March is approaching and that means PCOC Legislative Days is on March 7th and 8th in Sacramento! While this won’t be your traditional legislative days where we get an opportunity to go the capitol and speak with Legislators and staff, we are working to bring Legislators and regulatory officials (DPR and County Ag Commissioners) to join us at the Hyatt Hotel.  Because we had to move quickly because of the uncertainty of COVID-19, this still allows us the opportunity to be in Sacramento and hear from key people who affect our industry! I look forward to seeing you there and will keep you informed as to who will be meeting with us!

Registration Form (ALL who wish to attend must Register)

Sponsor Form

Golfer Registration and Tee Sponsor Form

Chris Reardon
PCOC Executive Vice President
chris@pcoc.org
(916) 372-4363

March BOD Meeting & Legislative Meeting

March 7-9, 2022
Hyatt Regency — Sacramento
Golf — Bing Maloney — Mar. 7
Committees & BOD — Mar. 8
Registration Form (ALL need to register to attend)
Sponsor Form
Golf Registration Form

2022 Expo 2022

Registration is Now Open!

June 8-10, 2022
Disneyland Hotel — Anaheim

VIEW THE SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE

Attendee Registration Form

Exhibitor Form

As we start the new year, it means that there is a new Legislative session. With this comes the potential for an exciting (good or bad?) or a quiet year for us on the legislative front. At this point, the only piece of legislation that we are watching is a piece that we are sponsoring requiring Workman’s Comp to register a Pest Management Company License (PR) with the state. There is already a requirement for a bond, so this is not foreign to the state. We are currently working to find a legislator to carry this bill for us. We will keep you posted on this. However, when it comes to anything else that may pass through the Capitol, we haven’t heard anything but are keeping our ears open as the deadline is mid-February.

In regard to our Legislative Day in March, we are still working out the details as to what that will look like.  The Capitol is currently closed to most staff and visitors. But March is a long time away in relation to the COVID restrictions and situation so we are still hoping for things to open up, but we are still not sure. Either way, the association is looking to still have an in-person meeting in Sacramento as there will be a lot to discuss, including the outreach campaign to local regulators and elected officials!

Speaking of the outreach campaign, we are working with Grassroots and Arc Strategies. We are excited to see where this is going! Right now, the big ask is for videos of rodent activity. Anything you have would be great. We can edit the video to hide distinguishing marks, logos, phone numbers, whatever could show a customer’s location that you would not want to show. Our PR committee will be reaching out with more details. 

Darren Van Steenwyk, M.S., BCE
Director of Learning and Technical Services
Clark Pest Control
Office: (209) 368-7152 ext. 235
Mobile: (209) 224-4629
Fax: (209) 334-5040
darrenv@clarkpest.co

White Mantis Consultants Introduces New Technical Training for 2022!

Kicking off 2022 with an exciting change for the pest management industry, Jeffrey White announced the opening of his consulting firm White Mantis Consultants, LLC. 

“White Mantis Consultants is really striving to challenge the way the pest management industry trains its employees, especially new hires,” White said. “So many companies lack consistent and replicable processes to train new hires and instead rely on their managers to share their wisdom with the newly hired personnel. While I understand the approach, there can be a lack of consistency with it. This approach is too reliant on our managers, who are already dealing with too many tasks to address, and what happens if the manager or other personnel gets sick or cannot perform the required training of the newly hired individual?” 

White Mantis Consultants is striving to design training programs that include recorded presentations, efficient and effective training videos as well as easy-to-use documents that assist a pest management company in training their newly hired employees.

In addition to creating effective and scientifically accurate training content, White Mantis also plans on delivering it in a format that resonates with the individuals being hired. 

“The pest management industry needs content that isn’t just accurate but is delivered in smaller, bite-size pieces that are easier to digest for the individuals we are hiring,” White said.

Along with offering packages of training material, White Mantis will also be providing in-person training, evaluations and quality assurance of services as well as expert consultation on problem accounts. 

