Coronavirus and workers’ compensation

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What employers need to know

Businesses across Oregon are preparing for how the coronavirus/COVID-19 could impact their communities and workplaces. Here is some important information about the virus as it relates to workers’ compensation and the workplace.

Employers should be prepared to follow guidance from reputable health organizations and address safety and health concerns.

Employers are encouraged to follow guidelines from Oregon Health Authority, Centers for Disease Control, and World Health Organization, and to check these resources regularly since the situation is changing daily. The Preventing COVID-19 Spread in Communities section of the CDC site is particularly helpful because it provides specific guidance for home and work. In addition, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration COVID-19 topic page has resources for employers.

Regarding workers’ compensation claims involving exposure to the coronavirus, SAIF’s decisions are made on a fact-specific claim-by-claim basis.

Claims should only be filed when employees believe they contracted COVID-19 on the job. It is not necessary that an employer have all employees who are diagnosed with COVID-19 complete an 801 form.

A coronavirus diagnosis is not necessarily work-related or a default workers’ compensation claim. An employee should only file a claim when they are seeking treatment or medical advice for a condition the employee believes resulted from work exposure.

A COVID-19 diagnosis may be a compensable work injury. To establish a compensable claim, an employee would need to prove that the COVID-19 is work-related.

Under Oregon’s workers’ compensation law, the burden of proof is on the employee to show that, more likely than not, the employee contracted the coronavirus while working or traveling for work. As the coronavirus becomes more widespread in the community, this may be difficult to prove and would likely require an expert medical opinion.

If an employer shuts down its operations temporarily due to COVID-19 concerns, employees should not necessarily file claims for time loss.

If the employer shuts down the company or suggests that employees be tested, that does not necessarily mean claims should be filed or that interim time loss or diagnostic testing will be paid. If a medical provider recommends testing or quarantine for a specific individual and ties that recommendation to a confirmed or suspected work exposure, then a claim should be filed.

Diagnostic testing for COVID-19 may be paid through workers’ compensation in suspected work-related COVID-19 cases.

Diagnostic testing may be compensable if there is confirmed or suspected work exposure to the coronavirus, and a doctor recommends diagnostic testing to determine whether the employee carries the coronavirus or has developed COVID-19.

Time loss associated with quarantine may be paid in work-related COVID-19 cases.

If SAIF accepts a claim for COVID-19, or for diagnostic testing for coronavirus, and the worker is quarantined by the worker’s health care provider or the CDC, time loss may be owed to the worker. If an employee with an accepted claim for exposure is otherwise healthy and has an agreement with the employer to work remotely and is earning full wages, SAIF will not pay time loss.

Having employees work from home will not necessarily require changes to your workers’ compensation.

The impact of telecommuting on workers’ compensation for your employees depends on their class codes and the employees’ duties. If the employee is normally a clerical employee at the employer’s location (8810), they would have the same class code when performing clerical duties at a home office.

If the employee is not normally a clerical employee, but they are going to temporarily work from home in a clerical capacity, you would be able to apply some wages to a clerical class code if the employee maintains verifiable time records. If they are performing work other than clerical duties, it would be unlikely that a different class code would apply. If you have a specific situation and want guidance, please contact SAIF or your agent.

https://www.saif.com/employer-guide/coronavirus-and-workers-compensation.html?utm_source=CompQuotes&utm_campaign=4e0b92f15a-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_09_12_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_20a156e0f4-4e0b92f15a-178724541

Source: SAIF Corporation Employer Guide / published March 11, 2020

Oregon employers to receive money back as workers’ comp costs continue to decrease

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For the ninth year in a row, SAIF declares a substantial dividend for policyholders.

posted September 12, 2018

Today the SAIF board of directors declared two dividends for customers: a $120 million primary dividend to be paid to SAIF’s policyholders, and a $40 million safety performance dividend to be paid based on each policyholder’s safety results.

“We’re a not-for-profit insurance company. That means when we have a good year, we’re able to return premium directly to our customers in the form of a dividend,” said President and CEO Kerry Barnett. “We also want to give special recognition to customers with strong safety records. Preventing injuries through effective safety programs is the best way to keep rates low for everyone.”

This is the ninth year in a row SAIF has returned a substantial dividend to its customers. On average, eligible customers can expect to receive 28.6 percent of the premium paid in 2017. The dividends are possible because of SAIF’s overall financial results, including investment returns and favorable trends in claim costs.

