At the recent January 2024 Board of Directors meeting, the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) Board of Directors received a proposal for an overall statewide rate reduction of 7% for Ohio private employers.  If approved during the February meeting, this reduction will become effective July 1, 2024.

The reduction is expected to decrease paid premiums by nearly $67 million in the upcoming fiscal year and follows a 3.9% reduction for public employers (counties, cities, schools, and others) that went into effect January 1, 2024.  This rate reduction would be the seventh straight rate reduction, and the thirteenth reduction in the last fourteen fiscal years for private employers. 

Any approved reduction will represent the statewide average, actual paid premiums per private employer may differ.  Workers’ Compensation Premiums are based upon many variables including annual payroll, experience history (recent claim history), type of business, and program(s) participation.  Private employers can expect to see rate changes reflected on their premium billing sent by BWC later this spring.

History of BWC rate changes (private employers 2011-2023)

Most BWC discount and refund programs require annual re-enrollment or participation in safety training.  For more information regarding those requirements, click on the links below to visit BWC’s website.  

If you have any questions regarding safety requirements, or if you would like to learn more about these discount programs and the potential savings these programs have to offer to your organization, please contact your Sedgwick Rate Analyst at 800.825.6755.

Private Employers

Public Employers

*Failure to report and pay by the February 15, 2024 deadline can prove to be very costly to employers.  Employers that report and/or pay late will be removed from any current discount/rebate programs (2024 rating year) and may be ineligible for next year’s programs (2025 rating year).  Additionally, if any rebates are still outstanding from 2023 rating year programs, those rebates will be forfeited.  Contact your Sedgwick Rate Analyst at 800.825.6755 if you have any questions regarding the True-Up process.

If you are an employer who has an injured worker with an active workers’ compensation claim, then there is a good chance that you will be scheduled for an Industrial Commission (IC) hearing at some point in time.  

The Industrial Commission adjudicates all contested matters and will schedule a hearing at one of the 12 IC offices located throughout the state.  Typically, the hearing is scheduled at the IC office closest to the Injured Worker’s home address.  

Occasionally, when the hearing is set there is a need to request a continuance (postponement) of the hearing.   In order to have a hearing successfully continued there are a few best practices that can help move the request in a positive direction.  

The first step is identifying and communicating to the Industrial Commission that there is “good cause” or an “extraordinary circumstance” that warrants the request.  

Let’s first review a “good cause” continuance request.   For a continuance request to be considered “good cause” it must be filed with the Commission at least five calendar days prior to the date of the hearing.  This scenario most often accompanies a known schedule conflict that cannot be adjusted so that you are able to attend the hearing.   Providing as much proof as you can to support your schedule conflict is the best option for securing a successful continuance.   This can be in the form of a statement on your company letterhead detailing the specifics of the conflict or perhaps copies of travel documents that show you will be out of town on the date of the hearing. 

The next category is “extraordinary circumstance”.   This scenario most often involves unexpected illness, hospitalization, or family emergency.   These are circumstances that could not have been foreseen or pre-planned and can be requested up to the day of the hearing.

When either type of continuance request is needed a continuance request form can be completed on the Industrial Commission’s website or you can print off the continuance request form and fax it directly to the IC office where the hearing is scheduled.

All hearing continuance requests are processed and addressed by the local Hearing Administrator.  It is their sole discretion as to whether the request meets one of the above two standards.

As with all hearing related items, your claims team at Sedgwick can help you file your request for continuance and make sure that the IC’s best practices are followed.  Should you have any questions or concerns related to this or any other Industrial Commission process, please contact your assigned claims examiner for guidance.

The word “fraud” carries a heavy connotation with it and making a fraud referral to the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation can feel a bit overwhelming.    What should you do if you suspect that a fraudulent claim has been filed against you?  The Bureau of Workers’ Compensation has an entire division devoted to analyzing and investigating fraud concerns.  The Special Investigations Department was created in 1994 with the sole purpose of reviewing potential fraud in the workers’ compensation system.  

According to the Bureau’s Special Investigations Department Annual Report from 2022, they received 2,661 fraud allegations and ultimately closed 1,431 cases with 69 resulting in convictions for an identified savings of $90 million dollars.

It is important to understand the activities that are most associated with potential workers’ compensation claim fraud:

• Collecting disability benefits while receiving compensation
• Receiving cash payment for work performed “under the table”
• Claiming to be injured while at work when the injury happened elsewhere
• Exaggeration of disability complaints to extend disability
• Falsifying documents related to a claim application

Employers are often notified of potential fraud either from co-workers who witnessed or heard about the suspected incident or through personal observation, such as seeing a post on social media.  Should you suspect one or more of the above activities you should contact the BWC Fraud unit to report a concern.  You can do this either through the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation’s website or by contacting the BWC Fraud department directly at 1.800.644.6292.

The Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) Employer Handicap Reimbursement Program is designed to encourage employers to hire and retain employees with pre-existing medical conditions. In some circumstances the employer may be eligible for reimbursement of a percentage of claim charges if an employee with a pre-existing condition suffers a lost time industrial injury or occupational disease and documentation supports that the pre-existing condition delayed the employee’s recovery.

The BWC has recently proposed terminology changes related to this program. Effective April 6, 2023, Ohio Revised Code 4123.343 was revised, and the term “handicapped employee” was replaced with “employee with a disability”. To the align with the 2023 change, the BWC is scheduled to hold a public hearing on February 15, 2024, to finalize changes to Ohio Revised Code 4123-3-35 to update references to “handicap reimbursement” to “disability relief”.  These updates affect code terminology only and do not change program eligibly criteria.

To prepare for this upcoming terminology change, Sedgwick has begun updating correspondence materials to reflect the change from “handicap reimbursement” to “disability relief” and expect those updates to be completed soon. Although the program name is changing, Sedgwick cost containment services will continue to be best-in-class. Our dedicated team of experienced disability relief colleagues will continue to review eligible claims for relief opportunity, file disability relief applications, and achieve favorable outcomes on behalf of our clients.

For questions regarding the disability relief program, please contact Manal Elfishawy at Manal.Elfishawy@Sedgwick.com.