Retail Services is about reducing your cost of doing business
Rose Gundersen, VP of Operations & Retail Services
We want to congratulate all our members for exerting incredible resiliency throughout 2020! Nobody has a crystal ball for 2021, but our high performing team is staying on course to reduce your cost of doing business.
Washington is ranked 32nd nationally in terms of the cost of doing business, according to CNBC data in July 2020. Our state’s workers’ compensation insurance is ranked the most expensive of 50 states from 2009-18, according to the National Foundation for UI and WC.
For this reason, I’d like to reiterate our range of services offered to increase your bottom-line and we welcome your input or questions anytime.
Experienced claims management
Retail Services’ in-house claims management experts have two primary focuses. We ensure that all claims are adjudicated correctly and engage attorneys when necessary at no cost to our members. We focus on workers’ recovery and return to work to improve their ability to recover and reduce claims cost.
Our team of five dedicated analysts has a combined 126 years of claims management experience. Their experience helped us secure historically large refund checks to our Retro groups in 2019 and 2020.
Customizable safety support
Our robust Safety Program helps prevent injuries from happening in the first place and to support safety compliance. Our Safety and Education Director offers the following to every member upon request: claims trend analysis, a safety assessment and assistance in completing your Accident Prevention Program, and specific training materials on topics not available in your member portal.
Timely education, tools and services
We have secured two major safety grants to create more automated tools to make it easier for you to follow through with Return to Work and to customize your Accident Prevention Program. In addition, you will hear from us in the next few months with automated COVID safety training courses.
In 2020, we launched a number of timely resources for our members:
- A Retail Re-opening Resource page with the latest updates and resources. Scroll down to find webinars recordings on re-opening best practices and other relevant topics.
- COVID has created a big push for small retailers to increase their online presence. We’ve established a partnership with SpotOn at a discounted rate for members to access business optimization tools to pivot in the new world.
- A refreshed Membership Manual that captures all current and new resources for members have been sent to all members. All these resources will receive continuous improvements and updates for our members to access online.
The 2021 Legislative Session is starting this week. Our Government Affairs team is working hard to advocate on your behalf. Please feel free to reach me at [email protected] or 360-200-6452 for any questions you may have.