Author: Patty Busse

School bus drivers can be safety heroes

Posted on by Patty Busse

Skip isn’t the only superhero who cares about safety. School bus drivers play the role of safety hero every day as they go about their jobs.

The 2025 National School Bus Safety Week is Oct. 20-24, and it reminds us of bus drivers’ important roles in getting people where they’re going safely.

National School Bus Safety Week brings awareness to the dangers for drivers, students and pedestrians. It’s everyone’s responsibility to stay safe around school buses.

School bus driver safety tips and resources

Bus drivers have additional duties beyond transportation. Drivers must be aware of their own risk of injury, while driving safely and keeping an eye on their surroundings.

School Bus Safety Week offers a chance to provide drivers with a few safety basics, including:

  • Remember that drivers and pedestrians around you may be distracted
  • Use safe practices when performing checks or maintenance
  • Maintain three points of contact when entering or leaving the bus
  • Make sure everyone is seated before starting to move the bus

SFM’s safety resources help keep bus drivers injury-free, from pre-trip inspection to exiting the vehicle using 3 points of contact. Download SFM’s Supervisor Initiated Training talks tailored to transportation workers to make it easy for your leaders to have a discussion with their teams about school bus safety.

National School Bus Safety Week is sponsored by the National Association for Pupil Transportation , National School Transportation Association and National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services .

 

Originally published October 2018; updated August 2025.

Are employees compensated when injured while violating company rules?

Posted on by Patty Busse

By Beth Giebel, Esq.

Employers can be surprised and frustrated to learn that an employee who was injured while violating company safety rules can still receive workers’ compensation benefits.

This isn’t always the case.

In these situations, it is possible to deny liability for an injury on the basis of the “prohibited act” defense, but the employee’s injury must occur as a direct result of a violation of a clearly stated, and consistently enforced, prohibited act, policy or rule.

A Minnesota case illustrates the applicability of this defense.

In Smith v Metro Transit , the employee, a bus driver, was driving his route when a passenger wanted to get off at a non-designated stop. The employee did not feel it was safe, so declined to stop. At the next designated stop, the passenger spat in the employee’s face as he exited the bus. The employee then got off the bus and chased after the passenger. When the employee caught up with the passenger, the passenger shoved the employee, causing him to fall and injure his shoulder.

Employee injured while violating policy

The employer, Metro Transit, had published a bus driver’s guide that established guidelines for dealing with unruly passengers. Their bus drivers were instructed to “avoid physical confrontations wherever possible and were told to refrain from leaving the bus operator’s seat to settle disputes unless it was necessary to do so in self-defense.”

The employee had previously acknowledged these work rules and had been disciplined for violating them.

The compensation judge denied the employee’s claim and found that the injury occurred as a direct result of the employer’s prohibited act. The Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals affirmed the denial of compensation, and reviewed the six factors to consider in determining whether the prohibited act defense would disallow the employee’s claim:

  • Whether the employee knows of the prohibition
  • Whether the prohibition was customarily observed
  • Whether the employer took reasonable steps to enforce the prohibition
  • The reason for the prohibition
  • Whether the performance of the prohibited act was unreasonably dangerous
  • Whether it was reasonably foreseeable by the employer that the expressly prohibited act would occur

Violations of safety standards

Violations of standard safety procedures – such as failure to wear a hard hat or eye protection – do not typically bar compensation if an employee is injured while otherwise performing his or her authorized employment activity.

Failure to abide by safety policies and procedures may provide the basis for disciplinary action against the employee, but the presence or absence of safety equipment does not necessarily give rise to a prohibited act defense.

Depending on the laws in your state, failure to follow safety rules could result in decreased compensation.

For example, in Wisconsin, compensation is decreased by 15 percent if an injury is caused by the employee’s failure to use a safety device – provided in accordance with a statute or with a Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development administrative rule – if the device is adequately maintained and its use is reasonably enforced. Compensation is also reduced if the injury is caused by the employee’s failure to obey a reasonable safety rule adopted and enforced by the

Create a ‘prohibited acts’ policy

Having policies that clearly articulate prohibited practices at the workplace can improve the safety and health of your employees, decrease costs and missed work days, help control your workers’ compensation premium, and send a strong message that may warrant a denial of compensation for certain injuries.

