Accidents Never Sleep

An accident at work is impossible to avoid! If it happens, it happens. It's something you didn't plan and it's an incident you have to live with. There's over 70% of the population working on business premises, if not, it's business transports. So be warned now as accidents never sleep. 

Work accidents are not common as there is a huge impact from Health and Safety. Checks are carried out periodically to ensure a workplace is free from hazards, to prevent accidents. If however, they do occur, the cause of the accident is investigated and future prevention is carried out. So there is always a big helping hand from the Health and Safety Standards. 

If an accident at work does occur, it's embarrassing. Colleagues can't believe it happened to you and become more precautious with their role. They feel sorry for you for now, not being able to competently complete your role. So they give you a hand. Initially there's remorse all around... it becomes an understanding culture. 

After a while it becomes a pain, especially for your colleagues who keep putting a halt to their job to help you. Frustration arises and in their heads they'll be thinking. 'Now he's taking the ****!' But you're NOT. You are the one that had the accident at work and your body welcomes injuries in different ways to others. After a while tension gathers in the atmosphere and by now you're reported to the supervisor and disciplinary action is just round the corner. 

You feel let down. In a workplace environment, business is business, no matter who you are. You have your own targets and deadlines to achieve. If they're not met, you will jeopardise your position. This is the game for any business. Each worker has a family to feed, so they need work to fulfil that criteria. 

Also an accident at work can possibly jeopardise your position. It could prevent you from carry out your 'full' responsibility. Initially everybody understands, but after a while they'll be thinking 'it was only a small fall'. But only you know it wasn't just a small fall. It's not only made an adjustment to your working life, it also messed up your social and family life. You can't sleep, shower properly, play sports or even have sex. But only you see that side of the picture, your colleagues don't. They only see you at work. 

Back to your working life... over time, the supervisor now reports you to the person above and you're just waiting for your name to be called to see the manager. Now it's going to hit you. You're either, get laid off, get demoted, or transferred to another department. This is where it hurts the most. The managers can't do anything but take necessary actions to ensure your position is 'fully' meeting its targets. 

But he's your best friend... so, it's not his company and even if your best friend doesn't take action against you, someone above his ranking will take action against him. So either way something will happen to your role. Remember, if a business does not fulfil its role to provide product and services to its' buyers or users, then the definition of business is not fulfilled. 

So now what... are you thinking of an accident at work claim? It's been 11 months since your injury and now you're thinking of you an injury claim!? If you took action at the early stages of your accident, by now you would have been in a better position. 

Nevertheless it happens all the time. Workers 'think', been with the company for so long, they won't do anything outrageous. Well you can't predict the future and neither can they. But what they can predict is your work performance, past, present and future. They forecast the future of their business and you should forecast your work future. 

However you're scared thinking who'll be the bread earner if you lose your job. Let's worry about that in a minute, but first let's put the cards on the table... 

Making mistakes is common practice as you know, nobody's prefect. Everybody learns from mistakes and ensure they don't make the 'same' mistake again. 

Anyway, you make a mistake at work, you get told off, make another, you get told off again. Now if you keep making mistakes over time, what the hell do think is going to happen. Your supervisor is going to start looking over your record and start taking disciplinary action against you. First verbally, then in writing. Theses aren't the same' mistakes, but they're made according to your supervisor. Think about it this way, what happens if your supervisor makes a mistake, what will he do? Remember you can only report to the supervisor, there is no contact between you and his supervisors! 

Back to the making mistakes... what happens if the company makes a mistake...? 

Stuck aren't you... you can't think of much besides making a complaint. 

If an accident at work occurs, it gets logged and depending on how serious you look in the eyes of the company, you'll be 'kindly' given days or weeks off. Being compensated for sick pay, which you know isn't much!!! The injury affects your 'life', not just your work and the company gives you a couple of days to recover. Now that's a joke! 

No matter what action is taken against you need to make an accident at work claim. Why? This is the only 'powerful' solution you have over the company if they make a mistake. 

Now you're both sailing in the same boat.

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What Is A Green Card ?

Green card is the term used to describe a document that gives a person born in another country the right to live and work in the United States. A green card is usually issued to those people who are permanent resident aliens and who wish to eventually become a United States citizen. Once a person has held a green card for almost five years with no legal problems, they are eligible to apply for citizenship or naturalization. 