In addition to dividends for SAIF’s policyholders, average workers’ compensation costs continue to fall for Oregon employers. Since 1990, Oregon has gone from having one of the worst workers’ compensation systems to one of the best. During that time, workplace safety has improved, and claims incidence have gone down 70 percent, with a similar percentage decrease in average pure premium rates.

“Think about your home, car, or life insurance-are any of those actually costing you 70 percent less than they did 30 years ago?” said Barnett. “Oregon has a real success story to tell, and we’re proud to be such a big part of it.”

47,488 policyholders are eligible for SAIF’s primary dividend. Of those, about 94 percent are also eligible to receive all or part of the additional safety performance dividend.

Checks will be mailed in October to eligible employers.

About SAIF

SAIF is Oregon’s not-for-profit workers’ compensation insurance company. Since 1914, we’ve been taking care of injured workers, helping people get back to work, and striving to make Oregon the safest and healthiest place to work. For more information, visit the About SAIF page on saif.com.

Workers’ compensation costs to drop for sixth-straight year

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Salem, OR—Oregon employers next year, on average, will pay $1.12 per $100 of payroll for workers’ compensation insurance, down from $1.23 in 2018, under a proposal by the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS). That figure covers workers’ compensation claims costs, assessments, and insurer profit and expenses.

This will mark the sixth year in a row that businesses will experience an average decrease in their workers’ compensation costs. Those costs have steadily declined over the years – even as workers continue to receive strong benefits – because of Oregon’s long-running success in managing the workers’ compensation system.

“Everyone from employers and workers to insurers and government has played a role in making workplaces safer and keeping business costs low,” said Cameron Smith, DCBS director. “As the numbers show, Oregon’s comprehensive approach continues to pay off.”

Part of Oregon’s success stems from efforts by the Workers’ Compensation Division. Those efforts include enforcing requirements that employers carry insurance for their workers, keeping medical costs under control, and helping injured workers return to work sooner and earn their pre-injury wages. Another part is Oregon OSHA’s focus on preventing on-the-job injuries by enforcing workplace safety and health rules, and advising employers about how to improve worker safety and health.

Employers’ cost for workers’ compensation insurance covers the pure premium and insurer profit and expenses, plus the premium assessment. Employers also pay the Workers’ Benefit Fund assessment, which is a cents-per-hour-worked rate.

The pure premium rate – filed by a national rate-setting organization and approved by DCBS – is the base rate insurers use to determine how much employers must pay for medical claims and lost wages. Under DCBS’s proposal for next year, the pure premium would drop by an average 9.7 percent. In fact, the pure premium will have declined by an average of 40 percent during the 2013 to 2019 period.

Pure premium is the key factor behind annual cost changes. The decrease is an average, so an individual employer may see a larger or smaller decrease, no change, or even an increase depending on the employer’s own industry, claims experience, and payroll. Also, pure premium does not take into account the varying expenses and profit of insurers.

Driving the average decrease in the pure premium are lower medical care costs and less severe claims. Underpinning the steady decline in pure premium are the successful efforts of the Workers’ Compensation Division, Oregon OSHA, the Workers’ Compensation Board – which resolves disputes over the state’s workers’ compensation and workplace safety laws – and injured worker and small business advocacy services.

Those programs are funded by the premium assessment.

The premium assessment is a percentage of the workers’ compensation insurance premium employers pay. It is added to the premium. It would increase from 7.4 percent this year to 7.8 percent in 2019. The increase is needed to partially offset the decline in pure premium and to keep pace with a growing economy. This modest increase maintains stable funding for state workers’ compensation regulation and worker protection programs that preserve historically low costs.

The Workers’ Benefit Fund assessment provides benefit increases to permanently disabled workers and to families of workers who died from a workplace injury or disease. It also supports Oregon’s efforts to help injured workers return to work sooner – through incentive programs to employers – and earn their pre-injury wages.

The fund’s revenue comes from a cents-per-hour-worked assessment. It would decrease from 2.8 cents per hour worked in 2018 to 2.4 cents per hour worked in 2019. The fund is healthy, made so by a growing economy, which allows the rate to be reduced.

The decrease in the pure premium is effective Jan. 1, 2019, but employers will see the changes when they renew their policies in 2019. The assessment changes are effective Jan. 1, 2019.