But having a policy is just the first step. Be sure to:

  • Clearly identify prohibited acts
  • Communicate prohibitions to employees
  • Consistently enforce policies
  • Discipline violations of the policies

This will help make your policy as effective as possible in preventing injuries among your employees.

This is not intended to serve as legal advice for individual fact-specific legal cases or as a legal basis for your employment practices.

 

Originally published August 2019; updated August 2025.

Top seven workplace safety tips

Posted on by Patty Busse

Want to make your workplace safer, but unsure where to start? Or maybe you want to be sure you have all the basics covered before you delve deeper in a certain area.

Either way, these seven essentials, identified by SFM’s loss prevention staff, will help make your organization a safer place to work.

1. Know the hazards

To reduce your risk of work-related injury or illness, you must first know the particular hazards of your job or workplace.

Help identify hazards by downloading this free workplace safety analysis checklist . You can also learn about risks by analyzing all workplace injuries to find the root causes and asking your staff for input.

2. Reduce workplace stress

Job stress has been linked to health problems, higher health care costs, increased risk of workplace accidents and more. Take steps to prevent stress from interfering with employees’ productivity, health and well-being with these strategies to reduce stress in the workplace.

3. Get up and move

Encourage employees to take breaks and move around regularly throughout the day. Simply working in small breaks for movement can make a big difference in combating the dangers of staying in a static position all day long.

4. Pay attention to ergonomics

Use ergonomically designed furniture and equipment , and rearrange work areas to maintain a neutral posture and keep everything within easy reach.

5. Use safe lifting techniques

Use four safe moves when picking up and carrying heavy loads: Lift from a position of power, keep the load close to your body, use a staggered stance and don’t twist.

And watch the weight — the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health recommends limiting manual lifting to a maximum of 35 pounds for the average person. Check out more safe lifting techniques or our lifting safety video  to see the technique in action.

6. Ensure employees wear personal protective equipment

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) can dramatically reduce risk of injury if worn correctly. Examples of PPE include gear such as earplugs, hard hats, safety goggles, gloves, full-face masks and safety shoes.

7. Encourage employees to speak up

Ask for input from employees often, and ensure everyone feels comfortable bringing safety hazards to their supervisors’ attention. Employees should feel that their concerns are being heard and acted upon by company leaders.

Workplace safety matters to every industry

When we think about workplace safety, images of construction workers hanging off skyscrapers or power line technicians in cherry pickers often pop into our heads, but there are hazards in any workplace — even office environments.

According to the National Safety Council , the top three causes of workplace injuries accounting for at least one day away from work from 2021-22 were:

  • Overexertion in lifting (such as a strain or sprain caused by lifting something too heavy)
  • Contact with an object or equipment (being hit by something)
  • Slips, trips and falls

While some injuries might be unlikely in an office or other relatively low-risk environment, certainly a slip-and-fall or lifting injury is possible anywhere.

Reducing hazards as much as possible and training employees about the risks can go a long way toward prevention. SFM offers a number of free resources to prevent indoor slips and falls, winter slips and falls and lifting injuries.

 

Originally published June 2017; updated August 2025.

 

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Why return to work matters

Posted on by Patty Busse

There are many reasons why return to work matters for both employers and employees.

For employers, the benefits include the potential to lessen impacts on future premiums, reduce costs for lost-time claims and lessen the likelihood of litigation. Just as importantly, it helps maintain a connection and good working relationship with your employees during times of uncertainty following an injury.

At the same time, return to work also benefits the employee. The longer an employee remains away from the job following a workplace injury, the less likely it becomes that the employee will ever return to work. Even if injured employees can’t return to their regular jobs right away, bringing them back as soon as possible by providing transitional or light-duty work helps them:

  • Recover faster
  • Stay in the routine of working
  • Feel productive
  • Maintain workplace relationships

Below, we outline the reasons why return to work matters — including the effect on claims — and how to establish your own return-to-work program.

