workerscompbiz.com

Is your computer slower than you think it should be? Slower than you remember it being when you started with it?
I got a virus three weeks ago. We saved my data and then wiped the hard drive and reinstalled all my programs. The computer ran silky-smooth and so much faster. The computer technicians all told me I should wipe the hard drive and reinstall my programs once a year to “clean out the registry.”
But here’s the downside: I lost all the changes that had accumulated since I bought it in August 2007.
My custom dictionary words. The auto-fill for e-mail recipients in Outlook. My business card in Outlook. Favorites listed in my ISP. And the cursor in Excel now automatically moves to the next cell down when I hit enter instead of staying in the same cell. I know I’ll find the way to change that eventually, but right now I have to think about it.
I had to download my favorite label from Avery Zweckform, but now it has its own folder, and I have to enter every address because cut and paste has different line spacing.
It takes a while to make all these changes, and it slows you down when you have to limp around your own computer.
People who create and/or knowingly distribute computer viruses should be taken to Guantanamo Bay permanently.

A company’s coverage lapses if it does not pay its premiums on time. Here are the consequences of lapsed coverage:

First, claims with dates of injury during a period of lapsed coverage will be quickly allowed by the BWC. All claim costs will be paid by the BWC. All claims costs for the life of the claim will be billed directly to the employer for reimbursement. Depending on the seriousness of the injury, you could be paying years and years of compensation and medical costs. Failure to pay the amounts billed will result in certification to the Ohio Attorney General, who will file liens against the business.

Second, the BWC will bill the employer for estimated premiums. If the employer does not report its correct payroll and then pay the premiums due, the amounts will be certified to the Ohio Attorney General. If the premiums plus interest and fees are not paid, a lien will be filed against the business.

Contractors and subcontractors may not be permitted to have liens filed against them as a condition of getting the work they bid on. Banks may charge higher interest rates or refuse to loan money or to companies with outstanding liens.

What can you do if you know you won’t be able to pay all the premiums due? Record your payroll on-line and sign up for a payment plan before the premiums are due. If the on-line options aren’t sufficient, work with the BWC to develop a payment plan and then follow it. If you get notification from the BWC that you owe money, contact the BWC immediately to find out how and when to pay. The BWC is much easier to work with, and less expensive, than the Attorney General.

RED ALERT!

Workers’ compensation premiums are due by February 28 every year. If those premiums are not paid by April 1, or a payment plan is not agreed upon between you and the BWC, your company will not be included in group rating starting July 1.

(If premiums are not paid on time, the coverage for the employer will lapse. See the post titled Lapsed Coverage: Who Cares? for an explanation of the consequences.)

This is the BWC’s carrot-and-stick technique to get employers to pay their premiums on time: group rating discounts are the carrot, and elimination from group rating is the stick.

True story: A company owner did not pay the premiums due by the end of February. He got an invoice dated March 15 from the BWC which gave him 30 days to pay. He paid the premiums 20 days later. He was unpleasantly surprised when he was eliminated from group rating starting July 1 because he hadn’t paid by April 1. The invoice did not mention that consequence.

Paying premiums later than the August 31 due date does not impact group rating participation, as long as your coverage has not lapsed for more than 40 days in the 12 months prior to the February 28 payment deadline.

If you have already paid a fee to join a group, you may be able to get some of the fee refunded.

To enroll in a course, go to bwclearningcenter.com. At the bottom of the page, click on First Visit to create a new login ID and password for this service. You cannot use the same login ID and password that you use for the BWC website.

After your login ID and password are accepted (write it down!) you will be asked to provide optional identifying information.

Once you are in the Learning Center site, click on the Course Information & Enrollment button in the middle of the screen to see information about the courses. You can Take the course, Browse the course or Review it. If your sound is on, you will hear the information on the page. There is no additional information offered.

When you Take the course, you must score at least 85% to get credit for it.

There are bulletin boards and discussion groups in the Café, and access to other materials in the Resource Center.

Call 614-995-8622 to ask questions or make suggestions.

The BWC provides 109 courses through this learning center. Seven are available on line at the Oho BWC Learning Center, and the others are half or full day courses at various BWC locations around the state.

If your company had a workers’ compensation claim in 2007 or 2008, someone from your company must complete two hours of safety training before 7/1/10 to be allowed to participate in group rating. The BWC has on-line courses you can take to meet the requirement.

The two free courses you can take online that meet the requirement are Avoiding Back Trauma (2 hrs) and Getting Started with Safety (4 hrs).

You can combine these on-line courses to meet your 2 hour requirement: Preventing Slips/Trips/Falls (1 hr), Industrial Hygiene Overview (1 hr), Preventing Cuts & Lacerations (35 mins) and Ladder/Stairway Safety (45 mins)

If you attend a classroom course given by the BWC, your company can use that credit to meet the 2-hour requirement.

If you want your employees to take the courses, they must start with your policy number and create their own login ID. The password could be the same for all employees. At the end of the course, the employee should print the test results and fax them to 614-365-4974. The BWC will print a certificate. The BWC is working on the ability to have the student print the certificate.