within healthy ranges, so she was good to go for her second infusion. At her first infusion of TDM1/Kadcyla, she had an echocardiogram to check on her heart health, because Herceptin–a regular part of her TCHP chemotherapy infusions before her surgery and a part of the TDM1 she’s receiving now–can be hard on your heart. Her echocardiogram looked great, so she won’t need to do another echocardiogram until her third infusion of TDM1 (approximately every 3 months!).

She didn’t even need to visit with her oncologist or chemotherapy coordinator before her second infusion because things looked so good! So she and her husband were able to wander around the Mayo Clinic grounds and take lots of nice photographs in addition to playing some Pokémon GO. 🙂

My sister’s schedule for her second infusion of TDM1 at Mayo Clinic Rochester was nice and light!

When my sister and her husband arrived in the chemotherapy waiting room on Gonda 10, they talked with a 30-year-old woman who was also waiting for an infusion. It turns out she was also diagnosed with HER2+ Stage 2 breast cancer last year! She talked with my sister about how she had also been through surgery, the TCHP chemotherapy regimen, and now was on Herceptin. She had a cousin who beat Stage 3C breast cancer, as well, which was awesome for my sister to hear!!

Several people also stopped my sister and her husband to ask: “I love your shirt! Where can I buy one of those??” They had to tell them they were custom made 🙂

The second infusion of TDM1

After my sister’s first infusion of TDM1, she didn’t have any side effects besides being a bit tired. After her second round last Friday, she was pretty tired, so she laid low and took a nap the day after her infusion. But two days after her second infusion, she took a 6 mile “social distance” walk with a friend! Our prayers have been for her, and her entire family–including her husband who works at a high-volume warehouse!–to stay healthy; for her to have minimal/zero side effects following each infusion; and for joy and strength for her along the journey.

We are so grateful that God continues to answer those prayers! As you can tell, from her thumbs up in the photo below, the joy of the Lord is her strength 🙂 Which is the most amazing thing ever to see!!!

Thumbs up, all ready to go for her second infusion of TDM1/Kadcyla!

There was one speed bump in my sister’s second infusion of TDM1 last Friday. The chemo infusion sped up from 90 minutes to 30 minutes this time around, and my sister was a little nervous about that.

As soon as they started the infusion, my sister’s heart rate spiked suddenly–so the chemo nurses stopped the infusion. Luckily, she didn’t experience any pain or discomfort–just an elevated heart rate for a short period of time. So, after the chemo nurses observed her for a few minutes and took a small break in the infusion, they started it again.

Then she was fine!

So, ultimately, it was all okay. And all of her doctors have told her that after the second infusion of TDM1, it’s more or less smooth sailing for her remaining 12 infusions spaced 3 weeks apart! For every one of her remaining infusions, she will: 1) Get a COVID test to make sure she doesn’t have COVID one week before her scheduled infusion 2) Show up the morning of her infusion for a blood test to make sure her levels look good 3) Potentially have a meeting with her oncologist or chemo coordinator to make sure things look good / she’s feeling good the day of the infusion 4) She will have a half hour infusion! 5) She gets to go home to rest! (Also, she will have an echocardiogram approx. every 3 months to test her heart health.)

And, she and her husband got to enjoy this awesome view of the Gonda Building during the infusion!

Here’s the wonderful view of the Gonda Building my sister and her husband got to enjoy during my sister’s second infusion of TDM1!

Ride for Roswell & God is good!

I was talking with my husband the other day and we both agreed it seemed like years since all of this started. While 2020 has been terrible all around, the end of 2019 wasn’t awesome, either. The fact that I was diagnosed with and cured of cancer in a matter of 5 months at the age of 30 and my sister is being healed from her cancer for forever during a global pandemic is crazy to think about. We know she’s in the hands of the best doctors and nurses in the world, and we know God is in control over all of that. That truth gives us a lot of peace!

One of the most amazing things we’ve heard recently is about Lori, one of our baby-sister’s-best friend’s-mother’s-college-roommates who dedicated a bike ride to us as part of her participation in the annual “Ride for Roswell” to End Cancer in New York! She is riding 500 miles between June 1 and August 1, 2020, and dedicated a 14.1-mile leg of her ride to us this month!! According to her letter, it was a “lovely but cool morning” and she prayed for us the entire way. She prayed that “they may have the strength to get through the treatments, hope for better days and their eyes opened to see all of the wonderful people who are helping them on their journey.” We are so grateful for encouraging stories and supporters like Lori 🙂

One of our baby sister’s best friend’s mom’s college roommates dedicated part of her 500-mile bike ride to us!!! :)) <3

Phil’s Friends YAY!