Past workers’ compensation claims affect future premiums

You probably know that your loss history is taken into account when calculating your workers’ compensation premium, but you may not know exactly how it works.

Your state’s workers’ compensation data collection organization calculates an experience modification factor (e-mod) for each employer that meets state-specific qualification requirements.

If your loss history is average for your class and size of business, your e-mod will be 1.00. If it’s better than average, it will be less than one. Because your e-mod is used as a multiplier when calculating your premium, a better-than-average e-mod will generally lower your premium.

For more details on this process, see our CompTalk on e-mods and read our blog, How your workers’ compensation e-mod is calculated.

Preventing lost-time claims pays off

When calculating an e-mod, not all claim costs are treated equally.

If a claim remains medical-only, meaning the injured worker does not receive wage-replacement (also called lost-time) benefits, claim costs are discounted by 70 percent.

To keep a claim medical-only, you must bring the employee back to work before your state’s waiting period ends. For example, waiting periods in these states are:

  • Three days in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa
  • Seven days in Nebraska, South Dakota, Kansas, Indiana and Tennessee

Example: How return-to-work impacts future premium

If you can bring an employee back to work before the waiting period ends, the impact of the claim on your e-mod and future workers’ compensation premiums will be significantly less.

Here’s an example:

Consider two assisted living facilities, each with about a dozen employees and currently paying about $23,000 in workers’ compensation premium.

A certified nursing assistant at the first facility slips and falls while working. Her medical bills total $7,500, but she is able to start doing light-duty work filing and answering phones before the state’s waiting period ends, so the claim remains medical-only.

At the second facility, another nursing assistant has a similar accident, but her employer does not provide light-duty work, and she ends up receiving some workers’ compensation benefits for lost pay. The combined cost for her medical expenses and lost-time compensation total $7,500.

Although the total cost for both claims is the same, the impact on their respective workers’ compensation costs are very different — only 30 percent of the medical-only claim impacts the employer’s e-mod, compared with 100 percent of the lost-time claim.

What does this mean for these employers’ work comp premiums? The claim that remained medical-only would cost the employer $2,850 over three years in terms of increased premium. In comparison, the lost-time claim would cost the employer $9,494 over three years.

How to start a return-to-work program

If you don’t have a return-to-work program already, follow these four steps to start one:

1. Draft your policy

Tell all of your staff ahead of time that your company intends to bring injured employees back to work as soon as they’re medically able, and will provide adaptations or light-duty work when needed. For guidance, see SFM’s sample return-to-work program.

2. Appoint a claims coordinator

This is an individual tasked with overseeing workers’ compensation claims and return to work. Have this person develop a plan for reporting injuries and communicate it to supervisors and employees.

Having step-by-step instruction sheets around also helps the process. For more details, see SFM’s CompTalk on claims coordinator duties.

3. Select a primary care clinic

Establish a good working relationship with a local clinic where the physicians understand occupational medicine and return-to-work.

If possible, meet with doctors at your preferred clinic to give them an overview of your organization and tell them you are committed to returning employees to work as soon as they are medically able. Suggest that your employees go there if they’re injured.

Note that in most states, employees have the right to choose where to have their injuries treated.

4. Identify transitional jobs

Transitional or modified-duty jobs provide opportunities for your employees to return to work even when medical restrictions prevent them from doing their regular jobs. Having these jobs identified before an injury occurs will help limit possible delays in return to work.

That might mean having an injured employee work in a different department temporarily.

To come up with ideas ask your managers, “What would you do if you had an extra pair of hands?” For more ideas, check out our lists of transitional jobs broken down by industry.

 

Originally published in 2020; updated May 2025.

Outdoor hazards to watch for during warm weather months

Posted on by Patty Busse

Especially for people who work outdoors, the summer months bring a host of potential hazards, including heat-related issues, slips and falls, severe weather and more.

Share the following tips with your employees and colleagues to help them stay safe during warmer months.

Outdoor slips and falls

Potential tripping and slipping hazards can happen all year long.

