workerscompbiz.com

You can get a 3% discount off your premiums by enrolling in the ISSP (Industry Specific Safety Program) by May 25, 2012.  The discount will be applied when you report your premiums online in August 2013.

You must complete an on-line safety assessment and then participate in 1, 2 or 3 safety activities, depending on the size of your payroll, as reported to the BWC 7/1/11-6/30/12.  The activities include:

industry specific safety training (on-line or in person classes), and/or

on-site safety assessment, training or program development by the Division of Safety & Hygiene, and/or

attendance at the yearly Safety Congress & Expo (usually in March)

If you already have to take safety training, e.g., you had one or more claims filed in the past 2 years, you can use the same training for both purposes.  Just make sure the training is listed for ISSP.

All other discounts in the Destination: Excellence programs are available to you, except group retro, individual retro, large deductible or small deductible programs.

As always, if you pay the minimum $50 premium every 6 months, no discounts apply.

Go to https://www.ohiobwc.com/employer/programs/IndustrySpecificSafety/ISSDescription.aspx for more details.

On 7/25/11, I wrote about a company that had let its coverage lapse in 2006.  Since then, 22 claims have been filed including one death claim.  The business now owes almost $700,000 in premiums, penalties, interest, and claims costs.

The BWC has successfully gotten an injunction to close the business to protect the employees and the other employers in Ohio from having to pay for the claims.  This is believed to be the first action of its kind by the BWC.

 Now the employees are safer, but unemployed.  Will ODJFS pay the unemployment compensation claims even if the business owner hasn’t paid those premiums either?

Here’s a link to the press release on the BWC website if you want to read the details:  https://www.ohiobwc.com/home/current/releases/2012/032812refuse.asp

The BWC will rebate 1% of premiums, up to $1,000 every six months, for employers who sign up for the Go Green program.

 Starting with the premiums due August 31, 2012, the BWC will automatically deduct the 1%, up to $1,000, from the total premium amount due when you report your payroll and pay your premiums on line.

 Employers in the program will agree to file claims on line, receive their Payroll Report (DP-21) electronically, and pay their premiums on line.  It’s OK if the MCO or provider files claims electronically instead of the employer.

 The BWC is still working on the registration process for this program.

This program is not open to entities that report $0.00 payroll (like those in PEO relationships and have to keep their coverage active), entities that pay the minimum $50 premium, and entities in the Flex-pay or 50/50 program.

Employers can get an additional 1% rebate/discount if they also qualify for the Lapse Free program.

If your company has paid its premiums on time for 5 years or more, the BWC will rebate 1% of your premiums every six months, up to $1,000.

Starting with the premiums that are due August 31, 2012, when you report your payroll on line, the BWC will calculate your premiums and automatically deduct 1%, up to $1,000.  If you pay your premiums with a check, the BWC will calculate the 1% and send you a rebate check.

This program is not available for any entity that pays the minimum $50 to maintain coverage.  The BWC is just not going to rebate fifty cents.

Public employers only pay premiums once a year, so their maximum rebate is also up to $2,000 a year.

Employers can get an additional 1% discount if they register for the Go Green program.

I asked my BWC contact how many entities would qualify for this program, but he didn’t know.  Of my clients, 30% will qualify for this program, and 35% have not yet been in business for 5 years.  It would be interesting to know if those percentages are true for the entire population in Ohio.  Are 35% of the premium-paying private employers in Ohio less than five years old?

The deadline to report payroll for the second six months of 2011 is Wednesday, February 29, 2012.  You also must pay all or half of the premiums due before the close of business that day.  Otherwise, your coverage may lapse.

If your coverage lapses, see the posts on June 22, 2011 and March 24, 2011 for the consequences of non-payment.

The easiest way to pay premiums is online at www.ohiobwc.com.  On the home page, click on the Quick link to Pay Premium and follow the instructions.  You can use one or more credit cards, or ACH transfer.

You must report all payroll for the second half of 2011, but you can pay 50% of the premium now, and the balance on or before May 31, 2012.

Once you pay online, the BWC will only send a postcard reminder when the next premiums are due.  It will not send a paper Payroll Report (DP-21) form.  You will have to go to the website to see your premium rates and calculate your premiums.

