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Lawsuit Seeks OSHA Records on Deaths of 3 Amazon Workers

Article 0 Comments A worker activist has sued the Department of Labor (DOL) to force the release of records surrounding the deaths of three workers at New Jersey Amazon workplaces in 2022. The lawsuit says DOL’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which Amazon says opened investigations into all three deaths, has not responded to a freedom of information act (FOIA) request for documents relating to the deaths of Rafael Mota Frias, Rodger Boland, and Eric Vadinsky. “We have questions about Amazon’s working conditions and conduct that we hope to be able to answer through gaining access to these investigations,” the lawsuit filed by Daniel Schlademan says. The lawsuit says obtaining the OSHA documents is “critical to inform New Jersey lawmakers in preventing further deaths of Amazon workers.” Schlademan is an organizer with the Online to Offline Strategy Group, an organization supporting the Warehouse Life, which advocates for better working conditions. Warehouse Life’s current campaign, #ExposeAmazon, centers on Amazon’s injury rate. New Jersey lawmakers are currently considering a heat standard bill that the lawsuit maintains might have protected workers like the three who died in 2022 if it had been in place three years ago. OSHA Investigating Deaths of Amazon...

WEX Launches Two AI Pilots for Benefits Administration 0

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WEX Launches Two AI Pilots for Benefits Administration

WEX pilots GenAI benefits agent and AI-powered analytics to enhance employee decision-making, mitigate the workload for overwhelmed HR teams during open enrollment season Portlane, ME (Nov. 19, 2024) – WEX, the global commerce platform that simplifies the business of running a business, is pleased to announce a partnership with select employers to pilot two new artificial intelligence (AI) enhancements embedded within WEX’s benefits administration platform, My Benefit Express. Timed with open enrollment season and as industry pundits explore how AI can be successfully built for and leveraged within employee benefits, WEX announced the pilot launch of its Benefit Assistant and BeneFITwise Premier capabilities, both of which harness AI to provide employees with personalized and actionable insights that can empower them to make informed decisions about their benefits. “WEX is working to be at the forefront of AI innovation in the benefits space, driven by a customer-centric approach. These pilots reflect WEX’s substantial investment of time and talent in AI. We believe AI can be a powerful and precise tool for solving our customers’ most pressing challenges,” said Karen Stroup, Chief Digital Officer, WEX. “Employers are keen to drive well-being and retention without adding more to the plates of their HR...

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Cyberattacks Cost UK Businesses £44 Billion During Past 5 Years, Howden Survey

Article 0 Comments Cyberattacks cost UK businesses approximately £44 billion (US$55.3 billion) in lost revenue over the past five years, according to research published by Howden, the London-based insurance intermediary group. Half of those businesses (52%), or 1.3 million private sector companies, have suffered at least one cyberattack during that time period (2019-2024), costing on average 1.9% of revenue, said the study which is based on a survey of 905 IT decision makers from across the UK private sector. Businesses with an annual revenue of over £100 million ($125.6 million) were the most targeted group, with 74% of those surveyed having suffered a cyberattack over the past five years. However, the report emphasized that threat levels are elevated across all businesses, with half (49%) of SMEs with a revenue of £2 million to £50 million ($2.5 million to $62.8 million) also experiencing a cyberattack over the same period. The most common causes of cyberattacks were compromised emails (20%) and data theft (18%), with the average cost of these attacks equating to £2.1 million and £2 million ($2.6 million and $2.5 million) , respectively. Cybersecurity Lacking Despite the growing threat posed by cyberattacks, take up of even the most basic cybersecurity...

