Exclusivefocus - National Association of Professional Allstate Agents ...

letters to NAPAAIs NAPAA aware of the Websitewww.employerrap.com? This site is allowsusers to post reviews about companies.It is a great way for prospective newagents or employees to research a companyBEFORE they take the job.I would think that prospective agentsshould be aware of the high failure rateof new Allstate agencies.Also, here’s another Web site thatmay interest your readers: www.canmybossdothat.com.. . . . . . . . . . . .A NAPAA member emailed me thenew payday schedule. The dates continueto get later and later in the month. Thisyear we’ll only be paid on the 17th threetimes. The rest of the months we’ll bepaid on the 20th, 19th and the 18th.I made a recommendation to theNAB about five years ago that agentsshould be paid between the 1st and the15th of the month because that’s whenmost mortgage payments and other billsfall due. Plus, most government and corporateemployees get paid twice a month.I never heard back from the NAB rep regardingmy suggestion.The NAPAA agent said that paychecksused to be bigger, so the paydaywas not a big issue then. But nowour paychecks are smaller because we’relosing PIF and money is a lot tighter.Would it really hurt the company towork with us on this? Just because Mr.Wilson doesn’t have to live paycheck topaycheck, some of us do.What is NAPAA’s feeling on this issue?Editor’s response: As I recall, payday alwaysfell on or near the 17th of the month. Ialso recall there were instances when paydaywas later than the 17th. Of course, I haven’tbeen an agent for a few years, so maybe thecompany has tweaked its formula.NAPAA agrees that changing the paydaywould help agents in their budget planning,especially now, when budgets are strained.Many bills come due on the 1st of the monthand waiting until the 20th to pay them ispushing it. My guess is that unless thousandsof agents complain about the existingpayday, nothing will change. Maybe whenyour fellow agents read your letter in Exclusivefocusmagazine, they’ll lobby Tom Wilsonto make a change.. . . . . . . . . . . .I am attempting to gather more informationabout our “independent contractor”status with Allstate. Specifically, Iwould like to know if we are free to makecertain choices and, if we are threatenedfor making these choices, what recoursedo we have, if any? Also, where can I goto find out what is within my rights?Any direction is appreciated.Editor’s response: We believe that anyof the control issues we wrote about in thearticle Deliberately Misclassified? could begrounds for the IRS to examine Allstate. Asa practical matter, however, the IRS doesnot have the resources to investigate everyinstance of misclassification. This being thecase, our belief is that they will only pursuecompanies who are flagrantly treatingindependent contractors like employees. Inour opinion, Allstate falls into this category,which is why we encourage agents to mailthe postcard we provided in the magazineto the IRS.In addition, the IRS has a formal processin place to assist individuals in determiningtheir status. To initiate this process, anindividual must complete and file IRS formSS-8. Once this form is submitted, the IRSwill make a determination of the individual’sstatus.. . . . . . . . . . . .Great Exclusivefocus with the IRS/FEDEX/Allstate independent contractorstory.I think another cause for a class actionis the TPP that Allstate gives terminatedagents. This amount should be resetor based on the size of the book whenpurchased. Not from that point forward.When I purchased my book for $640Kmy termination payout number was under$300k. I paid 2.2 times renewals. Askany agent who purchased a book whatthe TPP would be and it will be less thanhalf of what was paid for the book, whichis less than the 1.5X Allstate uses.I also think that Allstate had a moralobligation to inform prospective buyersof agencies that they may initiate anHRM policy that could affect the valueof their business and the amount of newbusiness that they could write. There aremany agents who purchased books rightbefore Allstate started HRM.Editor’s response: Thanks for the feedbackand suggestions. To be sure, there is no shortageof actionable concerns when it comes to Allstate.Based on what you’ve wrote about yourTPP, I would guess that you bought yourbook from a long-term agent who had writtena substantial amount of business as anemployee agent, which would have been beforethe year 2000. The Termination Paymentwill not compensate you for any policythat was written while the seller was anemployee. However, you are free to sell thosepolicies to other approved buyers. Unfortunately,many BOB sellers neglect or forget toinform buyers that these policies are excludedfrom the TPP.I agree that the company should do moreto inform buyers and sellers of initiatives thatcould devalue their books of business. It wouldseem that either the company is content tolet “buyers beware” or it simply considers itsplans and strategies privileged information.We’ll have to let the lawyers decide if this lackof disclosure is actionable or not.. . . . . . . . . . . .What a fantastic magazine. I literallyread it cover to cover. Your individualarticles and Bob Isaacsen’s piece weregreat, and the post card idea was awesome.Mine went in the mail anonymouslyyesterday.Well done.Spring 2009 Exclusivefocus — 51