Pay attention to the conditions of the surfaces you’re walking on. Parking lots, sidewalks, ramps and stairs can all have cracks, holes or uneven surfaces that could cause you to trip. Use handrails on stairs or ramps, and try to keep your hands free of encumbrances. Do not carry more than you can handle or items that block your vision.

Don’t take shortcuts through lawns or center islands. Uneven ground and concealed or hard-to-see holes can result in twisted ankles or worse.

Also, summer months might have employees wearing different footwear than at other times of the year. Flip-flops, sandals, loose-fitting shoes, high heels, cowboy boots, etc., all increase the risk of slip and fall injuries or feet and ankle injuries. Employers need to mandate proper footwear and enforce it with workers.

Also, report any unsafe outdoor conditions to the appropriate person.

Heat stress

When you’re working in the heat, it’s important to make sure you stay hydrated. If you aren’t taking in enough fluids or salts, it can lead to heat-related illnesses, such as heat exhaustion or heatstroke.

To prevent heat-related stress, give yourself time to adjust to hot weather by limiting your exposure at first, and gradually increasing the amount of time until your body has acclimated to the heat. Try to schedule work during the coolest parts of the day.

Drink plenty of liquids to replace what your body loses through sweating. You should be drinking approximately one cup of water every 15 minutes. Sports drinks with electrolytes are useful for replacing necessary salts, as well.

Don’t ignore symptoms of heat stress. Stop your work to cool off in a shaded or air-conditioned area if you experience dizziness, nausea or muscle cramping.

These tips are especially important for workers in certain industries. In early 2024, the American Society of Safety Professionals published the first national voluntary consensus standard addressing heat stress for workers in construction and demolition operations.

At a high level, the document:

  • Provides guidance on protecting workers
  • Outlines how to acclimate workers to high heat conditions
  • Gives tips for training employees and supervisors

The standard also contains checklists and flowcharts designed to help employers develop heat stress management programs.

Lightning safety

If you work outdoors, it’s important to pay attention to weather patterns. Thunderstorms are common across the country, and lighting safety is vital for employees who work outdoors.

From 2006 through 2021, there were 444 lightning strike fatalities in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . Most of those deaths occurred in June, July or August.

Stay up to date on weather forecasts and watch out for early warning signs. If a storm is predicted, don’t start working on projects you won’t be able to stop quickly.

Clouds that grow vertically into towering cumulus clouds are often the first sign of a developing storm. Other indicators include high winds, dark clouds, rain and distant thunder.

When you see lightning, count the seconds until you hear thunder. If the time is 30 seconds or less, then the storm is close enough to be dangerous. Leave any open-air structures or areas with tall trees and seek shelter inside an enclosed building. Metal-topped vehicles are also safe.

If you are outdoors, stay off and away from tall structures or large equipment. Do not touch anything that can conduct electricity. Wait at least 30 minutes following the last clap of thunder before resuming your work.

Insect-borne diseases

Summer is peak season for ticks and insect bites. If you work outdoors, be aware of the conditions that put you most at risk. Insects are most active at dawn, dusk and early evening in tall grass, shrubs and wooded areas.

You can avoid insect bites by wearing long pants, sleeves, closed-toe shoes and a hat. Use insect repellents on clothes and exposed skin.

After being outdoors, you should perform body checks for ticks. If one is found, remove it immediately with fine-tipped tweezers by pulling it straight out. Then cleanse the area with antiseptic.

At the same time, illnesses such as Lyme disease and West Nile virus can be passed on by deer ticks and mosquitoes. An estimated 476,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed and treated for Lyme disease each year, according to the CDC . And in 2024, more than 1,450 cases of West Nile virus were detected across 49 states, the CDC reports .

If you suspect you or one of your employees may have contracted an illness, seek medical attention right away.

Conclusion

Spring and summer months come with their own unique safety risks.

Getting back outside after a long winter can feel like a relief, but don’t let that cause you to let your guard down while working outside.

Lastly, federal officials have created a heat safety tool app employers can use as an additional resource.

