Workers’ compensation laws and regulations increase in volume and complexity each year. As a result, employers have grown accustomed to letting their insurance company control the cases and the costs.
A recent study by the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau shows 75% of premium and investment income was spent on claims, including:
- Disability benefits
- Medical care, and
- Vocational rehabilitation costs
Help Them Understand.
Most employees don’t understand that your company’s money is being used to pay the deductible and other costs. Insurance may be covering part of the claim, but the other parts, which are leached from your business’ profitability affect your employee’s possibility for raises, bonuses, and a better work environment on the whole.
Employees usually DO understand how to “work the system” and use loopholes to their advantage. Be sure they know how the process works so they know how, whether directly or indirectly, their claim affects the company and affects them as a result.
Communicate with Employees.
Do your employees know that costs are escalating? Do they know how it affects your company, or how it in turn affects them?
Give them the information they need so that they will know why they should come back to work quicky, and share tools with them to create workplace safety.
If your injured employee is home, possibly irritated that they’ve been hurt, negative feelings can escalate if the employee feels you don’t care about their well-being. This can lead to fraudulent claims down the road.
- Show them you care about them. If an employee is injured, stay in touch throughout his or her recuperation.
- Send them a “Get Well Soon” card.
- If you don’t have time to do it yourself, designate someone to maintain contact with the injured worker and express your concern. Not only does this create positive feelings about your company and their job, but it helps encourage them to take part in an Early Return to Work Program.
Communicate with Doctors.
Doctors tend to prescribe the maximum medical care, so it’s best to ensure they are familiar with the workers’ compensation system. Recommend doctors for your office who know to take care of the workers’ needs, but not to prescribe more than they need.
Help the doctor understand the position the injured employee holds, and the alternative position you have made available for them during their recovery.
Match Applicant to Job.
Careful hiring practices can go a long way toward reducing your costs. Hiring carefully results in higher productivity as well as reduced work-related injuries. Be sure you’re matching the applicant’s skill and abilities to the position. As an employer, you should also be aware of ADA and discrimination laws.
The Department of Fair Employment and Housing has brochures, which can guide you in conducting job interviews.
Safety as a Priority. Every Day.
Workers’ Compensation rates are partially based on the employer’s safety record, as well as elimination of hazards that can cause injury. By reducing the possible risks, you’re reducing your possible premium.
It’s much cheaper to prevent an accident than to pay for one.
If you need help designing safety programs that promote a safe and healthy workplace, loss control staff can assist you.
Reduce Ergonomic Workplace Injuries.
- Keyboard Operators: Reduce the risk of carpal tunel syndrome by adjusting keyboard positions and encouraging safe practices.
- Computer Screens: Adjust screen positions to avoid headaches that can turn into costly time off.
- Floor Coverings: Reduce fatigue and shock to legs and back by installing floor mats for employees that stand all day long. Encouraging or requiring the right kind of shoes will also help.
- Lifting and Moving: Sprained backs are the most common workplace injury. Ensure that anyone who needs to lift and move boxes wears appropriate lower back braces and utilizes carts whenever possible.
- Chairs: If your staff sits all day, you can help reduce injury by installing chairs with lumbar support and mandating regular stretching and walking times.
- Bending Over: Minimize the number of times people have to bend over to pick up things.
Fix Dangerous Conditions.
When you become aware of a hazard on the job site, repair it. Your failure to do so could result in a “Serious and Willful Misconduct” suit against you, which carries severe penalties. These penalties would be paid by you, not your carrier.
- Shelving: Stacked improperly, materials can topple over and injur an employee or customer. Redesign your stocking procedures.
- Slip, Trip & Fall: Remove tripping hazards.
- Lighting: Ensure that all areas are well lit to reduce risk of injury.
- Escape Routes: All escape routes should be marked with exit signs and maps.
- Disaster Planning: Train your employees the proper procedures (and evacuation strategies) in case of fires and other disasters.
- Fall Hazards: Spot and adjust protruding installations and items that may fall on workers.
Performance of regular, documented safety checks are looked positively upon by loss control specialists, and may further reduce your workers’ compensation costs.
Train Staff.
