Monthly E-Mail Newsletter

MARCH 6, 2012 VOLUME 1, NUMBER 22

Food Safety
This is an excerpt from the article What you need to know when the power goes out unexpectedly. For more information. Please visit www.cdc.gov.

If the power is out for less than 2 hours, then the food in your refrigerator and freezer will be safe to consume. While the power is out, keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible to keep food cold for longer. If the power is out for longer than 2 hours, follow the guidelines below:
If

the power is out for less than 2 hours, then the food in your refrigerator and freezer will be safe to consume.

For the Freezer section: A freezer that is half full will hold food safely for up to 24 hours. A full freezer will hold food safely for 48 hours. Do not open the freezer door if you can avoid it. For the Refrigerated section: Pack milk, other dairy products, meat, fish, eggs, gravy, and spoilable leftovers into a cooler surrounded by ice. Inexpensive Styrofoam coolers are fine for this purpose. Use a food thermometer to check the temperature of your food right before you cook or eat it. Throw away any food that has a temperature of more than 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

For guidelines on refreezing food when the power comes back on, visit the Food Safety and Inspection Services page on Food Safety in an Emergency. Top 10 Reasons Why Employers should purchase Employment Practices Liability (EPL).
1.

The medium cost of an EEOC lawsuit in 2010 exceeded $270,000.

2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

7. 8.

EPL covers not only actual but also ALLEGED acts of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination and other similar acts. 3 out of 5 employers are sued by former employees every year. Over 40% of EPL claims are against firms with fewer than 100 employees. Some Federal and State employment laws apply to all employers regardless of employee count any size company has exposure! The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recorded nearly 100,000 charges in 2010 and obtained more than $417 million in settlements for claimants. The financial ramifications of not having EPL insurance can be crippling, especially for small firms because they do not have the operating budgets to handle the defense costs, let alone settlements or judgments, of an uninsured claim. The medium cost of an EEOC lawsuit in 2010 exceeded $270,000. There is no EPL coverage under other insurance policies such as General Liability (GL). Any endorsement to another policy generally provides insufficient limits, does not provide the breadth of coverage of a separate EPL

policy and erodes the limit available for GL exposure. 9. Since 1997, wage and hour litigation has tripled. More wage and hour collective/class actions have been filed in recent years than any other types of employment class actions combined. 10. Recent Supreme Court decisions have lowered the standard of what constitutes retaliatory treatment. Retaliation now accounts for more than one third of all EEOC charges.

Valvano Insurance Agency A Member of Consolidated Insurance Agents, LLC 16 West Elizabeth Avenue Linden, New Jersey 07036

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