"I Can't Get No... " or Can I?

• Author: Acunto, Steve
• Position: [FOREWORD]

* Just to pass along some new data on small business employee satisfaction, the category of most agencies, it appears that the triumphs and challenges of small businesses can augur the mega trends of the American economy. Aflac just conducted its 2018 Small Business Happiness Survey with 1,000 small business employees across the U.S. to determine the state of small business. The big picture results were promising--91 percent of respondents said they feel optimistic about the future of small business--but employees believe there is still room for improvement on key areas like equal pay.

The study found that:

* Only 30 percent of small business employees surveyed think the industry is achieving complete success when it comes to equal pay. Of the same group, 22 percent say that little to no success has been achieved and 48 percent say that success has been achieved but there is still room for growth.

* Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of employees said that working at a small business is less stressful than a larger corporation. Similarly, 87 percent of small business employees somewhat or strongly agreed that working for a small business is more fun than working at a large business.

* Almost all respondents (91 percent) say they believe employee happiness is at least somewhat important to their company leadership. In fact, more than half of all small business employees surveyed (55 percent) say that employee happiness is very important to their leadership.

* The increasing desire to solve gender issues also aligns with recent findings from the 2018 Aflac CSR Survey, which surveyed employees from all businesses. Of that group, 60 percent of women say that paying men and women equally for the same work should be among a company's top priorities. Additionally, 26 percent of HR managers surveyed said they believe their company pays men more than women for the same work.

In this issue we look at a serious matter: insurance regulations' and regulators' effects over recent history. Our contributors, Bill Marcoux and Nicholas Kourides are "top guns" among insurance attorneys and counsel and we are pleased to present them.

Actually, New York is blessed with at least 30 top insurance attorneys in private practice who have merited publication here and in other journals like ours. It has been suggested that I do a Top 50 NY insurance attorneys, but I already have enough enemies. Imagine numbering them. Or alphabetizing them. Or using good looks and...