Workers Compensation Savings Tips

1. Make sure you understand the job classifications you’re claiming on your worker’s comp policy. Workers with high-risk jobs will require you to pay a higher rate for workers’ comp insurance than workers whose greatest risk is slipping on a wet spot in the bathroom. By clearly understanding how your employees are classified and ensuring that no error has been made during the classification process (for example, listing a clerical employee in a field position), you can help reduce your workers’ comp insurance costs. Make sure that your employees don’t step outside their job descriptions and perform riskier tasks than their typical duties. An employee who is injured performing a non-routine task can hurt your workers’ compensation insurance rates.

2. Keep your safety rating high. Over time, your workers’ comp insurance rates will depend on how many claims you’ve had. When you insist on on-the-job safety, going above and beyond to ensure your workers’ safety, your rate of on-the-job injuries and claims will decrease, dropping your insurance rates along with it.

3. Have a plan in place to get your workers back on the job even if they’re injured. An employee who can work even part-time, even if it’s in a different position from the one they usually hold, is an employee who can close their workers’ comp case. When you plan to help expedite this process and share it with your insurance company, your rates will reflect the change.

4. Review your payroll calculations regularly. The claim amount that could potentially be paid out in workers’ compensation is directly related to your payroll–and that’s separate from tips and independent contractors’ wages. By evaluating your payroll regularly, you ensure that your workers’ comp insurance information remains accurate–and that you aren’t paying more than you have to.

5. Streamline the claims process as much as possible for your employees. Employees who have difficulty reporting their claim or getting the medical care they need will be out of work longer, thus increasing their overall workers’ compensation insurance rates. Take care to ensure, too, that your employees know the difference between a minor injury that can be treated on the job or through a quick office visit and one that requires a workers’ comp claim. Your employees should also have easy access to information concerning what to do in the event of a workers’ comp claim. Please put it in the employee handbook, list it online, and make it easy for your employees to contact you with any questions about the claims process.