Employers in Ohio would do well to ensure that they keep their workers’ compensation premium payments up to date. The Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation (BWC) recently issued a press release naming employers who have lapsed premium payments.
Ohio is one of five states where a state fund is the exclusive provider of workers insurance. The other states are North Dakota, Washington, Wyoming, and West Virginia.
According to the release, more than 1,710 Ohio businesses are breaking the law by letting their premium reach a lapsed status of more than $1,000. The BWC takes efforts to bring employers into compliance, but when unsuccessful, the Attorney General pursues legal action. By publicizing the top 150 noncompliant Ohio employers, the state fund is enlisting the help of the public.
“Businesses that do not pay their premiums have an unfair advantage,” [James] Conrad [administrator and CEO] said. “In competitive bidding situations, Ohio employers that do not pay into the workers’ compensation system can undercut competition and unfairly win a job. By stealing from BWC and Ohio, these companies are also stealing work they normally might not win, and it’s imperative the bureau, along with state’s employers and taxpayers, put a stop to this type of activity.”
As part of the push to secure compliance, BWC has added an employer coverage look-up tool to its website. BWC suggests the following scenarios where the tool might be useful:
- Ohio homeowners who have recently hired a contractor for their services;
- Ohio employers who are curious about those with whom they do business;
- Ohio contractors who want to check on the coverage status of subcontractors.
With some few exceptions, failure by employers to secure workers compensation coverage for their employees is illegal in most states, and considered as fraud. Other types of premium fraud include under-reporting the number of employees or payroll, misclassifying employee occupations, or any other scheme to avoid or underpay premium. Many states encourage employees to report any suspected employer fraud to either their state insurance authority or the state