 

Originally published in May 2019; updated May 2025.

Work injuries 101: Reporting injuries and supporting workers

Posted on by Patty Busse

No one starts out their day expecting a work injury.

On-the-job injuries are unanticipated, urgent and unfortunate for everyone involved, but there are best practices you can follow to make a bad situation better for you and your injured employee.

When to report work injuries

One key step is to report any work injury as soon as you can. Reporting immediately helps workers’ compensation claims go more smoothly for a number of reasons, including:

  • Employees get any needed care right away
  • Workers’ compensation benefits are paid promptly
  • The carrier has time to review and submit the injury to the state

To make this happen, employees and their supervisors must be trained to identify work injuries and report them immediately. If a supervisor sees an injury occur, or hears about it in another way, in many states the employer is required to report the injury. This is true even if an employee does not formally report a work injury, in most states. In South Dakota, employees are required to report injuries to their employers within a specified time period.

We recommend reporting all work injuries, even if they are so minor they do not require medical attention. This way if the injury worsens over time and does lead to a doctor visit or time off, you will have captured information needed to manage the claim.

Reporting incident-only work injuries (injuries which do not lead to medical or lost-time expenses) does not impact your experience modification factor (e-mod).

How to report work injuries

When you’re ready to report an injury to SFM you have a number of options, but the two most common methods are by phone and online.

You can call the SFM Work Injury Hotline anytime at (855) 675-3501 to report work injuries. Here are a few tips for reporting via the hotline:

  • We now offer a streamlined report-only option during business hours (7 a.m. – 4 p.m., M-F) for situations where the employee does not need to speak with a nurse. We recommend choosing the nurse option when the employee is unsure whether to seek medical treatment. (Calls outside of normal business hours will automatically go to a nurse.)
  • If a supervisor is not available, an employee can call the SFM Work Injury Hotline alone.
  • If the employee has already received medical treatment or is not available for the call, we recommend choosing the report-only option (Option 1) during business hours.

You can also report online on our website (sfmic.com) anytime. You do not need to log in to report injuries online. You just need your policy number. This is a fast and easy choice. Many employers opt to report online in cases where the worker has already received medical care.

For more information on reporting injuries, visit sfmic.com/report and download a copy of our claim packet.

Understanding the injury

After a work injury occurs, it’s important to figure out what happened and what you can do to prevent similar injuries in the future.

You can analyze a work injury in four steps:

  • Collect data: Talk to witnesses, take pictures and review maintenance and training records.
  • Identify the causes: Determine whether equipment, risky behavior, inadequate training, lack of personal protective equipment, the work environment, or other factors were to blame in causing the injury.
  • Analyze the findings: Examine all the facts and distinguish between the immediate causes (such as a broken ladder rung) and underlying causes (such as lack of training).
  • Develop a plan: Identify the steps to prevent similar injuries in the future.

For more information on accident analysis and a worksheet to guide you through the process, download our Accident analysis CompTalk from the resource catalog on sfmic.com.

Return to work 

When employees are off work due to on-the-job injuries, it’s important to show concern right away and stay in contact until the employee returns to work. When employers don’t reach out, employees can feel isolated and worry that they will not have a job to return to.

We recommend bringing employees back to work as soon as possible, even if you have to modify their regular job or provide light-duty work to accommodate medical restrictions. Bringing employees back to work as soon as you can helps them:

  • Recover faster
  • Stay in the routine of working
  • Feel productive
  • Maintain workplace relationships

This also helps keep wage-loss benefits down, which helps limit the impact of the injury on your future workers’ compensation premiums.

Work injuries are better prevented, but when they do occur, your SFM team is here to help. Your claims representative is always available to guide you through the process and answer any questions. You can also find more resources in the Employers section of sfmic.com.

When an employee is injured, these resources can help

Be on your guard for slips and falls all winter long

Posted on by Patty Busse

Throughout the colder months of the year, you must continuously be wary of the dangers of slipping on the snow and ice.

And this is especially true at the tail end of winter. Warmer weather may lull you into a false sense of security, but thawing and refreezing can make roads and walkways even more treacherous.

