News Briefs
Pest Control Operators of California
May 2016Exciting times at PCOC! PCOC has hired an Interim Executive Vice President. Ed Hardenbrook has a background in education, having served in various campus leadership positions in Denver and the Sacramento area. Most recently, he started a new campus for Charter College in Fife, Washington and served as Campus President until he retired in 2015. He has managed the construction of a 50,000-square-feet building for Heald College in Roseville. He served our military as a Captain in the United States Army, and he holds degrees in Business Administration and Marketing, along with a Master’s Degree in Organizational Management. He has also served as chair and director of various boards in the Roseville area.
Again, thank you for all your support. If you have any questions, please call any member of the Executive Committee or myself at my office at (909) 877-1810.
I am very pleased to report our most successful Legislative year to date! Early this year Assembly Member Bloom introduced AB2596, a bill that would ban all second generation rodenticides in the state of California. This is the worst bill that we have seen in the last 10 years and would have had catastrophic effects on public health and huge sectors of California's food industry. The bill quickly gained national attention as other states are quick to follow where California goes. PCOC went right to work. Coordinating with our legislative advocate, Dominic Dimare and the great legal staff at NPMA, we developed a clear message of opposition and a strategy to carry that message to the Capitol. We formed an industry coalition and then expanded that coalition to include over 20 different groups from the Ag, Food Industry and Public Health sector. We mobilized our members for the largest Leg Days event in a dozen years, and as a result the author voluntarily pulled the bill rather than see it lose the vote. This upset the sponsors so much that they sent a group of over 20 people to our meeting at the Capitol to protest PCOC with signs and bull horns.
The good news does not stop there. The three bills that we helped sponsor with the Structural Pest Control Board to improve the Structural Pest Control Act are moving through the legislature on consent. This means that there is no opposition to them. We expect all three to be signed by the governor this year.
We still have a lot of important work to do this year. While our Rodenticide Task Force will continue on, we have also formed a task force at the request of DPR to look at the use of Fipronil on the exterior of structures. Like pyrethroids, Fipronil has been found in surface water and we are looking at ways to keep Fipronil where we put it.
I would like to thank all of you who attended our Legislative Days and helped with our grassroots opposition to AB 2596. I would also like to thank Dominic Dimare and his staff for leading our efforts inside the Capitol building and helping to build such an effective coalition. Thanks to the staff at NPMA for providing critical technical help and national attention and support. Most of all I would like to thank our members who have supported PAPCO and PCOC over the years with time and money. This great outcome belongs to all of you and I look forward to continued success as we work together.
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Waikiki Beach Marriot- Honolulu, Hawaii
Hotel Reservations
Attendee Registration
Board of Directors Meeting- September 21-24,2016
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Board of Directors Meeting- December 9-10, 2016
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Welcome to a new section of Newsbriefs! Here, we will give news from our members: new hires, retirements, etc. If you have some news you would like to share, please send a short sentence or two to breann@pcoc.org.
Visit http://www.naylornetwork.com/cpc-nwl/pdf/Directory_2016_MVP_listing.pdf to view the full article online.
Preventing and Handling Fraudulent Claims
How much does claimant fraud cost employers? Nobody knows for sure, but some people have estimated that as many as 30 percent of all claims involve some fraud. In California, the state's workers' compensation insurance fraud program identified 5.151 suspected fraud cases during Fiscal Year 2012-13. Potential loss amounted to more than $21.2 million.
Preventing Fraud
The first place to fight workers' comp fraud is on the front line — with your employees. They need to believe that the company is committed to a safe, healthy work environment. They need to know they are receiving good training, so they can perform their jobs in a consistently safe manner.
Next, your employees should understand the role of workers' comp insurance and that it represents a significant cost to the company. Employees need to understand that the claims costs are ultimately paid by the company. These expenses affect profits and can contribute to cost-cutting measures, especially in a tough economy.
Finally, let employees know that workers' comp fraud is a felony in California (and most other states), and that you will prosecute any employees who try to defraud the company. Workers' compensation insurers aggressively pursue fraud as well.
Warning Signs of Fraud
Certain signs could indicate that an employee is committing workers' comp fraud. Any one sign may not indicate a problem, but if you see several, you need to investigate. Be aware of employees who:
- Do not have a witness to their injury
- Post termination claims
- Delay reporting the injury
- Have discrepancies in their story
- Are vague on details, and the details change
- Report being injured on a Monday
- Report an injury just prior to a layoff
- Do not return calls
- Cancel doctor's appointments
Handling Suspected Fraud
If you suspect fraud or malingering, contact your claims adjuster with any evidence. He or she will likely contact the claimant's treating physician to get additional information on the claimant's condition and physical limitations. If those inquiries are inconclusive, he or she might bring in an insurance investigator.
If warranted, an investigator may covertly watch the claimant to see if he or she does activities that would be ruled out by the claimed injuries. Any investigation can create privacy concerns if not handled appropriately:
• Use an investigator with experience in handling workers' compensation cases. A licensed professional should know the applicable state and federal privacy laws, which will help you avoid claims you invaded your employee's privacy.
• Be clear what you want the investigation to achieve. For a workers' compensation claim, you would probably want to determine whether an employee is working for pay while supposedly disabled or doing activities that would be proscribed by his/her condition.
• Determine your budget. Surveillance can be time-consuming and expensive. Weigh the costs of the claim with the cost of surveillance.
• Know what an investigator can and cannot do. An investigator can generally make video recordings in a public location, but California prohibits the installation or use of audio or video devices in private places without the permission of the people being recorded.
For more information on handling workers’ compensation claims, please contact the PCOC Insurance Program department of EPIC at (877) 860-7378 or, email us @ ProPest@epicbrokers.com. Also check out: www.pcocinsurance.com.
| FULL NAME COMPANY DISTRICT |
MEMBER TYPE | JOIN DATE | REFERRED BY |
| Steven Coy | R | 4/20/2016 | NPMA |
| Happy Pest Control, Inc. | |||
| BAYAREA | |||
| Ben Wheeler | A | 4/28/2016 | |
| Central Valley Nissan | |||
| CENTRAL | |||
| Will Poston | A | 5/3/2016 | |
| Mattress Safe, Inc | |||
| XOS | |||
| Jeffrey Whitcomb | R | 5/3/2016 | |
| Hi Tech Termite Control, Inc | |||
| ORANGE | |||
| Alea Pedroza | Z | 5/9/2016 | |
| FMC | |||
| ORANGE |
*NEW* NPMA LOGIN FOR JOINT MEMBERSHIP
LOGIN: Email or Personal ID
PASSWORD: npma
Department of Fish & Game
www.dfg.ca.gov
Department of Food & Agriculture
www.cdfa.ca.gov
www.cdpr.ca.gov
DPR on Facebook
www.facebook.com/capesticideregulation
DPR on YouTube (see "playlists" for videos pertaining to new surface water regulations)
www.youtube.com/user/californiapesticides
DPR on Twitter
twitter.com/ca_pesticides
DPR LinkedIn
www.linkedin.com/company/california-department-of-pesticide-regulation
Healthy Schools Act
http://apps.cdpr.ca.gov/schoolipm/
Structural Pest Control Board
www.pestboard.ca.gov
Find Your Legislator
www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html