All staff should be trained thoroughly to prevent injury, with emphasis on the use of safety procedures and proper equipment use. Be sure to give them instruction manuals that detail safety procedures.
In workers’ compensation law, supervisors are included in the definition of “employer.” A supervisor’s failure to follow the law counts against you. Share this information with your supervisors and make sure they know all that is required of employers.
Report employee injuries.
As soon as you are aware of an injury, notify your carrier by completing and sending the Employer’s Report of Occupational Injury and Illness.
The report requires you to provide information such as the nature of you business, the type of employee injury or illness, and how it occurred. Your complete statements in each of these sections are necessary in order to determine the appropriate benefits.
For example, information about your employee’s work hours and salary are needed to compute benefit payments. Please don’t leave any sections blank. Many companies have a 24-hour Claims Reporting Center. Check your policy or call our office for details.
Provide the employee claim form.
You are required to provide the employee with an Employee’s Claim for Workers’ Compensation Benefits form within one working day of learning of an injury.
The employee should return the completed form to you. When you receive the employee’s claim form make sure you sign and date it. You must then immediately forward the original to your carrier. Signing the employer’s report and employee’s benefits does not mean the claim has been accepted.
The first indemnity payment must be made within 14 days of your knowledge of a disabling injury.
Failure to provide timely benefits may result in a penalty. The penalty may be charged back to you, the employer, if it is determined that you did not file the claim form with your carrier on time.
Exercise medical control.
Did you know that you might have control over the medical care of your injured employees for the first 30 days after the injury?
If, prior to the injury, your employee did not notify you in writing of the name and address of his or her personal physician, you have the right to arrange for the treatment of the employee by a physician of your choice for the first 30 days after the injury.
Industrial clinics can cost considerably less than a hospital emergency room and they are familiar with workers’ compensation insurance procedures. If you do not know of a physician or medical facility, call your carrier for suggestions.
Be sure to post notices with name, address, and phone number of your medical provider so your employees know where to go in case of an injury.
If the employee has previously notified you of his or her personal physician, the employee has the right to be seen by that physician, unless an emergency requires otherwise. Remember, the first concern after an injury is to get prompt medical attention.
Implement an Early Return to Work Program.
Help your injured employee come back to work safely with an ERTW program. Move them employee into (or create) a transitional job that accomodates their condition until they can return to their normal job duties. It is best to have these positions and job duties set up in advance in the event that someone is hurt.
Let your workers’ compensation representative know if you can provide positions in an ERTW program. They have consultants to help your company develop effective programs that will help you reduce your costs and return your employee to a position where they can support themself.
Most workers’ compensation programs pay lost wage payments after a waiting period. If you bring employees back to work within the first few days after the accident (during the waiting period), your costs will be much lower. Implement post-injury procedures and programs to bring them back to work quickly.
Accidents happen – the trick is to rebound from them quickly and safely while keeping your costs low. Not getting employees back quickly can have serious repercussions:
- Expenses incurred from hiring replacement workers.
- Cost of using temp agency employees. Temp agency fees are not covered by insurance.
- If an injured employee is out of work for too long or gets too comfortable, they may lengthen their stay indefinitely, or even build a lawsuit against your business.
Job Classification Codes
Job classification errors account for large discrepancies in workers’ compensation costs. For instance:
- Let’s say everyone in your office has been classified as “Office Clerks.”
- File clerks don’t usually do much typing.
- Data entry clerks, spend the majority of their day on a keyboard, which runs a higher risk of carpal tunnel injury.
- Use the most up-to-date classification code book be sure you’re classifying people in their positions and risk categories appropriately.
Maintain records.
Your personnel files can be of great assistance to your carrier in dealing with some cases. Information about an employee’s wages, previous work history, recreational activities, any current work problem, and previous injuries is essential in fighting disputed claims.
(877) 783 – 0335
© 2005, Mark S. Balcos. The reader assumes all responsibilities for his/her own actions in regards to any items discussed in this report. Adherence to all applicable laws and regulations, federal, state and local, governing the use of any product or service described in this report in the US or any other jurisdiction is the sole responsibility of the reader. The publisher and author assume no responsibility or liability whatsoever on the behalf of the reader of these materials. The reader is encouraged to consult directly with his/her insurance professional.
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