Each year, hundreds of employees insured by SFM report falling because of snow and ice — it’s one of the most common causes of injuries.

In fact, about 674,000 cases of falls, slips and trips were reported by private employers 2021-22, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), with many of those incidents requiring employees to miss work because of the incident.

According to SFM claims data, 25 percent of ice- and snow-related falls occur in parking lots and 20 percent of slips and falls that occur in parking lots result in lost time from work.

Meanwhile, SFM estimates the average winter slip-and-fall lost-time claim costs range from $50,000 to $55,000. The costs — direct and indirect — mount quickly and can’t be ignored.

“Slips and falls during winter can be a major issue for worker safety,” said Director of Loss Prevention Lee Wendel. “But both workers and employers can take steps to mitigate the dangers and stay safe all winter long.”

Be on your guard for slips and falls all winter long

Staying safe from slips and falls

Employee injuries sustained in falls are costly. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health says workers’ compensation and medical costs associated with workplace fall incidents have been estimated at $70 billion annually in the U.S.

Despite the perils of getting around during winter, there are many preventive measures employers can implement to decrease the chance of on-the-job injuries.

  • Make sure gutters and downspouts flow away from walkways to avoid the dangerous freeze-thaw-refreeze cycle
  • Redirect any water flowing on walkways to avoid puddles
  • Treat walkways at high-hazard times and warn employees about potential hazards
  • Manage snow piles near walkways to avoid melting snow refreezing to ice
  • Plow snow below the grade of walkways to minimize downward flow
  • Repair walkways to eliminate uneven surfaces that collect water and ice
  • Designate safe paths of travel to and from building to discourage potentially dangerous shortcuts

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reports that trips, slips and falls are the second-most common cause of workplace injury. Also, 20-30 percent of workplace falls result in a moderate or severe injury, including deep bruising, broken bones and concussions.

These incidents can be even more serious. According to the most recent data from the BLS, work-related fatalities due to falls, slips, and trips have increased in recent years:

  • 805 fatalities in 2020
  • 850 fatalities in 2021
  • 865 fatalities in 2022
  • 885 fatalities in 2023

About 20 percent of all workplace deaths are attributed to slips, trips and falls, per OSHA.

Employers must ensure walking surfaces at the workplace are free of snow and ice, according to OSHA safety standards.

Remind employees about winter hazards using SFM resources

With a few simple precautions, falls on snow and ice resulting in costly injuries can be easily avoided. Employee awareness is key.

“It’s important to keep reminding employees of the risks of winter slips and falls, and how to avoid them, throughout the season,” Wendel said. “We’ve tried to make that easy for employers by offering a variety of different resources.”

Consider some tips from SFM:

These tips and being aware of winter conditions can go a long way toward ensuring a winter spent upright and safe.

“Winter in the Upper Midwest often extends into early spring,” Wendel said. “By taking the necessary precautions and staying vigilant, workers can remain safe.”

 

Originally posted January 2018; updated February 2025.

How to help employees combat sleeplessness

Posted on by Patty Busse

A lack of sleep is common in the U.S., with nearly 37 percent of people reporting they don’t get enough, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .

And employees who don’t get enough shuteye and more likely to suffer a workplace injury, reports the National Library of Medicine , which also says workers who do get enough rest have greater safety participation and safety motivation, and fewer accidents and injuries.

Risks of sleeplessness

When employees don’t get adequate sleep, injuries are often the result of:

  • Loss of muscle coordination
  • Increased risk of dropping things
  • Stumbling and falling
  • Impaired memory, attention, judgment and concentration
  • Difficulty making decisions, processing complex data and regulating emotions
  • Greater distractibility

What can I do?

As an employer, there are ways you can help ensure your employees are getting the recommended amount of sleep.

Teach your employees about the risks associated with insufficient sleep and how they can create healthy sleep habits.