There are two main ways to be deemed eligible for a green card. The first way is through your employment in the United States. In this case, the employer of the foreign individual must agree to sponsor that individual. Once sponsored the individual may make application for a green card. This application is usually a much faster process for those individuals with more education or specialized job skills. Those individuals that have common job skills or less education may have to wait for a longer period of time before their application is reviewed and accepted. 

The second way that an individual may become eligible for a green card is through their immediate family. In this case, if a foreign individual has a family member such as a child, parent or sibling that is an American citizen, then they may apply for a green card. If a parent of a foreign minor child is an American citizen then that child is automatically and immediately eligible for a visa. 

Another way that a foreign person can qualify for a green card is through marriage to an American citizen, however, the American citizen must reside in the United States. Once the person has obtained their green card they can apply for permanent residency but the laws controlling this process are very stiff. In this case, the married parties must prove that their relationship is legitimate. 

In addition to the above options for obtaining a green card, there are special circumstances that allow certain individuals who do not meet the above criteria to obtain a green card in a timely manner. These special circumstances include the following: 

Asylum. This special circumstance applies to any foreign individual who is in the United States and fears returning to their country of origin. This fear can be brought about by any persecution that is based on a person's race, political views or religion. 

Labor. Individuals that posses a special skill that is desperately needed in the United States can obtain a green card in exchange for their willingness to perform the job and skill set at a specific job in a specific region assigned to them. 

National Interest Wavier. If an individual possesses the professional skills to be of service to the national interest of America then that person can be granted a green card without employer sponsorship. 

Researchers. For academic researchers who are internationally recognized for their achievements, there are special circumstances that allow that individual to receive a green card in exchange for sharing their information and knowledge. 

Specialized Skills. Individuals that possess specialized skills and that are experts at the top pf their field may apply for and be granted a green card. These individuals are usually exempt from the labor certification process. 

Although special circumstances do exist, the normal application process for and the granting of a green card usually take many months and is a very complicated and exhaustive system. If you are contemplating applying for a green card, it is advisable to speak with an attorney before hand.

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Agreement in writing

The general rule of thumb for deciding if a contract needs to be in writing is determined by the nature of the contract. For example, any agreement that is related to your business, large personal assets such as your home and contract work that will take over a year to complete should be written down in a contract and made binding. 

However, an agreement that involves a low amount of financial risk, is between family members or is not necessary as part of your daily business can be verbally contracted. 

Although most people believe that it is always necessary to get any agreement in writing, there are cases where a verbal agreement is legal and valid. 

However, since there are just as many instances where a written agreement is necessary or, at the very least helpful, it is a good idea to know which situations call for which types of agreements.

Just as some agreements do not call for a written contract, some agreements must be written down to be legally binding and to fully protect you and you assets from harm. 

These types of agreements usually involve the sell of real estate or other expensive material possessions, the loaning of substantial amounts of money any agreement that outlines the delivery of services. 

The disadvantage to any verbal agreement, however, is the fact that they can be hard to enforce. For example, if you loan your brother fifty dollars and he verbally agrees to pay you back in three weeks but three weeks come and go without repayment, it could be difficult to get your money back. 

Without a signed, written agreement, your brother could claim that the said he would repay you in four weeks, or worse, he could claim the money wasn't a loan but rather a gift. 

In this type of situation, aside from stopping all communication with your brother, there are really no legal actions you could take. You could attempt to sue your brother, but the lawsuit could end up costing you more than your original fifty dollars, or you could win the lawsuit only to have the judgment dismissed because he cannot afford to pay you back. 

Another drawback to a verbal agreement is that many times they do not encompass all of the details necessary to a contract. For example, you may make and agree to sell woodcarvings from your home part-time to a friend.

Without a written agreement you may end up facing problems down the road. For instance, he may decide that the items are not selling and refuse to pay you for the items you have already made. On the other hand, you may agree verbally on a price and then find out after delivery that your friend expects to pay a lesser amount. 

In either case, having a written contract that spells out every conceivable option for the agreement will protect both party's rights and interests. 

While individuals can generally write up most contracts it is usually best to hire an attorney to draft any contracts that are related to your business or that concern large money amounts or contracted services. Although you may wish to write the contract up yourself to avoid any legal fees, paying an attorney now could save you hundreds of dollars later. 

If another party draws up the contract it is best to hire an attorney to look the contract over before you sign it. When searching for a lawyer, it is recommended that you contact one that has experience in business contracts or that specializes in legal business issues.

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