Joplin, MO Business Blog

Keeping Employees A Little Healthier

Did you know that your employees' desk could make your employees sick, especially your women employees?  According to the University of Arizona the bacteria levels of women's desks are nearly three times as high as those on the men's desks.  The reason?  Women munch more at their desks than the men do.  It is suggested that all desks be wiped clean with a disinfectant at least once a week.  The desk, phone and keyboard should also be wiped clean.

Source:  August 2007, Good Housekeeping; Can Your Desk Make You Sick? 

Identity Theft

I took some time out today to look at the August 2007 edition of Good Housekeeping.  Good Housekeeping had an interesting article in it about identity theft.  It was not about your usual credit card and shopping spree theft but about medical identity and social security identity theft or fraud.    Medical identity theft occurs when someone else uses your identity when having medical treatment and this treatment becomes a part of your medical records and the costs of said treatment are charged to you.  An example would be someone who is tested for HIV and uses your identification information.  The HIV test comes back positive.  This positive test goes into your medical records and your insurance company has access to it and uses it against you to prevent re-insuring you, or a future employer looks at it when considering hiring you and determines that you are too much of a risk with HIV.    Once these false medical records are put into your files, it is very difficult to delete them or have them corrected.  Part of the problem seems to be the HIPAA regulations which prevent others from reviewing the records without authorization.  Many medical providers will not let the victim review the files of the person committing the fraud.   

What can you do to help prevent the medical identity fraud?  Good Housekeeping suggests the following:

*Protect your insurance card as carefully as your credit cards.  If it gets lost or stolen, alert your insurance company immediately and request a new number.

*Be selective about where you get care.  Avoid clinics that advertise free exams; they may just want to copy your health insurance information.

*Carefully read over the explanation-of-benefits notices that your insurance company provides.  Make sure you recognize the doctor's names and the dates of treatment - an unfamiliar provider is a big warning sign.  If you rarely see your doctors, call your insurance carrier and ask for an annual summary of all procedures that were paid in your name.

The other identity theft or fraud mentioned in the article is your social security number.  According to Good Housekeeping, the Social Security Administration receives millions of earning reports where the name does not match the social security number.  Sometimes this occurs legitimately, such as a woman who gets married and takes her husband's surname but then fails to notify the Social Security Administration.  Other times it is because of fraud and the perpetrator rarely is caught.  The Social Security Administration rarely investigates any discrepancies in unmatched names and social security numbers but places the suspect documents is a "suspense file" and leaves it there.  This social security number fraud happens not only to adults but also to children or deceased persons.  This type of fraud is also hard to correct, especially for children.  The Social Security Administration will not issue a new number unless the victim "continues to be disadvantaged by using the original number."  Apparently children are not disadvantaged when their numbers are used by others. 

To protect yourself from social security identification theft or fraud, Good Housekeeping suggests the following:

*Use a credit monitoring service (roughly $11 per month), which notifies you within 24 hours if there's unusual activity.  Identity theft expert Frank W. Abagnale, author of Catch Me If You Can and Stealing Your Life, recommends PrivacyGuard, Equifax Credit Watch, and Identity Guard.

*Before you toss sensitive financial documents and those credit card solicitations that come in the mail, destroy them in a micro-cut shredder.

*Don't give out your SSN freely.  'There's no reason the storage center or the dog pound needs to know your number,' says Abagnale.

*Never answer unsolicited phone or e-mail messages about your accounts, even if they sound or look legitimate.

It is a good article.  I suggest you read it.

Source:  The ID Theft - You Haven't Heard of . . . Yet by Amy Engeler, Good Housekeeping, August 2007

Best Cities for Entrepreneurs

The May 2007 edition of  Inc. Magazine contains an article titled BoomTowns '07.  It includes the top cities for entrepreneurs.  To determine the top cities the magazine examined job-growth data, current-year employment growth, average annual job growth over the past three years, comparison of job growth in the first and second halves of the period comprising the past 10 years, and job growth by industry sector.   

The top 10 cities overall include:  St. George, Utah; Yuma, Arizona; Fort Myers, Florida; McAllen, Texas; Naples, Florida; Las Vegas, Nevada; Sarasota, Florida; Morgantown, W. Virginia; and Bend, Oregon. 

The top 10 large cities include:  Las Vegas-Paradise, Nevada; Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Arizona; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Orlando-Kissimmee, Florida; Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, California; West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, Florida; Raleigh-Cary, North Carolina; Honolulu, Hawaii; Northern Virginia; and Salt Lake City, Utah.   

The top 10 mid-size cities include:  Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida; McAllen-Edinburgh-Mission, Texas; Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice, Florida; Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, Arkansas; Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, Florida; Lakeland, Florida; Provo-Orem, Utah; Reno-Sparks, Nevada; Boise City-Nampa, Idaho; and Savannah, Georgia.

