Do you ever drive your personal vehicle, on behalf of an organization, as a volunteer or an employee? Are you responsible for an organization that has volunteers or employees that drive their personal vehicles while performing organization business? There are many tasks that fall into this category: drivers could be...
Author Archives: Joshua D. Crowder, AAI-M
Community Partnerships: Blessing or Liability?
For many non-profits, forming community partnership relationships with other like-minded non-profits can be extremely beneficial to their operation. The benefits of collaboration are almost innumerable, including: The ability to offer a broader scope of specialized services. Low or no additional overhead costs. Both entities can gain access to each other’s...
NYS Paid Family Leave: What Your Church Needs to Know
Governor Andrew Cuomo has signed into law a phased-in system of paid family leave (PFL) that became effective January 1, 2018 for New York employers. Administered by the State of New York Workers’ Compensation Division, PFL is an automatic rider to your statutory disability policy. PFL eligibility and internal administration...
Driving for the Ministry? What church leadership needs to know
Can your church get sued over a car accident, even if the church does not own a vehicle? The answer is yes. Any time a person drives his or her own vehicle on church business, liability is generated for the church ministry. This could be the pastor driving to visit...
Working or Volunteering with Children?
If you work or volunteer with children it is important to know how to properly protect your organization against potential threats. Abuse and Molestation Coverage protects your organization from the unthinkable act of a defenseless, dependent child being abused or molested. The Merriam Insurance Agency addresses abuse in two parts,...
You may have a lawsuit on the horizon . . .
Did you know you could be sued for seemingly innocuous actions? Things such as: the “wrongful imprisonment” of the neighborhood kid you caught lurking in your backyard and suspected him of burglary. In good conscience, you kept him there until the police arrived, but they determined he really was just...
What Caused the Damage and Who Cares?
“What” is very important, and “You” care, or at least you will when “What” happens. Suppose that “What” is a bolt of lightning that starts a fire in your house; or that “What” is a vehicle that missed the turn and drives through the front window of your business; or...
Going the Extra Mile
The early snowfall in Western New York this past winter caught national attention when the Buffalo Bills had to play a “home” game in Detroit, because there was too much snow to get to the stadium. This is a rare problem for people in that part of the state. They...
Attention Business Owners!
It is difficult to do much business in the current environment without taking advantage of some of the conveniences afforded by technology. As businesses expand the use of time saving and efficiency-improving devices, those involved in organized crime are doing the same.