Ways to combat lack of sleep include:

  • Have a consistent sleep schedule by going to bed at the same time every night and waking up at the same time every morning
  • Create a bedtime routine to help the body unwind and grow accustomed to a sleep schedule
  • Things like warm showers or baths, soothing music and noncaffeinated, herbal teas may help
  • Sleep in a cool, quiet, comfortable and dark room
  • Get outside during daylight hours to help reset your body’s natural sleep and wake cycles
  • Limit use of technology during the hours before bedtime. Most electronics use blue light, which decreases the body’s production of melatonin and boosts attention, making the body want to stay awake. Additionally, engagement in things like social media and email can make it more difficult to unwind
  • Get regular exercise
  • Avoid caffeine for at least six hours prior to going to sleep

You can also take measures to make sure your workplace isn’t causing sleep issues for your employees. Some suggestions include:

  • Limit shift work as much as possible
  • Minimize overtime, especially if it’s forced
  • Avoid permanent placement on the night shift
  • Give workers as much choice as possible for shift start times
  • Address stressful workplace conditions such as lighting, temperature, noise and access to food

While there may be a cultural expectation to sacrifice sleep, it doesn’t have to be a part of your organization’s culture. Emphasizing the importance of sleep will benefit your company and your employees in the long run.

 

Originally published December 2020; updated February 2025.

Video highlights danger of falls in parking lots

Posted on by Patty Busse

Cold, snowy and icy weather are coming soon. As the weather brings colder and more slippery conditions, it’s a good time to remind your employees to walk carefully when outdoors.

Our new video for employees aims to catch their attention and remind them of the dangers they face when walking through parking lots in winter weather.

Parking lot slips and falls are a common source of work-related injuries during the winter months, and exercising caution can help your employees avoid nasty accidents.

We offer many resources on our winter slips and falls page you can use to prevent these types of injuries among your employees.

Other considerations for parking lot slips and falls

Every state’s law is different, but typically employers are required to provide safe routes for employees from their vehicles into work.

This means if an employee is injured by tripping and falling in the designated parking lot on the way into or out from work, it could be considered a work injury, making the employee eligible for workers’ compensation medical and wage loss benefits.

It’s not uncommon, and the injuries are often serious.

Injuries aren’t just bad for your employees. Having a lot of claims can negatively affect your costs as an employer, too.

Keep parking lots maintained

It’s very important to make sure that parking lots are well-maintained — cleared of snow and ice in the winter and free of cracks and other trip hazards.

Make employees aware of hazards

Your employees can also play a role in avoiding slip-and-fall injuries by walking carefully and wearing appropriate footwear. See SFM’s winter slip-and-fall prevention page for posters, table tents and other resources you can use to keep fall prevention top of mind for employees.

 

Originally posted October 2027; updated January 2025.

Workers’ compensation exemptions for Minnesota small business owners and family members

Posted on by Patty Busse

Generally speaking, Minnesota law requires employers to provide workers’ compensation coverage for all employees.

But the law does allow employers to exclude certain types of employees from coverage, such as small business owners and their close relatives.

Following are the types of employees that are exempt from mandatory insurance coverage by Minnesota state law :

  • Sole proprietorships and partnerships:
    Someone operating a business as a sole proprietor isn’t required to get workers’ compensation insurance for his or her spouse, parents or children working in the business, regardless of age or wage rate. However, the business owner would have to provide coverage for any other employees. Similarly, members of a partnership — such as a law firm — don’t have to purchase coverage for themselves. If their spouses, parents or children are employed by the partnership, they’re not required to provide coverage for them either.
  • Executive officers of a closely held corporation:
    A closely held corporation is one in which the capital stock is held by no more than 10 people and has had less than 22,880 hours of payroll in the preceding calendar year (January 1 to December 31). Executive officers of closely held corporations can be excluded from coverage if they are elected or appointed in accordance with the company’s charter or bylaws and they own at least 25 percent of the capital stock of the corporation (exclusive of any stock owned by other family members). If executive officers qualify to be excluded from workers’ compensation coverage, their spouses, parents and children are also excluded if they work in the same business. Relatives within the third degree of kinship — such as uncles, nieces, siblings and grandchildren — can also be excluded, but to do so, the employer must file a written election with the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry.
  • Managers of limited liability corporations:
    A limited liability company (LLC) has some attributes of a corporation and others of a partnership. If an LLC has 10 or fewer members and has less than 22,880 hours of payroll in the preceding calendar year (January 1 to December 31) managers who own at least a 25 percent membership interest aren’t required to purchase workers’ compensation coverage for themselves. If managers qualify to be excluded from workers’ compensation coverage, their spouses, parents and children are also excluded if they work in the same business. As with executive officers, relatives of a manager within the third degree of kinship can also be excluded, but to do so, the employer must file a written election with the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry.