Also, “Phil’s Friends” is a nonprofit out of Chicago that provides free care packages for cancer patients. Someone signed up to provide both my sister and I with care packages for our journey, which we received toward the beginning of this journey after we’d both been diagnosed! We still receive thoughtful cards from them with prayers and jokes on the inside every several weeks. The jokes are hilarious (“How can you tell if a clock is hungry?” “It goes back 4 seconds!”), the packages we both got several months ago were amazing, there are handwritten and heartfelt notes and prayers from volunteers (like mine, below, from Yahmir!), and the whole initiative is so encouraging. If you know anyone going through cancer treatments, sign them up for a package from Phil’s Friends!!!

The card I received last month had this joke…

HAHA!

“I wish you joy. I hope this card makes you happy and you are amazing. -Yahmir, age 8” I almost cried reading this!!! Phil’s Friends cards are so thoughtful 🙂

Next steps

We are grateful for encouraging, “silver linings” along the way: little things like the gardens and beautiful buildings around the Mayo Clinic grounds in Rochester, pictured below; for God’s faithfulness in removing all of my sister’s cancer at her time of surgery; and for my sister even being able to have surgery at all, two days before Mayo Clinic shut down all elective surgical procedures in March due to COVID19.

While wandering around Mayo’s Rochester campus before her chemotherapy infusion, my sister and her husband took some photos and this is one of one of the Mayo Medical School buildings. Someday, maybe we will have children who go there and become doctors who save people’s lives!! Maybe we’ll even be able to start a scholarship in honor of our doctors and our journey someday :))

My sister’s next infusion of TDM1 will be on Friday, July 3rd; she meets with her plastic surgeon for her three-month follow-up appointment on July 9th; and we all basically forgot she’s taking a daily dose of Tamoxifen, a drug to keep estrogen levels low which lowers the risk of estrogen-positive cancer returning, every day for the next 3-5 years. She now has 12 infusions of TDM1 to go over the next 10 months!

Thank you so much for your continued prayers for 1) No reactions to these new chemo drugs 2) 100% effectiveness of the treatment so her cancer never ever comes back!! 3) Side effects to be minimal / nonexistent!! And, as I mentioned before, that the joy of the Lord would continue to be her strength. 🙂 

Here is a nice “Oasis Garden” down the street from the Gonda Building at Mayo Clinic in Rochester!

This blog post is the 24th in a series about my (and my twin sister’s) preventative breast cancer screening journey that began when we were 30 years old in July 2019. The 1st post is about my first mammogram ever; the 2nd post is about my consultation at Mayo Clinic’s Breast Clinic; the 3rd post is about my stereotactic core biopsy at Mayo Clinic’s Breast Clinic; the 4th post is about my diagnosis with “Stage 0” DCIS breast cancer; the 5th post is about my in-person DCIS diagnosis at Mayo Clinic, beginning thoughts on my surgery timeline, and discovering that my twin sister might have breast cancer, too; the 6th post is about my twin sister’s invasive ductal carcinoma clinical stage 2A breast cancer diagnosis; the 7th post is about my breast MRI and two ultrasounds to investigate “suspicious” spots on my right breast and liver; the 8th post is about my second DCIS diagnosis following a week of MRIs, ultrasounds, and biopsies at Mayo Clinic; the 9th post is about preparing for my twin sister’s chemotherapy appointments, including details about her egg banking procedure in the city; the 10th post is a summary of my sister’s ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome and visit to the emergency room; the 11th post is a summary of my double mastectomy surgery plan scheduled to occur on December 3rd, 2019 at Mayo Clinic’s Methodist Campus Hospital in Rochester; the 12th post is about my twin sister’s first chemotherapy infusion at Mayo Clinic; the 13th post is about foobs, photo shoots and nipple tattoos (my plastic / reconstructive surgery plan); the 14th post is a recap of my successful double mastectomy and immediate direct-to-implant reconstruction operation; the 15th post is about my surgical recovery and day full of follow-up appointments at Mayo Clinic in Rochester; the 16th post is about my one-month-post-surgical-follow-up appointment and preventative baseline ovarian cancer screenings at Mayo Clinic; the 17th post is about a suspicious rash I developed a month after my surgery called “pigmented purpura,” my consultation with a gynecological oncologist about ovarian cancer prevention, and my sister’s fifth chemotherapy infusion; the 18th post is about the end of my twin sister’s six neoadjuvant chemotherapy infusions (TCHP); the 19th post was about my twin sister’s double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery plan (amid the global outbreak of COVID19); the 20th post was about my twin sister’s double mastectomy with immediate reconstruction; the 21st post was about my twin sister’s surgical recovery; the 22nd post was about my twin sister’s first infusion of T-DM1 at Mayo Clinic; and the 23rd post was about my six-month survivorship clinic visit. To keep tabs on new posts, sign up for the “A Daily Miracle” email list at this link.

