California industry sees significant increases
- The Department of Industrial Relations’ annual assessments on California employers is now over $1.5 billion, which is a $191 million or 13.9% increase from the assessments for 2022.
- The assessments, together, amount to a tax of nearly 5.9% insured employers will pay on top of workers’ comp premium next year.
- Insured employers are paying 72.37% of the total assessment for 2023 compared to 74.07% in 2022, while self-insured employers now account for a higher relative percentage of California’s payroll.
- Labor Code sections 62.5 and 62.6 require DIR to allocate the assessments between insured and self-insured employers in proportion to payroll.
Healthcare workers risk COVID-19 exposure
- Workers’ occupations, industries, and specific job duties factor into how they are potentially exposed to infectious diseases like COVID, according to new research from NIOSH.
- Researchers examined the differences in exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19.
- One in five workers surveyed reported being exposed to COVID-19 at work, according to NIOSH.
- “We found exposure to COVID at work was common among survey respondents,” Hannah Free, MPH, lead author of the study.
BWC reopens safety intervention grants
- The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation reopened the safety intervention grant program to assist employers in purchasing equipment to protect their employees.
- BWC’s SIG program provides 3-to-1 matching funds up to $40,000 to Ohio private and public employers covered by the State Insurance Fund.
- The funds are for employers who wish to purchase equipment to substantially reduce or eliminate injuries and illnesses associated with a particular task or operation.
- The SIG program allows BWC and Ohio employers to work together in establishing best practices for accident and injury reduction.
Texas considering bundle coverage
- Texas legislators are mulling a proposal to allow companies to offer their employees a workers’ compensation plan with accident and health coverage on the same policy.
- The plan could potentially boost the number of insured workers throughout the state.
- The bill, H.B. 351, would allow worker’s compensation insurance companies to offer employers a packaged coverage plan.
- The measure would not authorize comp insurers to write group accident and health insurance policies.