Nevada Sets $98,433 Workers’ Comp Payroll Cap

payroll cap

Nevada employers will see a major shift in workers’ compensation premium calculations starting Oct. 1 under SB 317, which eliminates the state’s longstanding $36,000 annual payroll cap per employee.
The fixed cap is being replaced with a floating cap tied to the state’s maximum average monthly wage.
The new cap will be set at $98,433.60 per employee for policies issued or renewed between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31.
Starting the following Jan. 1 and each year after, the cap will update automatically based on 12 times the state’s maximum average monthly wage.

A report from Kinetic Insurance, a workers’ compensation managing general agent, found accommodated claims — where injured workers returned to modified duty — closed with total costs averaging more than $11,500 less than unaccommodated claimsใ
The study covered over 600 accommodated and 200 unaccommodated closed claims, roughly 70% of which came from parcel and last-mile delivery accounts.
The report identified three obstacles specific to parcel delivery: the lack of lighter-duty roles when jobs inherently require loading, lifting and climbing; the absence of dedicated staff or expertise to navigate jurisdictionally complex workers’ comp rules; and a tendency to withhold return until full duty is possible, which drives up delay, cost and fraud risk.
A case study cited in the report found Amazon delivery service partner Stinger Logistics saw its loss ratio fall from more than 200% in 2023 to 16% by the end of 2024 and its indemnity claims drop 70% after implementing a structured return-to-work program.

Acting Labor Commissioner Kevin Jarvis said a “river of misinformation” is driving opposition to a New Jersey rule, adopted in May and set to take effect Oct. 1, that codifies existing court and administrative interpretations of the state’s ABC test for classifying workers as employees or independent contractors.
Jarvis insisted the rule changes nothing about current enforcement and said he’s repeatedly asked critics to point to a specific regulation that differs from prior practice without getting an answer, noting employers can still offer flexible hours and that workers aren’t barred from holding multiple jobs.
Critics, including Jack Kelly of the New Jersey Business and Industry Association and Senate President Nicholas Scutari, argue the 90-year-old ABC test is poorly suited to today’s gig economy and remote work, pointing to legislative efforts to exempt specific groups like insurance brokers, certain truck drivers and amateur sports officials as evidence the test itself needs fixing rather than patchwork exemptions.
Jarvis cited real financial stakes behind the rule, noting state audits last year found roughly 14,000 misclassified workers, resulting in $1.3 billion in underreported wages and $32.5 million in missed unemployment and disability insurance contributions, with the department having issued more than 200 stop-work orders for misclassification since 2019, including several this year against firms like MCH Masonry Group and Fine Quality Builders Corp.