SAN BERNARDINO, CALIFORNIA (April 15, 2013) - Jack H. Brown, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Stater Bros. Markets, announced today that Peter Van Helden has been appointed President and Chief Operating Officer of Stater Bros. Markets.  He succeeds Jim Lee, who is retiring as of June 1, 2013.

Van Helden is a 36-year veteran of the Supermarket Industry.

Peter Van Helden, President and Chief Operating Officer of Stater Bros. Markets

Prior to joining Stater Bros., Van Helden was Executive Vice President Retail Operations for Supervalu. He began his career in 1977, working for Rosauers in Libby, Montana as a Courtesy Clerk.  In 1978, he relocated to Bozeman, Montana where he joined Albertsons as a Clerk.  Van Helden joined Supervalu through the company's 2006 acquisition of Albertsons, where he was President and Chief Executive Officer of Albertsons' California Food Division.  During his 35-year tenure at Albertsons, Van Helden held a variety of leadership positions including operations, merger integration and dual branding.  As President and Chief Executive Officer of Albertsons' California Food Division, he oversaw a business unit comprised of more than 500 stores and 41,000 associates.  Prior to this position and experience, he was President of the company's Jewel-Osco Division.

Van Helden holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from University of Phoenix.

"Pete is a well respected and long-time Food Industry Executive," stated Brown.  "I am confident that he will do an outstanding job as President and Chief Operating Officer and will be valuable to the future growth of Stater Bros."

Van Helden and his family have purchased a home in the County of San Bernardino.

Stater Bros. is the largest privately owned Supermarket Chain in Southern California and the largest private employer in both San Bernardino County and Riverside County, with annual sales in 2012 of $3.9 billion.  The Company currently operates 167 Supermarkets, and there are nearly 18,000 members of the Stater Bros. Supermarket Family. 

Stater Bros. Markets... Serving Southern California for over 77 years.

Controlling Future Premiums

Employers offer modified work while an employee is on workers' compensation to keep the company's workers' compensation experience rating low, which helps to keep down future premium increases.

By paying the employee directly, the carrier will not be paying out temporary disability payments and adding to the experience on the claim. Modified work may be offered as long as the employee is not totally disabled and the work offered is currently within the employee's work restrictions.

An employer is not required to modify the existing job, create a similar job or even provide a job that the employee likes. If modified work is offered and the employee refuses to do the work, the employee runs the risk of being denied temporary disability payments by the workers' compensation insurance carrier.

If an employer offers modified work for the employee with a workers' compensation injury, the employer is required to pay the employee at least 85% of the employee's regular pay. This pay requirement also operates as an incentive to the employee to accept modified work in that temporary workers' compensation disability benefits are about 60% of the regular pay rate.

Opportunity to Get Tasks Done

Many employees would rather be doing something instead of sitting at home doing nothing. The modified work also provides an opportunity for the employer to get other productive tasks done, including work in the office, painting, cleaning, inventory, restocking, etc.

As long as the job meets the medical provider's work restrictions, the choice of where the employee works and what he/she does is up to the employer.

Reasons an employer may choose not to offer modified work are:

• Work cannot be modified to meet the employee's restrictions;
•  Fear that the employee may reinjure himself/herself if working; and
•  Feeling that the employee would be in the way or have a bad attitude if made to do something other than his/her regular job.

See How It Goes

Rather than assume the worst, an employer may want to try modified work and see how it goes.

Having the employee working during worker's compensation may be better for the employee in terms of pay and for the employer in terms of keeping future workers' compensation premiums lower. Before making a decision about the modified work, an employer should review this issue on a cost/benefit basis to determine what is best for the company.