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Louisiana Gov. Landry Raises Concerns Over $3B Coastal Restoration Project

Article 0 Comments NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry raised serious objections Thursday to a $3 billion project long hailed as key to restoring the state’s eroding coastline, decrying the growing cost and predicting dire harm to a coastal culture dependent on fishing, shrimping and oyster dredging. The Republican governor’s remarks to a Senate committee in Baton Rouge were his most extensive — and most decisively negative — on the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion project since he took office in January. They come a month after federal authorities warned that money for the project channeled to the state by the federal government would have to be returned if the state could not provide a clear commitment to the plan. Landry stopped short of calling for an end to the project altogether but said a compromise must be reached with opponents of the project. The chair of the Senate Committee, Republican Sen. Pat Connick, said lawmakers would have to weigh the next move. The project would channel 75,000 cubic feet (2,100 cubic meters) of sediment per second from the Mississippi River into the nearby Barataria Basin in southeast Louisiana’s Plaquemines Parish to create between 20 to 40 square miles (52...

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CrowdStrike Falls After Disappointing Earnings Outlook

Article 0 Comments CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. issued a weaker-than-expected earnings forecast, disappointing investors who have been watching for signs that the cybersecurity company has recovered from a flawed update that crashed computers around the world. Adjusted earnings will be 84 cents to 86 cents per share in the fiscal fourth quarter, CrowdStrike said Tuesday in a statement. Analysts were expecting 87 cents, according to Bloomberg-compiled estimates. Shares of CrowdStrike fell about 5% in extended trading after the results were announced. The report is the company’s second since a flawed CrowdStrike update crashed millions of devices operating on Microsoft Corp.’s Windows systems. The outage, which unfolded on July 19, disrupted a wide range of industries, including air travel, banks and health care. The company posted sales three months ago that beat expectations, a sign that investors took to mean the global IT outage wouldn’t significantly affect its finances. Third-quarter revenue represented a bright spot in Tuesday’s report. Sales for the period came to $1.01 billion, exceeding Wall Street’s expectations. Profit, excluding some items, was 93 cents a share, compared with the average estimate of 81 cents. CrowdStrike also raised its guidance for revenue for the full fiscal year, to $3.92 billion...

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Boosting Client Service, With a Little Help From Private Equity

Are your clients getting deeper into alternative investments nowadays? It’s something that many clients are seeking, and we’ve expanded our offerings. One of our investment specialists [focuses] on investing in alts. What’s your “Retirement Roadmap,” as you call it? It’s a financial plan we do to align advice with what the client is trying to accomplish: when they would like to retire, income they’ll need, as well as addressing any other financial matters they might have, whether philanthropic or leaving money to the next generation, tax efficiency and estate planning. Please describe the business development team’s M.O.  They reach out to various companies to tell them about The Mather Group and invite them in for a [complementary] consultation. So one of the things we talk about is providing a free financial plan to evaluate their situation. Please elaborate. When we sit down with a prospect, we do a free initial financial plan to look at their current situation and see if there might be opportunities to be more efficient. How effective is that free investment audit? Very effective, because many times clients really want a second set of eyes on their situation to make sure they’re doing everything in their...

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Best Agency to Work For – West Gold Winner: Morris & Garritano

Article 0 Comments Want a simple, yet effective agency management tip for making your employees happy? Treat them like customers. That mindset stood out among comments from employees who nominated Morris & Garritano in Insurance Journal’s 2024 Best Agency to Work For survey. M&G took home Gold — Best Agency West. The San Luis Obispo, California-based agency employs 153 people, and it anticipates revenue for 2024 will hit $31.6 million, up from $29.3 million a year ago. The firm’s specialties include construction, wine and agriculture, hospitality and food service, real estate/rental/lending, social services and healthcare, manufacturing, and retail and wholesale. “Our agency stands out as one of the best places to work because of its deep commitment to both its employees and clients,” wrote one employee. “As one of California’s largest privately held insurance firms, we prioritize a culture of collaboration, innovation, and continuous growth. Employees are empowered with the resources and support needed to excel in their roles, fostering a strong sense of ownership and pride in their work.” The employee described an “open-door policy” from leaders, as well as their dedication to professional development. “We treat our employees like we treat clients,” said Kerry Morris, M&G’s chief operating...