The top 10 small cities include:  St. George, Utah; Yuma, Arizona; Prescott, Arizona; Naples-Marco Island, Florida; Morgantown, W. Virginia; Ben, Oregon; Laredo, Texas; Port St. Lucie-Fort Pierce, Florida; Las Cruces, New Mexico; and Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

For the Missouri-Kansas-Oklahoma-Arkansas area it includes only Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, Arkansas (#4 on mid-size) and  Springfield, Missouri (#20 on mid-size).  Florida seems to have the majority of cities more open to entrepreneurs.  You might consider this when determining where to open your next business.

Source:  Inc., May 2007, BoomTowns '07 by Joel Kotkin/Rankings by Michael A. Shires

Case Review - Retaliatory Denial of Cost-of-Living Pay Increase

On February 20, 2007, the Western District of the Missouri Court of Appeals found that the State of Missouri denied Probation and Parole Officers II an across the board cost-of-living pay increase of $1,200 for state employees because of retaliation for exercising their constitutional and statutory rights to engage in union activity.  In 2003 the Probation and Parole  Officers II, through negotiations by   their union (Service Employees International Union Local 2000) and the State of Missouri, were given raises through a step adjustment plan for their grade level.  These raises were effective December 2003.  Thereafter the Senate Appropriations Committee and House Budget Committee met and discussed rolling back these raises.  Instead the cost-of-living pay increase of $1,200 for the 2004-2005 fiscal year was denied to those who received the raises in December 2003.  The trial court ruled that this action violated the Probation and Parole Officers II rights and was in retaliation for union activity.  This was upheld by the appellate court.

Source:  Service Employees International Union Local 2000, et al. v. State of Missouri, WD66255, Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, February 20, 2007

Humor - Tech Help

We all know how frustrating it is when the computer does not function the way we want it to.   Sometimes we feel like throwing the computer out the window.  Good tech help soothes the beast.  Here is a perfect example -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRjVeRbhtRU

Enjoy.

Prenups for Women

What do you think about first when someone mentions the words "prenup" or "alimony"  (called "maintenance" in Missouri)?  You probably think that the man is wanting the prenup so he doesn't have to pay alimony to the woman in the event of a divorce.  Right?  Well, it is time to rethink this.  Women should start thinking about protecting their assets before they get married or even enter into a living arrangement with a man.  Why?  More and more women are seeing an increase in their income due to owning their own business, working their way up the corporate ladder, etc.  In many cases the woman's income will be more than the man.  Women need to start thinking about protecting their assets just like the men have always done.

You may be thinking that no man will ask for alimony - that it will hurt their "manly" pride.  Wrong, think again.  Men are starting to seek alimony and it just isn't the rich and famous like Nick Lachey or Elizabeth Taylor's ex.  It is the man who stayed home with the children while the woman went off to work; it is the man who works part-time  or who doesn't make as much as the woman and got used to the finer things that her money helped provide.  It could be the man you are planning on marrying or moving in with.

How do you protect your assets?  If you plan ahead you can have a prenuptial agreement or living arrangement agreement prepared by your attorney.  Be prepared to reveal all of your assets to your attorney and to your soon-to-be spouse.  If you don't reveal all of the assets in the prenup those assets will not be part of the agreement and there could possibly be grounds for fraud and setting aside the whole agreement.  If you want to enter into a contract before you live with someone you will need to include whether any or all monies will be combined, how the joint bills are to be paid, how the separate and personal bills will be paid, what will happen to the joint assets should there be a separation or parting of the ways, etc.

What if you are already married but want to protect your assets?  PINK magazine, February/March 2007 issue, has listed four things you can do.  These include:

1. Getting the man back into the workforce before you ask for a divorce or even hint that you are thinking about one.  If he is working and earning money on his own, he should not need as much or any support from you;
2. Keep all assets that you inherit in your name alone and do not co-mingle them with your spouse.  This means you do not put any monies into a joint account with your husband, you do not put his name on any real property, stocks, etc. Do not let your parents or other persons give assets to you and your spouse.  Have them just give it to you.  In other words, keep the assets totally in your control and name. 
3. You should build up a nest egg in a separate account under your control only.  This way should something happen you will have access to money if you need it.
4. You may be able to get your husband to sign a post-nuptial agreement, but don't count on it.  If you ask for one after the marriage you are probably going to be giving up more assets than you would have had you entered into a prenuptial agreement (think along the terms of a divorce settlement on this one.)

Due to tradition a woman may not feel comfortable asking the man in her life to enter into the agreements described above.  Women have come a long way in the work force and have worked hard to build up their assets and to provide for themselves and not have to rely upon the man taking care of them.  Women want to be treated as equals and are equal to men in this area and they should not hesitate to protect their assets just like the men should not hesitate to protect theirs.  Remember - entering into an agreement before the marriage or living arrangement is concluded is the best way to do this.

Source:  PINK, February/March 2007