Business & Employment

Injury insurance claims don't have to involve lawyers -- it's oftensmart to handle your own claim after an accident.

With basic accident claims process knowledge, a bit of organization, and a little patience, you may be able to handle your own personal injury claim without a lawyer -- and without your insurance company's unfairly denying or reducing your compensation. If so, you can wind up with considerably more compensation for your injury because you won't have to pay costly lawyers' fees.

Learn how to protect yourself from sexual harassment at the workplace.

In legal terms, sexual harassment is any unwelcome sexual advance or conduct on the job that creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment. In real life, workplace sexual harassment ranges from repeated offensive or belittling jokes to a workplace full of offensive pornography (creating a hostile work environment) to an outright sexual assault. Although sexual harassment most often takes the form of men harassing women, it can happen to men and women, gay and straight -- in other words, sexual harassment is an equal opportunity offense.

Learn about the FMLA, state laws, and employer policies governing family and medical leave.

The Family and Medical Leave Act, or FMLA, provides important rights to employees who need to take family or medical leave -- that is, time off from a job in order to attend to personal and family needs. But these rights under the FMLA rights are limited, and the time off is unpaid. In addition to the federal FMLA, many states have enacted their own family and medical leave laws, some of which cover more workers or provide greater benefits than the federal law. And many employers are picking up where federal and state law leaves off.

The uncertain future of Social Security benefits could impact your retirement plans.

If you're like most Americans, Social Security is a key part of your retirement plans -- around 96% of the workforce is currently covered by some sort of Social Security plan. But the current economic downturn has many people seeing an increasingly uncertain (if not downright bleak) future for their Social Security benefits.

A severe physical or mental condition may qualify you for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

No matter how old you are, if you have a disability that prevents you from working, you may be able to claim benefits from the Social Security Administration (SSA). There are two benefit programs you can apply for:

• Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI): available only to disabled people who've already worked for a certain number of years. supplemental Security.
• Income (SSI): available to disabled or elderly people whose incomes and assets are very low.

Benefits include cash and medical care, and depend on which program you qualify for.

Workers' compensation insurance may not be your only recourse for a workplace injury.

If you've been injured in the workplace, you've probably been told that the only compensation you can receive will come from your employer's workers' compensation insurance. Although this is the general rule, there are many exceptions -- situations in which you may be able to sue for damages caused by your injuries.

All business plans must show two things: a winning idea and a clear shot at a profit.

A good business plan has two goals: It should describe the fundamentals of your business idea and provide financial data to show that you will make good money. Beyond that, the content of your business plan depends on whether it's for potential investors or a financial projection just for yourself.

The pros and cons of working from home and how to get your boss to allow you to telecommute.

Do you want to work from home? With modern technology, more and more employees are able to telecommute. If working from home sounds like an ideal situation, first determine whether you can, in fact, do your job from home (either full time or part time). Then decide whether you are a good candidate (personality-wise) to work from home. If, after taking these preliminary steps, you are eager to give it a try, convince your boss to allow you to telecommute by preparing a thoughtful, detailed telecommuting proposal.