Every state is slightly different when it comes to the laws surrounding workers’ compensation. How does Ohio differ? Here are eight primary points.
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Every Business with Employees Needs Workers’ Comp Insurance
Even if your business has only one employee, the state of Ohio requires you to carry workers’ compensation insurance. You must purchase this insurance through a state agency. The insurance you pay for as a business owner will cover partial lost wages for those employees, as well as coverage for their medical bills.
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Part-time Employees Count as Well
That state requirement extends to part-time employees as well as full-time employees. If a part-time employee is injured, however, the payout is based on a calculation which takes into account how many hours that employee usually works in a given week.
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Domestic Workers Have a Monetary Limit
Gardeners, housekeepers, landscapers, babysitters, and other domestic workers are excluded from this workers’ comp requirement if they work for less than $160 in any given calendar quarter (i.e. three months). If they earn more than $55 per month, though, that workers’ comp requirement applies to them as well. Domestic workers who earn less than $55 per month from an employers may consider checking the SSI disability qualifications to see if their income level is low enough to quality for Supplemental Security Income.
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Business Owners Do Not Need to Insure Themselves
While a member of a partnership or a sole proprietor is required to carry workers’ compensation insurance for any employee, it is not required for an owner to pay for insurance for herself or himself. It is key for an employers to classify whether each person involved in a business is an employee or an independent contractors; if you, as an employer, organize or schedule the person’s travel plans, material use, or hours of work, then that person is technically considered an employee rather than an independent contractor.
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The Magic Number: 64 cents per $100 in Covered Payroll
That estimated employer rate is $0.64 per $100 of payroll. Several factors are taken into count in estimating this number, including the history of claims, the type of work involved (and therefore the level of risk), the location, the number of employed people, and the insurance coverage limits.
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Ohio Benefits Cover Six Things
Workers’ comp benefits in Ohio cover six primary things for an injured employee. Medical benefits, death benefits, temporary total disability benefits, permanent total disability benefits, change of occupation awards, and scheduled loss awards. Those change of occupation awards are figured in if the employee is injured in such a way that he or she cannot continue in their current line of work, and therefore must take classes or other training to begin work in another occupation.
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Liability Insurance May Be Extra
Employees who are injured can still sue an employer. Liability insurance protects against such lawsuits. Much workers’ comp insurance has liability insurance as part of the coverage, but if an employee buys it through a state fund, then it does include liability insurance. Ohio has many providers that sell small business insurance policies, as well as general liability insurance.
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Late Payment Can Incur a 15% Penalty
Ohio’s BWC can incur a number of penalties if you as an employer do not pay your workers’ comp insurance payments on time. If an employer lets his or her insurance coverage lapse, the BWC enforces other penalties as well. If the business does not file a payroll report on schedule, the penalty is 1% of the premium due. If they do not pay their insurance premium on time, it is a flat fee penalty of $30, as well as a percentage of the premium – depending upon how far past due the premium payment is, that fee could be as much as 15% of the premium.