Articles Posted in Human Resources

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If you needed an attorney today what would you do? Probably open up the phone book and start searching ads trying to decide who to call. Your first concern might be the cost of a face to face visit or knowing how truly “qualified” this attorney is. Another concern would be availability, are you going to be an important client or one of several thousand who have sent in their check but are still waiting on that phone call. That’s not help, that’s taking your money and making you wait in line. The worst part is the fact that you had to waste so much time finding this attorney and waiting for them to assist you that chances are you had to take time off from work. So now you’re suffering more, and your company is suffering because you are not doing your job. From a company’s standpoint they need you to get back to work as soon as possible but this is a legal matter you cannot ignore.

This is a situation where both sides, employer and employee, would greatly benefit from prepaid legal services like the ones offered by Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services. The Pittsburgh phone book is loaded with attorneys in every field but how do you know which one to call? Wouldn’t it be great if your company offered benefits that save you the time needed to find such an attorney? Wouldn’t it be even better if you didn’t have to worry about the price of a face to face visit because that has already been covered in affordable and small payroll deductions? This isn’t just a hypothetical situation, this happens every day. Throughout Pennsylvania, thousands of people have to come in late, leave early or even miss an entire day’s worth of work in order to find an attorney for their legal matters. That is a serious waste of time and money.

Pre-paid legal services will not waste your time and certainly will not waste your money. It is a valuable resource which is at the disposal of the employee. When someone has a legal matter they need assistance with they can tap into a network of highly qualified attorneys who can help them with any issue. These attorneys are not just available via phone; they are available for face to face meetings and can save you a lot of time, making it easier for you to get back to work.

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Gas prices show no sign of stopping their climb. This fact, coupled with the ever-increasing presence of personal technology infiltrating every aspect of life makes it easier to shop and pay bills online from your home or the office. Sure, the internet is convenient, but what is the cost of using it?

In some cases, the cost might be your very identity.

According to a study conducted by Javeline Strategy & Research, 8.1 million people are victims of identity theft every year. Though privacy protection has increased, the bad guys are equally as savvy -often, they are even more savvy than those developing the privacy protection strategies themselves.

Each case of identity theft ends up costing $37 billion every year. On an individual level, that amounts to approximately $631 per case, as reported by Fox Business. The toll that identity theft takes on credit can sometimes take years to correct. Of course, the emotional toll that such a crime takes on an individual is hard to measure. In some cases, financial loss is not the only risk.

As Kristen Hamill details on CNN.com, sometimes identity theft can turn violent. Frankly, it is no wonder that even more home invasions do not occur as a result of identity theft, since the information that cyber-savvy crooks get often details financial assets, employment location, and most scarily -one’s home address. Hamill’s article details the unfortunate death of two victims of identity theft who were killed by the thief.

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As summer fast approaches you may be more concerned about vacation and less concerned about legal documents, especially your will. However, that is a bad idea when you consider the fact that most traveling is done during the summer months and it is always smart to have your affairs in order prior to any long distance traveling. This is where having prepaid legal services available from your employer can really be valuable. Many people do not have a regular attorney so when they need the services of one they are stuck with limited options. Try finding a reliable but reasonably priced attorney in Newark and you may be looking for a while. You can start with the phone book but that really won’t help you. The phone book will not distinguish one from another based on experience and skill but based on how much they were willing to pay for the advertisement on the page. That’s why so many people love the benefit of having legal service plans provided as a voluntary benefit by their employer much like other benefits.
Legal service plans are an employee benefit much like health insurance, dental insurance, financial planning, and others. However, there is a significant difference between the prepaid legal services and the other benefits when it comes to cost. Other benefits cost the company a significant amount of money. However, legal assistance does not cost the company anything and it is paid with small payroll deductions from the employees who wish to have the benefit. As an employee, there are more advantages to having this type of benefit than just getting legal documents together. There are many issues you can face in day to day life that may require some type of legal assistance. Buying a new home, divorce, bankruptcy or lawsuits, identity theft, foreclosure, and other legal matters are all something that would require the assistance of an attorney whom you have to find on your own. Think of a health insurance provider as a great example of this. When you are sick you do not want to go searching for a doctor and have to worry about cost. You want to go to your doctor, get whatever you need to get healthy and have the costs covered. Well, this is the same thing in terms of legal matters and Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services can save you time and money and help you to get those matters resolved quickly.

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The thought of prepaid legal services may seem like a dream to some companies because of where they live. However, that is not the case and this service is available to any company located in any city in the United States, including Trenton, New Jersey. The advantages to having pre-paid legal services for your company are vast. Before you learn about the multiple advantages, you need to first learn about the service. Legal service plans are similar to other employee benefits like health care, dental care, financial planning, and others. They are available to the employees who wish to have it and provide a great service. However, where this service is different from other benefits is the fact that it is of little to no cost to the company itself. The benefit is paid by small payroll deductions and not a financial burden on the company in any way. Many companies can prosper from offering this benefit to their employees because it gives their employees the opportunity to find quality legal assistance immediately without having to worry about cost or time missed from work.