Oregon’s workers’ compensation premium rates have ranked low nationally for many years. Oregon had the seventh least expensive rates in 2016, according to a nationally recognized biennial study conducted by DCBS. That was an improvement from Oregon’s ranking as the ninth least expensive state the last time the study was done, in 2014.

The following chart summarizes all of the changes and includes the date, time, and place of the assessment public hearings: https://www.oregon.gov/DCBS/cost/Documents/wc-summ…

Annual Oregon average pure premium rate changes and average changes by industry: https://www.oregon.gov/DCBS/cost/Documents/pure-pr…

More information about Oregon workers’ compensation costs: http://www.oregon.gov/DCBS/cost/Pages/index.aspx

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The Department of Consumer and Business Services is Oregon’s largest business regulatory and consumer protection agency. For more information, visit http://www.dcbs.oregon.gov/.

Contact information:
Aaron Corvin, public information officer
971-718-6973
aaron.corvin@oregon.gov

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AGC/SAIF Members Rewarded for Safety Efforts

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AGC/SAIF workers’ comp participants to receive $7.9M retro return

The Associated General Contractors Oregon-Columbia Chapter (AGC) and SAIF announced today a $7,876,242 retrospective return for the 638 companies who participated in the AGC/SAIF group workers’ compensation program during 2016-2017. This represents a 22.2 percent return of paid premiums during the policy year.

Increased construction activity and a continued shortage of qualified workers have presented unique challenges this year, making these results more significant. The actual total payout to participants will surpass $9.3 million after the Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS) and non-disabling claim reimbursement adjustments are made. Individual results and retro checks will be mailed directly from SAIF to policyholders in mid-August 2018.

“For 26 years, this plan has had consistently strong results-due to the partnership between workers, employers, agents, AGC, and SAIF,” said Christy Witzke, VP of marketing, sales, and communication at SAIF. “The true success is that thousands of Oregon construction workers go home safe and healthy day after day because of the hard work of all those involved.”

The retro return combined with the 10 percent upfront premium discount savings creates a total combined savings this year of 32.2 percent. A retro return has been paid out to AGC members 25 of the past 26 years. Total retro returns spanning the 26-year history for the AGC/SAIF program now surpass $188 million.

Employers will see additional savings this year due to a significant reduction in Oregon pure premium rates for 2018. The contracting industry decreased 12.6 percent overall, and the AGC group weighted average rate decrease is 15.2 percent.

The retro return is based on the safety performance of all group members. Employers in the program make investments and commitments to safety and training. Employees carry out the work. And industry professionals from SAIF, AGC, and agent brokers train and educate, manage claims costs, and help injured workers get back to work.

“This partnership has been in place for 26 years, and our members continue to produce tremendous results,” said Mike Salsgiver, Oregon-Columbia Chapter executive director. “Our goal is to create safer workplaces, reduce workplace injuries and illnesses, save lives, and save money.”

Dennis Barlow, AGC director of Safety Services, added, “Each year we improve this program to provide optimum results. Year after year, we see improvements in our members’ safety leadership, culture, and commitment. The premise that ‘safety pays’ is clearly understood.”

About SAIF

SAIF is Oregon’s not-for-profit workers’ compensation insurance company. Since 1914, we’ve been taking care of injured workers, helping people get back to work, and striving to make Oregon the safest and healthiest place to work. For more information, visit the About SAIF page on saif.com.

About AGC

Since 1922 the AGC Oregon-Columbia Chapter has served as the voice of the commercial construction industry. The association provides its members with a forum for the exchange of ideas and services designed to enhance the professionalism of the construction industry, including workers’ compensation and health insurance, legislative and governmental representation, safety management consulting, professional education, and training and workforce development programs.

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Safety pays – again and again

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SAIF will return two dividends to its customers this year: one based on premium alone, and another based on safety performance.

Over the past 27 years, Oregon workplaces have driven down workers’ compensation claims frequency by more than 70 percent through their powerful focus on workplace safety-which, in turn, has reduced workers’ compensation rates by 71 percent.

After all, the least expensive injury is the one that never happens.

To recognize how Oregon workplaces are leading the way on safety, today the SAIF board of directors declared two dividends for customers: a $120 million primary dividend to be paid to all eligible policyholders based on their premium, and a $40 million safety performance dividend to be paid based on each policyholder’s safety results.

“Oregon employers and workers are the drivers behind one of the most successful workers’ compensation systems in the nation,” said President and CEO Kerry Barnett. “It’s only right that we recognize their efforts to develop strong safety cultures that reduce workplace injuries, which reduces costs.”