On this week’s Consumer Guide Automotive Car Stuff Podcast, I geek out a little bit over the fact that Acura brought its Type S Concept to life in the form of the all-new 2021 Acura TLX. Sure there are some differences, but the shape is there — as are some of the cool design elements.

We also discussed the all-electric Mini Cooper SE, which Damon loved. But I’m still skeptical about spending $38K on a commuter car that will only have 100 miles of range. Damon makes a good case that it’s fun to drive (which will deplete the range even faster) and that most people won’t drive more than 100 miles in a day. But in my mind, a car like this only works if you have a second car, and you truly rarely push beyond 80 miles in a day. Plus, you’re going to want a Level 2 home charger — otherwise it’ll take 24 hours to bring the battery back to 100%.

Our guest this week was John Kraman, lead TV commentator/analyst for Mecum Auctions, who discusses how the company will begin hosting live events again in the COVID Era. Plus we take a deep dive into one of their Featured Lots for the July 10-18 Indianapolis auction — a 1971 Plymouth Cuda Convertible, which is an unrestored model. What’s more interesting is that the same auction will also feature a restored version of the same make/model. 

Kraman anticipates the unrestored model will go for at least $500k, while the restored version will clear $1M.

While I will continue to post the podcast to my blog each week, you can subscribe to the Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcast on any podcast subscription service or visit the Buzzsprout link. New episodes are usually posted on Friday, and then the show itself airs on WCPT 820 AM on Sundays from 1 to 2 p.m.

Be sure to let us know if you have questions or if there are any topics you’d like us to cover on future podcasts.

You can follow us on social at:

• Jill: @jillciminillo (instagram/twitter)
• Tom: @car_guy_tom (twitter)
• Damon: @DamonRBell (twitter)
• Consumer Guide Automotive: @cgautomotive (twitter/facebook)
• Consumer Guide Car Stuff on facebook

It’s not just statues that are getting picked off one by one by the growing determination to rub out our past.

Now old time radio:

MADISON – Wisconsin Public Radio will end production of the long-running “Old Time Radio Drama” in June, WPR announced this week. The program, which will air for the last time on June 14, currently airs on Saturday and Sunday nights on stations in The Ideas Network.

The program, featuring radio dramas from the 1930s to 1960s, will be replaced by “PRX Remix,” which showcases stories, podcasts and documentaries from independent creators and the PRX podcast network Radiotopia.

The period often is referred to the Golden Age of Radio. Is it fair to ask if every program from that period offended and that the entire series should be censored as a result?

I assume someone will be screening the new program, PRX Remix, to ensure the absence of any material that offends someone, somewhere.

Reminds me of the Catholic Legion of Decency, founded in 1933 to screen films that contain morally objection content whose viewing would constitute a mortal sin. Except that NPR is a federally subsidized, Congressionally established institution.

One more example of neo-McCarthyism.

[email protected]

www.dennisbyrne.net 

My historical novel: Madness: The War of 1812

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Prior to ESPN’s “Long Gone Summer” airing this weekend, co-hosts Joe Pisapia and Craig Mish reminisced on the epic 1998 home run race between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa.

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Thankfully these teens were identified and arrested by local police. I assume that the arrests were warranted and that the police did nothing to cause anyone to set fire to a Walmart.

Meanwhile…

Thankfully, police arrested nearly 50 in the night of looting in Tampa. Thank you, law enforcement.

[email protected]

www.dennisbyrne.net 

My historical novel: Madness: The War of 1812

To subscribe to the Barbershop, type your email address in the box and click the “create subscription” button. My list is completely spam free, and you can opt out at any time.