What Are the Most Serious Small Business Risk and Coverage Issues?

3 Compliance issues and 5 insurance considerations for small businesses protection

Staying on top of HR issues and regulations is the best way to ensure your business is in compliance.

1.  Financial Regulations:

It has become the standard corporate responsibility for companies of all sizes to:

• Disclose the ratio between the CEO’s total compensation versus the medium compensation for other employees;
• Educate your employees on what constitutes a violation of the S.E.C. and how to report it. The Securities and Exchange Commission has just instituted compensation for whistle-blowers and the whistle-blower requirements have been enhanced.
• Give shareholders a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and pay-outs made in connection with a merger or acquisition.

2.  Data Security:

Cyber security has always, and will always be a major issue to consumers because it directly affects them. And now businesses have more access to more information about their consumers than ever before, and they need to keep it safe from hackers.

The data breaches at major companies this past year have led to the creation of a Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights, which enables consumers to have a say in how companies harvest, mine and sell the information they leave in their everyday online exchanges.

So all businesses, big and small need to look into all their options when it comes to cyber-security; you do not want to put your customers or your assets at risk.

3.  Health Care:

Health care has been a hot button issue for small business owners since the Affordable Care Act took effect in 2014.

To complicate matters even more, new rules on flexible spending contributions, wellness incentive programs and healthcare coverage waiting periods for new employees have been implemented.

More specifically, employers with 100 or more full-time employees that are not offering affordable healthcare will be required to pay an assessment if their employees receive premium tax credits when they purchase coverage.

There are also new requirements for all companies that sponsor self-insured plans and for information reporting for issuers, self-insuring employers and other parties that provide health coverage.

Protecting your small business

When you own a business, you have a lot to protect, and the right insurance coverage can be important to your continued success. Luckily, there are a variety of coverage options to choose from when it comes to protecting your business.

But, do you know what types of business insurance coverage are out there? And, which of the coverage could help protect your particular business?

Next- Here’s a rundown of 5 considerations when buying small business insurance policies