This is the eighth year in a row SAIF has returned a substantial dividend to its customers, and the second year for the safety performance dividend.

On average, eligible customers can expect to receive from 21 to 37 percent of the premium paid in 2016. The dividends are possible because of SAIF’s overall financial results, including investment returns and favorable trends in claim costs.

“Nothing is more important to Oregon’s economy than our workforce,” Barnett said. “Our customers have demonstrated a commitment to keeping workers safe and allowing them to avoid the pain and anguish of a workplace injury.”

More than 47,000 customers are eligible for SAIF’s primary dividend. Of those, about 94 percent are also eligible to receive all or part of the additional safety performance dividend.

Checks will be mailed in October to eligible employers.

About SAIF
SAIF is Oregon’s not-for-profit, state-chartered workers’ compensation insurance company. Since 1914 it has been caring for injured workers and helping to make workplaces safer. For more, visit the About SAIF page on saif.com.

Workers’ compensation costs to drop for fourth-straight year

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Salem, OR—Oregon employers will see a key portion of their workers’ compensation costs drop by an average 6.6 percent in 2017, the Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS) announced today. This marks the fourth year in a row – and eighth year in the past decade – that businesses will experience an average decrease in the “pure premium.”

The average decrease in pure premium – the portion of the premium employers pay insurers to cover claims costs for job-related injuries and deaths – is part of a mixture of rate changes designed to invest in workplace safety and health programs while preserving historically low costs.

The other rate changes include:

• An increase in the premium assessment, which funds state costs of running workers’ compensation and workplace safety and health programs, from 6.2 percent to 6.8 percent. The increase is needed to invest in worker protection and related programs to keep pace with an expanding economy.
• A decrease in the payroll assessment, which supports the Workers’ Benefit Fund, from 3.3 cents per hour worked to 2.8 cents per hour. The fund pays for highly successful return-to-work and other special injured-worker programs. It is financially stable to the point that a reduction in the assessment is warranted.

The combination of the changes in pure premium rates and assessment rates is a net reduction in costs for the average employer. The average employer would pay $1.02 per $100 of payroll for claims costs and assessments, down from $1.10 in 2016.

“These rate changes preserve the integrity of our workers’ compensation system,” said Patrick Allen, DCBS director. “They do so by helping maintain a positive business climate for Oregon employers while also bolstering worker protections and benefits.”

The decrease in pure premium is based on a recommendation from the Florida-based National Council on Compensation Insurance Inc. (NCCI), which analyzes industry trends and prepares rate recommendations for the majority of states. Pure premium reflects only a portion of workers’ compensation costs, but is the key factor behind annual cost changes. The decrease is an average, so an individual employer may see a larger decrease, no change, or even an increase depending on the employer’s own industry, claims experience, and payroll. Also, pure premium does not take into account the varying expenses and profit of insurance companies.

The decrease in the pure premium is effective Jan. 1, 2017, but employers will see the changes when they renew their policies in 2017. The changes to the premium and payroll assessments are effective Jan. 1, 2017.

Workers’ compensation pays injured workers for lost wages and medical care for job-related injuries. A steady decline in average medical care costs and stable wage replacement costs are the key factors continuing to drive down the pure premium.

Oregon’s workers’ compensation premium rates have ranked low nationally for many years. Only seven states and the District of Columbia had average rates lower than Oregon in 2014, according to a biennial study conducted by DCBS. In contrast to changes made in some other states, Oregon has seen no meaningful reduction in worker benefits since at least the early 1990s.

The following chart summarizes all the changes: http://www.cbs.state.or.us/external/dir/wc_cost/fi…

*Public hearing set for Monday, Oct. 17, at 8:30 a.m. at the Labor and Industries Building, Room 260, in Salem.
**Public hearing set for Friday, Sept. 23, at 3 p.m., at the Labor and Industries Building, Room 260, in Salem.

Annual Oregon average pure premium rate changes and average changes by industry:
http://www.cbs.state.or.us/external/dir/wc_cost/fi…

More information about Oregon workers’ compensation costs can be found at:
http://www.cbs.state.or.us/external/dir/wc_cost/in…

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The Department of Consumer and Business Services is Oregon’s largest business regulatory and consumer protection agency. For more information, visit http://www.dcbs.oregon.gov/.

For more information:
Aaron Corvin, 971-718-6973
Aaron.corvin@oregon.gov