For more information, contact Jeffrey White at jeff.white@whitemantis.net or 609-947-4873.

Updates on COVID-19 in the Workplace

The Supreme Court has stopped OSHA from implementing its COVID-19 Workplace requirement for employers with more than 100 employees to mandate vaccines or testing.

The Supreme Court did, however, affirm the legality of withholding Medicare and Medicaid payments from health care facilities that do not comply with federal vaccination mandates.

Painting with too broad a brush 

When the Supreme Court heard arguments on January 6 from states and business groups challenging the federal mandates, Justice Amy Coney Barret expressed skepticism about the regulations because they apply equally to all 80 million employees across the country. She questioned whether a “more targeted” regulation might not be more appropriate. Different industries, different degrees of exposure to fellow workers or the public, different employee populations — there are so many variables. Justice Clarence Thomas, supporting that notion, pointed out that younger, unvaccinated workers may also have fewer health risks and not be likely to have the same vulnerabilities as older workers. 

Unconstitutional?

Other justices, including Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Chief Justice Roberts, questioned whether it is appropriate for an agency like OSHA to have “free rein” to wield such vast economic and political power without direct authorization from Congress. Roberts also asked why confronting COVID-19 isn’t “the primary responsibility of the states?”

The six conservative justices on the bench ruled that OSHA had exceed its authority in making the rule, and the three liberal justices dissented. With respect to upholding the requirement for health care facilities, Justices Roberts and Kavanaugh sided with the liberal justices in the 5-4 decision.

Presumption Laws

One of the arguments against such federal incursions into private and non-federal government employment practices centers on whether indeed COVID-19 is a workplace illness. There are many ways to spread and catch the virus outside of work. This a community illness. Catching the flu or getting a cold, even from a fellow employee, is not considered a workplace accident. Why should COVID-19 be? Why would workers compensation insurance apply? 

Many state governments, however, have decided to mandate workers comp coverage for certain special groups because of what may be considered hazards that are similar to COVID-19. These states make the exception for certain workers who develop chronic illnesses, like cancer, resulting from repeated exposure to harmful materials and environments.

According to the National Council on Compensation Insurance, prior to COVID-19, at least 19 states had policies stating that when firefighters and other first responders develop lung and respiratory illnesses, those conditions are presumed to be work-related and covered under workers’ compensation. Unless a change has been specifically legislated it is unclear if those existing presumption policies would include COVID-19 illnesses.

But in many states, workers’ compensation coverage has been specifically extended to first responders and health care workers impacted by COVID-19. A common approach is to amend state policy so that COVID-19 infections in certain workers are presumed to be work-related and covered under workers’ compensation.

This presumption places the burden on the employer and insurer to prove that the infection was not work-related making it easier for those workers to file successful claims. Some employers and insurers have raised concerns that these presumption policies will increase insurance costs for employers at a time when businesses are already facing significant financial challenges.

In total, 17 states and Puerto Rico have taken action to extend workers compensation coverage to include COVID-19 as a work-related illness, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL).

Nine states have enacted legislation creating a presumption of coverage for various types of workers. Minnesota, Utah and Wisconsin limit the coverage to first responders and health care workers. Illinois, New Jersey and Vermont cover all essential workers while California and Wyoming cover all workers. Four states have used executive branch authority to implement presumption policies for first responders and health care workers in response to COVID-19. Another four states, including California and Kentucky, have taken executive action to provide coverage to other essential workers like grocery store employees.

For a list of state actions to enact presumption laws see the NCSL website: https://tinyurl.com/5dvvxy4y

For more information or help, contact the Insurance professionals of EPIC’s PCOC Insurance Program.

Laura Coy                              Eric Shaw                                Michael Glauser
Program Leader                      National Sales Director             Account Executive
laura.coy@epicbrokers.com    eric.shaw@epicbrokers.com      michael.glauser@epicbrokers.com

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