The main advantage prepaid legal services has for the employees has to do with the fact that most employees will need legal assistance at one point or another. This can cover anything from identity theft, preparing legal documents, divorce, buying a home, and much more. Rather than having to waste their time and money looking for a lawyer through the phone book, all they have to do is check in with the service provided by Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services and they will get first rate legal assistance immediately at a low price. A Human Resources professional who has experienced an employee deal with legal issues knows how time consuming and expensive it can be. As a company, you need that employee at work, every day and focused on their job. They cannot do so if they are meeting with dozens of attorneys trying to see which one is best equipped to handle their problems. That is time consuming and it will take away from their work, something any company would like to avoid if possible. Being able to offer immediate legal assistance to your employee will help them to get back to work faster. As an added bonus to the employee, because the benefit is paid with affordable payroll deductions, they do not have to worry about the cost of the legal help and they can just focus on getting the issue resolved as well as their job.

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Think about all of the legal documents you have to sign over the years and how great it would be to have prepaid legal services available to help you out. If you live in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and you want to start a family while also taking advantage of the real estate market you may need an attorney to help you with the legal documents for buying a home or even renting one, setting up your will or trusts for your family, or anything else. What if times get rough and you need help filing for divorce or even foreclosure or bankruptcy? These can be pressing times for anyone but a steady job will not always save the day. Attorney’s fees could eat up half your paycheck and even more of your time and that will definitely hurt your production at work.

These are real life situations that people have to go through on a daily basis and the less help they get, the harder it is for them to get through it and get back to work. From a human resources department standpoint you would love to be able to help but what can you do? Well there is help! You can assist the employee in the same way you assist them with health insurance, financial planning, and even dental coverage. You can add Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services to your list of employee benefits. The great thing about this benefit is the fact that it is optional, with little to no cost to the company as it is paid with a small deduction from payroll, and it can be a life saver for some people who need fast and effective legal assistance. What Countrywide will offer your employees is a network of qualified, accredited attorneys who have years of experience.

It would be great if every day every employee were able to come to work and put in a great day with amazing production. However, that is not always the case, people get sick, and they have personal problems that keep them from being as productive as you wish them to be. Companies offer their employees health insurance so they can save time and money and simply get into the doctors and get back to work as soon as possible. So why would you not have pre-paid legal services for your employees when there is no doubt they will eventually need legal service plans and assistance? Prepaid legal services are a great benefit to any employee because they have immediate help for any and all legal matters that may require an attorney’s assistance.

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Years ago the fear of identity theft was nonexistent. In fact, you never really knew anyone who had suffered from identity theft and needed pre-paid legal services to help them get through it. Unfortunately everyone now knows someone who has suffered from this crime and you may have been a victim yourself. Identity theft is no laughing matter and even though it is usually a non-violent crime, it can leave you feeling unsafe. No one points a gun at you when they steal your identity but the thought of having someone out there with your personal information is a bit startling. It doesn’t matter where you live, an administrative assistant in Allentown could fall victim to this crime as well as someone who lives in Washington. This is a serious crime and it can have devastating effects on your financial life.

There is more to this crime than someone taking money out of your bank account, in fact that rarely happens. The usual crime is someone opening up a credit card account in your name and using it as they please. Normally, you do not find out about this until you have your credit score checked and by then the damage is done. Even though you are a victim, you need to take certain legal actions to make sure you fully recover from this and you probably will have some questions about what to do. From an employer or human resources department standpoint, this sort of thing can really cause problems for a worker and there really is little you can do to help. One thing you can do is make sure that your employees have access to attorneys who can help with these types of matters immediately. Prepaid legal services will assist any employee with their legal issues including identity theft. The employee will save time looking for an attorney and they will save money because the cost is covered by a small and simple payroll deduction much like other voluntary benefits.

The advantages of having prepaid legal services at your disposal are vast, especially for anyone who has a heavy work load. There’s no such thing as a fast food attorney, you have to look for one, and then consult with them and that takes time, not to mention money. However, with Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services there would be no concern over cost or time wasted trying to find the right attorney. With these legal service plans you are tapped into a network of qualified attorneys who cover every legal field imaginable, including identity theft.

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I now pronounce you… Legally separated, broke from attorney’s fees, and in hot water with the boss for missing so much work. Yikes!

Such is the case for so many Americans undergoing divorces.

Divorce proceedings usually last for at least a year. That is a lot of time, especially considering that over half of marriages end in divorce. Let’s do some simple math -if a company employees 1,000 people, and only half of them are married, we can expect a quarter of those married employees to unfortunately face a legal separation or divorce eventually! Indubitably, those employees are going to deal with their Human Resources departments to orchestrate necessary days off to visit their lawyer and appear in court -all of which is costly to both the employer and the individual.

Pre-paid legal services included in benefits programs take a proactive approach to ever-climbing divorce rates. Organizations with pre-paid legal service benefits eliminate the eventual struggle to balance work and legal obligations -like meetings with lawyers and hefty retainers- for their employees.

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