Even if state law doesn’t require workers’ compensation coverage for certain individuals, a business can choose to cover them by notifying its workers’ compensation insurer in writing.

If you find that you do need workers’ compensation insurance, you can get a quote through our website.

What about other states?

The rules on which family members can be excluded from workers’ compensation coverage, if any, differ based on state laws. Here are the rules in SFM’s core states:

Indiana

Exceptions in Indiana workers’ compensation law:

  • Sole proprietors, limited liability company managers, and partners aren’t covered unless they elect to be
  • Agricultural employees performing traditional types of farm labor directly related to the tending of crops and livestock are not included in the work comp statute. Workers doing other types of work in a farm setting may be covered by work comp law. Employers can purchase a work comp policy for the farm workers

Iowa

Exceptions in Iowa workers’ compensation law:

  • Sole proprietors
  • Independent contractors, limited liability company members and partners aren’t covered unless they elect to be
  • For family farms, sole proprietors, partners, officers, members of an LLC and their spouses, parents, brothers, sisters, children and step-children are excluded

Kansas

There is an exception in Kansas workers’ compensation law: Agricultural pursuits and employments are excluded from the Work Comp Act, unless the employer is the state of Kansas.

Nebraska

There are a few exceptions in Nebraska workers’ compensation law, including:

  • Household domestic servants in a private residence
  • Some agricultural operations such as those employing only relatives or those employing fewer than 10 full-time employees for fewer than 13 calendar weeks (consecutive or not)
  • Self-employed individuals, sole proprietors, partners and limited liability company members who don’t elect to be covered

South Dakota

There are a few exceptions in South Dakota workers’ compensation law:

  • Domestic servants working less than 20 hours per week or for less than six weeks in any 13-week period
  • Farm or agricultural labor
  • One whose employment is not in the usual course of trade, business, occupation or profession of the employer (such as independent contractors)

Tennessee

According to the Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development , there are a few exceptions in Tennessee workers’ compensation law:

  • State and local governments and those employing farm laborers or domestic help
  • Sole proprietors, partners and members limited liability companies (LLCs) aren’t included in the count of employees
  • Corporate officers can exempt themselves but are not excluded from the count of employees unless they are not compensated
  • Family members, if the applicant and members of the same family hold at least 95% ownership of the business

Wisconsin

There are a few exclusions in Wisconsin , including:

  • Domestic servants, such as nannies
  • Sole proprietors, partners, and members of limited liability companies (unless the organization elects to cover these individuals)
  • Volunteers of nonprofit organizations whose salary or in-kind compensation doesn’t top $10 per week
  • Employees of Native American tribal enterprises, unless the tribe elects to waive its sovereign immunity

Small business owners and work comp coverage

Required or not, some owners choose to buy workers’ compensation insurance for themselves so that in the event of a work injury, their medical expenses and lost wages would be paid. Others opt out and secure coverage for work-related incidents through their health, disability and life insurers. (Note that many health and disability insurance policies specifically exclude work-related injuries from coverage, so it’s important to check and make sure you’d be covered.)

Learn more about workers’ compensation coverage

Determining whether your employees fit into these categories can be complicated. It’s best to contact your agent, insurer, employment law attorney, or state’s labor department to find out whether you’re required to provide workers’ compensation insurance.

 

Originally published April 2019; updated January 2025. This is not intended to serve as legal advice for individual fact-specific legal cases or as a legal basis for your employment practices.

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