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Will Your Injured Employee Kill Your Business? |
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Date Posted:
Aug 23, 2010 |
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In September 2008 the Ohio Senate passed Senate Bill 334 (SB334) to prevent Ohio Employers from double payment of workers compensation premiums. It also limited injured workers from collecting benefits from multiple states' funds.
Unfortunately, this bill has had some unanticipated problems for Ohio employers. The main issue faced by employers is for injuries that occur outside of Ohio. Many states have modified their coverage requirements to mandate coverage even if your employee is there for just one day. "This change has caused many employers to be self insuring against injuries to their employees, and largely they are not aware of this potentially disastrous gap in their workers compensation coverage," says Doug Fox, President of the Ohio Professional Insurance Agents Association and owner of Diversified Insurance Service, LLC. "If your employees are working outside of the state for any reason, even just incidentally you need to review your exposure and to look to make sure you and your employee are adequately protected," says Fox. Some of the exposures outside of normal job duties we often do not think of would include employee education, sales conventions or just an incidental trip to another state.
The contiguous states around Ohio have different positions. Michigan, Pennsylvania and Kentucky are requiring employees to have coverage regardless of the duration of their work in that state. West Virginia allows 30 calendar days in any 365 day period. Indiana claims no jurisdiction for out of state employees so this gap does not apply there.
What should you do if you have employees that may visit and work outside of Ohio? "It may be a good idea to meet with an insurance professional with a working knowledge of this change and make sure you have coverage in place in the state that your employee works outside of Ohio. If you do not have any regular exposure outside of Ohio you may still want to see if you can get an "All States" workers compensation package" says Doug Fox. Doug Fox can be reached at 800-848-2788 or dfox@divinsurance.com
Workers Compensation Insurance Protection
WC Coverage in Ohio and Other States |
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