The Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC) offers employers many different rating, bonus and rebate programs to encourage cost control, return-to-work, efficiency and safety.

If you are interested in enrolling in a BWC program, or are already enrolled, here are some important deadline dates to remember. If you have any questions or if you would like to learn more about these discount programs and the potential savings they have to offer to your organization, click on the program hyperlink or feel free to contact Lora Brooks, Sedgwick Program Specialist at 800.825.6755, ext. 65436.

Private Employers

Public Employers

*Any active policy that chooses to pay all of their installment payments in a single payment by the January 3, 2022 will receive a 2% Early Payment Discount.  (This discount cannot reduce premiums below the $120 annual minimum.)  When the payment is received, BWC will remove all remaining installment billings for the year and the 2% discount will be refunded to the employer.  The 2% discount will not be adjusted during the true-up process at the end of the rating year.

The Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) Board of Directors has approved the following rates for public employer taxing districts.  The rates reflect a 15% reduction of overall premium for the 1/1/2022 to 12/31/2022 payroll year.

*Rates are based per $100 of payroll and do not include the additional 25.81% administrative fee.

BWC also announced that they will be continuing class code 9444-PEC Teleworking. In June 2021, when Governor DeWine ended the state of emergency, the BWC underwriting & premium audit department announced the discontinuation of public employer classification code, 9444-Clerical Telecommuter. This was made effective on July 1, 2021. Public employers were advised to report payroll for the remainder of policy year 2021 to the assigned PEC class code for staff teleworking on or after July 1, 2021. However, after further discussion and review by BWC employer services and actuarial, BWC decided to continue this classification code for the remainder of policy year 2021 and for the upcoming public employer policy year (2022). With the ongoing pandemic, BWC understands that public employer staff continues to telework, therefore feel it is appropriate to continue use of class code 9444.

If you have any questions regarding your rates, please contact your Sedgwick Rate Analyst at 800.825.6755.

Group retrospective rating is a performance-based program available to state-funded employers. The program is designed to reward participants that are able to keep their claim costs low. Employers continue to pay their individual premium to the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC); however, they have the opportunity to receive retrospective premium adjustments (refunds or assessments) at the end of three evaluation periods.

We are proud to say that Sedgwick group retrospective programs have returned $630 million in premium refunds since the inception of the program in 2009. We have been able to accomplish this because when a claim occurs, Sedgwick is ready to apply cost containment strategies and work with our clients to quickly resolve the claim.  If you are or have been a member of a group retro program, we encourage you to take advantage of these cost containment strategies to optimize your refunds.

Salary continuation
Salary continuation is compensation paid to an injured worker by the employer, in lieu of temporary total compensation paid by BWC. By continuing to pay an injured worker’s wages as if they were still working the regular amount of hours per week, an employer can avoid BWC paying out temporary total compensation of the claim.

Lump sum settlements
A lump sum settlement is an agreement between the employer, injured worker and BWC for a payment of lump sum, to settle one or more workers’ compensation claims. Settling a claim allows the removal of the settled claims’ reserves and developed losses which reduce claim costs.

Handicap reimbursements
Handicap reimbursement is where an employer may seek cost relief if an injured worker has one of 25 preexisting conditions and it can be proven the handicapped condition(s) led to the injury or delayed the healing process. The handicap percentage awarded by BWC will reduce claim costs without reducing the benefits to the injured worker.

Vocational rehabilitation
Vocational rehabilitation helps injured workers safely return to work or maintain employment and decrease costs of workers’ compensation claims. These services are individually tailored to meet the needs of injured workers and their work environment.

Modified duty off-site (MDOS)
MDOS is offered to assist in returning employees to work (temporarily offsite) following an injury or period of disability. This program provides placement for employees, who are not able to temporarily return to their original job. Typically, these job placements are coordinated with non-profit organizations. MDOS allows employees to resume a productive work lifestyle while transitioning to their regular job, helping decrease claim costs for the employer.

Transitional work program
Transitional work allows injured employees with medical restrictions to work in their job or a transitional job for a limited period of time under the supervision of a medical provider. This program helps lower an employer’s workers’ compensation costs by decreasing the number of days an injured worker is off work.

If you are interested in learning more about any of these cost containment strategies, please contact your Sedgwick Claims Examiner at 800.825.6755.