Rancho Mesa's Alyssa Burley and Associate Account Executive Jack Marrs talk about preventing stress-related workers’ compensation claims.

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RM365 HRAdvantage™ Portal

Director/Producer/Host: Alyssa Burley

Guest: Jack Marrs

Editor: Megan Lockhart

Music: “Home” by JHS Pedals, “News Room News” by Spence

© Copyright 2022. Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc. All rights reserved.

Transcript

Alyssa Burley: Hi, this is Alyssa Burley with Rancho Mesa Media Communications and Client Services Department. Thank you for listening to today's top Rancho Mesa News, brought to you by our safety and risk management network, StudioOne™.

Welcome back everyone. My guest is Jack Marrs, Associate Account Executive with Rancho Mesa. He specializes in risk management for human services organizations. And today, we’re going to talk about preventing stress-related workers’ compensation claims.  Jack, welcome to the show.

Jack Marrs: Thanks for having me, Alyssa.

AB: Now, since you specializing in non-profit insurance, I’m it has opened your eyes to how difficult it is for some non-profit employees to deal with the stress related to their jobs. It’s the nature of the work that they’re doing. They’re helping people through, what can often be, difficult situations, which can then be very rewarding for the employee, but it can also be emotionally draining when they become invested in their clients to the point where it can lead to burnout. Are you seeing this type of issue with your clients?

JM: Yes, we do see this. Employees can suffer from emotional and mental illness as a result of their work environments, which can lead them to file workers’ compensation claims. Depending on the nature of the non-profit’s mission, employees may witness a variety of disturbing realities that the general public is not used to experiencing.

AB: How are stress claims different from other workers’ compensation claims?

JM: Well, since psychiatric injuries are based on an employees' personal experience, it’s much more difficult for physicians to verify these types of claims. Plus, these conditions can also develop from multiple stressors in an employee’s professional and personal life like when they are dealing with a death, going through a divorce, or filing for bankruptcy. So, it’s hard to determine what percentage of the claim is work-related or what percentage is caused by outside factors.
Workplace stress can trigger mental and physical illnesses and injuries, so identifying and correcting stressful situations early, can prevent costly health care costs and workers’ compensation claims.

AB: What can employers to mitigate these types of claims?

JM: Managers should periodically check in with their employees to see how they are doing with regards to their workload, relationships with clients, co-workers and vendors, etc., but also their personal lives. If there is an issue in the workplace, it can be addressed quickly before it causes extreme stress to the employee. If something is happening at home, it could be affecting their productivity and performance on the job. And, the employer may be able to refer their employee to resources to assist them as they deal with whatever stressors are in their personal lives. This also helps to establish if the stress felt by the employee is work-related or personal.

AB: It sounds like communication with employees is really important for monitoring stress in the workplace.

JM: Absolutely. Employers can reduce workplace stress by ensuring effective communication from supervisors to employees. Whether the communication is about job duties and expectations, career growth within the organization, or a traumatic event and relevant resources to help employees cope, being transparent with employees can relieve some stress caused by not knowing what’s to come.

AB: Stress claims take a tremendous toll on both employees working for non-profits and the organizations themselves. And Rancho Mesa provides an extensive library of trainings offered through our Risk Management Center and the RM365 HRAdvantage™ Portal, and these trainings can be easily accessed and allow for our non-profit clients to be proactive in mitigating the severe impact of stress claims. 

So Jack, if listeners have questions about stress-related workers’ compensation claims, what's the best way to get in touch with you?

JM: I can be reached at (619) 486-6569 or jmarrs@ranchomesa.com.

AB: Jack, thank you for joining me in StudioOne™.

JM: Thanks so much Alyssa.

AB: This is Alyssa Burley with Rancho Mesa. Thanks for tuning into our latest episode produced by StudioOne™. For more information, visit us at RanchoMesa.com and subscribe to our weekly newsletter.