2014 County Mutual Performance Award Winners

Vernon County Chair Herbert Cornell receives his Best Loss Control Program award from County Mutual President Lee Rymer

Each year, the Wisconsin County Mutual Insurance Corporation (County Mutual) recognizes its member counties for outstanding loss ratios and for the best county loss prevention programs.

The company presented the awards and recognitions in four areas at this year's 2014 County Mutual Annual Representative Assembly, held September 5th in Stevens Point. The categories included Best Overall Loss Ratio, Best Overall Loss Control Program, Best Loss Ratio for County Sheriff's Departments and Best Loss Ratio for County Highway Departments.

For the year 2013, County Mutual Performance Awards included:

Best Overall Loss Ratio
Vernon, Oconto, Shawano, Buffalo and Kewaunee Counties.
Honorable Mention: Richland, Price, Washburn and Iowa Counties.

Best Overall Loss Control Program
Vernon County.

"This year's winners have made safety in the workplace a critical part of their day-to-day activities and we are proud to partner with them in their risk management efforts," said John Dirkse, Aegis Corporation Executive Vice President. "We work very hard to foster these close working relationships and the winning counties exemplify the positive effect of our joint efforts."

See the full story, including all of the 2014 County Mutual Performance Award winners, here.

County Mutual Partners with WCA, Phillips Borowski, S.C. for FSLA eBook Coming Soon from Phillips Borowski, S.C.

The passage of Act 10 in 2011 provided Wisconsin counties with a multitude of cost-saving opportunities in the area of workforce management. With collective bargaining limited to "total base wages" for all employee groups other than public safety and transit employees, counties are free to establish work rules, policies and hours of operation that maximize efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of services.

Foremost among these cost saving opportunities is the ability of counties to take advantage of the benefits of the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") and state wage and hour laws. Through the application of the FLSA and effective workforce management, counties can significantly reduce, and in some instances eliminate, premium overtime pay.

To address these issues, Phillips Borowski, S.C. will be releasing an eBook on November 24th, "Pluses, Puzzles and Pitfalls: Understanding the Benefits and Potential Liabilities of the Fair Labor Standards Act and Wisconsin's Wage and Hour Laws on FSLA" soon.  Learn more here.

The County Mutual, the Wisconsin Counties Association and Phillips Borowski, S.C. have partnered to create this publication because of the importance of counties knowing and adhering to federal and state wage and hour laws. This electronic only publication will be distributed on a no-cost basis to county governments and will be available on their website at www.phillipsborowski.com.

Legal Update: Participation in Meetings Via Teleconference

by Dan Hill, Local Government Specialist, UW-Extension Local Government Center

As communication technology advances and becomes more economical and more accessible, local government officials will want to understand the appropriate use of telecommunications for their participation in meetings of local governmental bodies. Conducting meetings electronically - via phone conference, webinar, or video conference - has many advantages. Participation is convenient, it allows for participation by those who otherwise could not attend, scheduling is easier, it saves money, and the meeting may be archived with the press of a button.

Read the full article that appeared in the Wisconsin Counties Association's 2014 County Officials Handbook and also ran in the November 2014 issue of Wisconsin Counties by clicking here.

Have you Tried the County Mutual and CIC's Redesigned
Online Safety Training Program?

When the County Mutual and Community Insurance Corporation introduced an online safety training program for employees back in 2007, they were one of the first to give counties, local governments and school districts this tool.

With changes in technology, as well as feedback from our members about their usage of the modules, the companies recently unveiled the redesigned "Online Coursework Database." With a complete overhaul of the program, those using it will be even more empowered to work alongside the company to use the modules to meet the needs of their specific entity.

Learn more about the redesign and how to access the database here.

County Mutual to Handle Worker's Comp Claims for Milwaukee County

The County Mutual was recently selected to handle worker's compensation claims for Milwaukee County after an RFP process. 

Learn more about the County Mutual's role dealing with these worker's comp claims here.

School News: Taking a Stand for Office and Classroom Ergonomics

Legal Update: Good News Finally? The Continuing Saga of the Federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act and the Seemingly Unresolvable Conflict with Wisconsin Open Records Law

By Attorney Gesina M. Seiler, Axley Brynelson, LLP

"Wisconsin municipalities are subject to Wisconsin Open Records Law, which means that the records they create and retain are public records and must be disclosed when requested, unless there is some other law that prevents the disclosure. 

For the past few years, municipalities have been confronting  the problems created when their records, which must be released pursuant to Open Records Law, contain personal information obtained from the Wisconsin Division of Motor Vehicle's ("DMV") database. This information may not be disclosed pursuant to the Federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act ("DPPA"), unless a specific permissible use applies." 

2014 County Mutual Scholarship Winners Announced

The winners of the 2014 County Mutual scholarship program have been announced.

Scholarship recipients were selected by an independent panel of current and former educators based on scores received in the following categories: future goals and career plans, grade point average, community involvement, the quality of their writing and a letter of recommendation.

 See the 2014 County Mutual Scholarship Program winners here.

Successful 3rd Annual A.L.E.R.T. Law Enforcement Challenge

Each and every day, our law enforcement personnel here in Wisconsin work to keep our communities safe, but their work isn't always easy.  It's a tenuous job with no shortage of exposure to dangerous and often time life threatening scenarios.

On October 7th and 9th, the County Mutual and CIC held their 3rd Annual Advanced Law Enforcement Risk Training (A.L.E.R.T.) Law Enforcement Challenge for member departments.  This was a free event that involved a competition and training for member departments.  It was held in two locations this year, the Lincoln County Sports Club outside of Merrill on October 7th and the Sauk County Law Enforcement Training Center on October 9th.

Read the full article on the 2014 A.L.E.R.T. Law Enforcement Challenge, including this year's winners and pictures from the event, here.

School Law: Bullying Students with Disabilities

The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has issued guidance to public schools nationwide in the form of a "Dear Colleague letter" (DCL) regarding the bullying of disabled students.

Read the full article that ran in the National School Boards Association's "Legal Clips," authored by Sua Sponte, here.

Spotlight on Risk Management: Recent County Mutual Events

2014 Milwaukee Parks Department ROADeo
The County Mutual and the Milwaukee County Risk Management Department held the Parks Operations Truck ROADeo October 13-16, 2014 at the Milwaukee County Parks Sports Complex.  Learn more and see photos from the event here.

Annual Representative Assembly 
The County Mutual Annual Representative Assembly was Friday, September 5, 2014 in Stevens Point. The event served as a shareholders meeting, and as owners of the County Mutual, all member counties were encouraged to attend.

Discussion topics included updates on loss control activities, the past year's financial results and what the future holds for the company.  See photos from the 2014 Annual Representative Assembly here.

22nd Annual Corporation Counsel/Defense Counsel Forum:

The County Mutual's 22nd Annual Corporation Counsel/Defense Counsel Forum was held Friday, September 19, 2014. The event was sponsored by Lindner & Marsack, S.C. and Weld, Riley, Prenn & Ricci, S.C., and was held in Stevens Point, WI. The program was expected to be approved for at least 6 CLE credits from the Supreme Court of WI Board of Bar Examiners.