You can mail a check to the BWC in Columbus, but the payment must be RECEIVED by the BWC before the close of business on February 29, 2012.  There is no grace period, and no mailbox rule for the BWC.

To pay your premiums online and take full advantage of the information on the BWC website, you must create an e-account.  You will need to create an ID and a password.  There will not be any secret questions.

Normally, when I give instructions for navigating the BWC website, I walk through the steps as I write them.  But I already have an e-account and don’t want to create another, so I trust you to follow the prompts.  As I recall, however, the BWC did not tell me the protocol for my ID and password until after the first one was rejected, so be prepared to make changes.

Write down the ID and password and make sure someone else at your company can find them, in case you are unavailable in the future.  Paying premiums late is not in your company’s best interest!

FRAUD ALERT:  E-account access enables you to change the contact information, including phone numbers, email and mailing addresses, and will provide access to the medical records in the claims filed against your company.  Be sure that only responsible and trustworthy persons have access to them.

A northeast Ohio business owner stopped paying his premiums in 2006.  In the five years since then, his employees filed 25 claims for work-related injuries.  The owner now owes more than $600,000 in unpaid premiums, claims costs, penalties and interest.

The BWC worked with the owner but he continued to operate his business without paying its premiums.  The BWC paid for the medical services and compensation for the injured employees.  Those costs were billed to the business, and the owner didn’t pay them either.

The court found the owner guilty of two counts of failure to comply with workers’ comp law.  He was sentenced to 90 days in jail (suspended), one year of active probation and 80 hours of community work service.

Now the BWC is seeking an injunction to make him stop operating the business until he becomes fully compliant with Ohio workers’ comp law.  If the injunction is granted, his employees will be laid off and his customers will go elsewhere.  He won’t have any income from the business, either.  And Ohio employers who pay their premiums will continue to bear the costs of his employees’ claims.

If you know of any workers’ comp premium deadbeats, turn them in!

Make a call to the BWC fraud unit at 800-OHIOBWC or 800-644-6292, and choose option 4.  Or go to www.ohiobwc.com and click on Report Fraud at the bottom of the home page.  You can remain anonymous.

If a claim occurs during a period of time when the employer did not pay its premiums, or if a claim occurs and an employer does not have Ohio workers’ comp coverage, the claim is called a “non-compliance” claim, because the employer has not complied with the law that states all Ohio employers must have workers’ comp coverage for their employees.

The BWC pays the claim costs and then bills the employer for those costs.  If the employer does not pay the bills, the Ohio Attorney General places a lien on the business, which has to be paid before the business can be sold.  Some supplier agreements forbid a company to have liens placed against it.

When an employer has coverage, the initial five years of claim costs are spread out over four years of premiums, and any subsequent claim costs are paid out of the surplus fund. 

The costs for non-compliance claims are billed back to the employer for the life of the claim.  If the injury is severe and the claimant is awarded compensation, the employer pays those costs, too.

A press release from the Governor’s office dated April 28, 2011 was titled KASICH ANNOUNCES $65 MILLION WORKERS’ COMPENSATION RATE CUT.  “Governor John R Kasich today announced he is seeking an overall 4 percent cut in workers’ compensation base rates for a total cut in premiums of approximately $65 million annually.”  A close reading of it states that he is requesting an overall 4% reduction in workers’ comp base rates, effective 7/1/11.

 Attached to the press release is a BWC fact sheet that states rates are determined in consultation with Deloitte Consulting LLP.  “Factors in the decision to lower rates included a trend of decreasing claims frequency, as well as positive investment returns.”

Every year, the BWC recommends new base rates and all the other rates and fees (expected loss rates, administrative fees, etc.) to the Workers’ Compensation Board.  After the Board approves the new rates, the BWC publishes all the new rates and fees. 

As always, some base rates will increase and some will decrease.  And just because the base rates go down doesn’t mean premium rates will decrease.  See ELR – Dirty Little Secret posted 1/14/10.

Since all this is the normal procedure for establishing workers’ comp rates in Ohio, should an elected official take credit for “saving” Ohio employers $65 million?

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 on 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 but the BWC kicks you out of group rating due to late premium payment, you may be able to get some of the fee refunded.

Bonnie R Fraser