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Citi’s Wealth Boss Offers Retention Bonuses as Part of Revamp

“We drove the strongest quarter in years in investment flows,” Sieg said. His abrupt personnel changes rankled some executives, prompting bankers to defect. In response, Citigroup offered dozens of retention bonuses to staff, particularly in the Wealth at Work unit and to some in the private bank, rewarding them for staying into next year, according to people familiar with the matter. That move followed the exodus of about 20 people from Wealth at Work, which caters to clients in professional services such as law firms. Their leader, Joe Ryan, was named interim head of the franchise after the unexpected resignation of his boss, Naz Vahid. But Ryan jumped to BMO Financial Group after he wasn’t interviewed to replace her permanently, a person briefed on the matter said. The private bank, serving the wealthiest clients, has lost about 10% of its most senior bankers in North America over the past year, reducing its fleet to about 120. Departures included top rainmaker Luke Palacio, who catered to Florida’s billionaires. He joined Bank of America, which announced two more hires from Citigroup late last week. Even some new arrivals didn’t last long. Just four months after Sieg named Don Plaus, his former deputy...

Canadians Settling Into Stability But Remain Concerned About the Future: 2024 IG Wealth Management Financial Confidence Index 0

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Canadians Settling Into Stability But Remain Concerned About the Future: 2024 IG Wealth Management Financial Confidence Index

Year-end Index stands at 50, same as 2023 and one point below 2022 Canadians’ trust in the economy on shaky ground with majority fearing a recession in 2025 Western provinces’ average financial confidence ahead of their Eastern neighbours, with B.C. leading the way Financial confidence of those who work with an advisor 15 points higher than those who do not Winnipeg, MB (Nov. 21, 2024) – According to the seventh annual edition of the IG Wealth Management Financial Confidence Index), 2024 has brought financial stability to Canadians after years of volatility. However, the Index also revealed that many are concerned about what 2025 could have in store for them and showed a clear regional divide in Canadians’ financial confidence. The Index, commissioned by IG Wealth Management (IG) and conducted in partnership with Ipsos Canada, tracks and reports on Canadians’ overall financial confidence based on 10 survey questions relating to IG’s Four Pillars of Financial Confidence: Current Personal Financial Situation, Personal Financial Outlook, Planning and Literacy, and Trust in the Economy. This year’s Index revealed stabilization, with the Index landing at 50, mirroring 2023 and one point down from 2022. Interestingly, prior to this period the Index score was at a...

Near Space Labs Announces Deployment of Stratospheric Robots Featuring Industry-Leading Aerial Imagery 0

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Near Space Labs Announces Deployment of Stratospheric Robots Featuring Industry-Leading Aerial Imagery

Near Space Labs announces nationwide U.S. deployment of stratospheric robots, featuring new, industry-leading 7cm resolution aerial imagery Brooklyn, NY (Nov. 21, 2024) – Near Space Labs, a leader in stratospheric remote sensing, is pleased to announce it has reached a historic milestone with the nationwide deployment of its Swift robots across the United States. This achievement establishes the first network of stratospheric robots delivering ultra-high-resolution aerial imagery across the continental US, now with enhanced 7cm resolution capabilities that match or exceed traditional aerial survey quality. The Swift, Near Space Labs’ proprietary zero-emission robot, captures up to 1,000 square kilometers of imagery per flight—equivalent to New York City’s five boroughs. Operating at altitudes between 60,000 and 85,000 feet, this compact 12-pound autonomous system provides insurance companies, urban planners, and government agencies with unprecedented access to precisely detailed, frequently updated aerial imagery at a fraction of the cost of traditional methods. Near Space Labs’ nationwide expansion and imaging improvements come at a critical moment for the U.S. home insurance industry in particular, which faced its worst crisis in decades in 2023 with net combined ratios exceeding 110 percent and losses surging past $101 billion. These results are largely driven by increasingly frequent...