Workers Comp Board in Ohio Grants Massive Rebate to Local Employers

After a flurry of activity in the last week of May, on Friday, May 31st, the Ohio Workers Comp Board officially granted $1 billion rebate to 210,000 Ohio employers.

In a separate, but also interesting, action, the Ohio Workers Comp board passed a 2.1% reduction in base workers comp rates for employers.

“This rebate is possible largely because of the excellent results we’ve gotten on our investments,” said Nicholas Zuk, the BWC Board of Directors chairman.

According to the workers comp bureau, the huge rebate is thanks to smart investing – strong investment management over the last year has allowed a larger than expected fund balance, which the board decided to give back to the tax payers.

The 2.1% workers comp reduction will start in the 2014 policy year, which runs July 2013 to June 30, 2014.

That will allow Ohio businesses to save an average of $29 million on workers comp. However, these rates are just for private employers – public employers’ workers comp rates will be decided in the fall.

Earl Stein, the owner of Corky & Lenny’s Restaurant in Woodmere, Ohio, was the lead plaintiff in a successful class action lawsuit against the workers comp bureau. The bureau had said in March they would appeal the court’s decision that found employers in the class action were entitled to an aggregate of $859 million in excessive workers comp premium payments.

Stein commented on the $1 billion rebate: “We welcome the administration’s program to refund a billion of Ohio employers’ dollars from the bureau’s nearly $9 billion surplus. Refunding money out of BWC’s state insurance trust fund is clearly an appropriate way to generate growth in Ohio’s economy. However, if the bureau wants to truly demonstrate its commitment to economic development, growth and making Ohio a business friendly state, it is incumbent upon them to immediately refund the $860 million the court ordered them to pay back to 270,000 employers.”

Workers Comp in South Carolina

Basically, workers comp is an insurance policy your employer must carry to make sure that employees injured at work can obtain necessary medical treatment and financial assistance for lost wages, plus additional compensation for any work-related injury, sickness, or disease that causes total or partial impairment to work. Workers’ compensation is available regardless of fault when the injury arises out of, and in the course of, employment.

By law, every South Carolina employer with four or more full-time employees must have workers compensation insurance.

The protection provided under the South Carolina Workers Comp Act is only the beginning of your right to compensation for a workplace injury.

Any full-time employee (working for an employer with four or more employees) who has an employment related injury and needs medical attention should be covered under workers’ compensation insurance. It doesn’t matter if the injury was a complete accident or the fault of a co-worker.

The employee MUST notify his or her employer within 90 days of the injury or risk losing the right to benefits under workers compensation. (It is recommended that you record details of your accident and to whom you reported it.)

If it’s been more than 90 days since your work accident occurred, you may need help obtaining benefits for medical treatment and lost wages. You can contact The Strom Law Firm’s work injury lawyers to discuss the facts of your case at no charge.