“I still want you to be prepared to drug test in a way your state will allow to happen. I still want you to do pre-employment screening, but we’re going to have to look at your state and your jurisdiction to make sure you’re doing it in a legal manner,” King said.
He acknowledged some large companies are moving away from drug policies they previously had, sometimes citing widespread use of marijuana as making it too difficult to maintain the workforce they need. But King said that may or may not be true for shops, and urged them to discuss with their legal counsel the level of risk they are willing to accept.
“You’ve had me come here for 23 years to give you ways to protect your shops, whether you’re a single shop or a multi-shop owner, whatever you are,” he said. “You have, for the most part, your own personal interests, your retirement, tied up in your company. A different set of rules may apply to you. I can’t give you a blanket policy anymore. But there are things we can do to protect you…[but they will be] specific to you.”
Analog In, Digital Out
During another CIC panel discussion, Marty Ellingsworth of J.D. Power’s property and casualty insurance intelligence group said one auto insurance company’s experience with digital interaction with its customers could be of interest to the industry. While vehicle telematics will eventually help change first notice of loss and other aspects of the claims process for drivers of vehicles equipped with such technology, Ellingsworth said, that doesn’t mean other drivers don’t also want a shift to more digital interaction.
“There’s one [insurance] company in particular that serves a non-standard insurance population and [insures] many older cars, [yet] was a top performer in digital improvement,” Ellingsworth said. “I called them to ask what they did. They said: ‘When we clear our voicemail at night, we text people the answer.’ So analog in, digital out, with a text. The people were so much happier just getting an update digitally, and having another channel to communicate. It’s a blinding flash of the obvious, but it’s a non-traditional way to innovate.”
John Yoswick