For Employers
Business Personnel Changes
Employer Information Seminars
Updates from L&I's "News for Small Business":
1) 2010 Workers' Comp Rates Average 7.6 Percent Increase
2) New Workers' Comp Quarterly Report Form Launched
3) Save Money: Provide On-the-Job Training for an Injured Worker
Business Personnel ChangesHave there been any changes of key support staff within your company? Have you stopped receiving COHE email notification that a Report of Accident has been filed on an injured worker, or noticed you’re not getting Activity Prescription Form updates like you used to? Remember to update with the COHE office anytime you:
• change your organization’s contact person(s) for workers’ comp claims, or;
• you have a new physical or mailing address, telephone number, or email address(es)
To view the current information COHE has on file for your organization, you may access our website, www.gocohe.com and click on “Participants Eastern WA COHE”, then “Participating Employers”, then choose the county and company by name. Or you may contact Carol Thornburg at (509) 456-3222 or toll free at (866) 247-2643. Employer information may be updated via phone by contacting Carol or via email (coheinfo@st-lukes.org).
Employer Information Seminars 
The January 29, 2010 Employer Information seminar provided an overview of COHE and was intended to familiarize new employers with the project and provide them with the opportunity to become participants. Guest speakers included Richard Freeman, MD, of Spokane Regional Occupational Medicine, Mark Houk, DC, from Houk Chiropractic Clinic, and Suzanne Heeren , Corporate Risk Manager at Red Lion Hotels. If you weren’t able to attend, the seminar was recorded on DVD and copies are available by contacting the COHE office at (866) 247-2643, (509) 456-3222, or coheinfo@st-lukes.org.
The next Employer Information seminar will be follow up to June 2009 FMLA, ADA and Workers Compensation: How to Manage the “Three-Headed Monster”. This was presented by Staci Franz, Human Resources Generalist at Inland Northwest Health Services. Prior to the seminar, participants will be provided with the opportunity to submit difficult/complex cases for staffing. The seminar will be broadcast live via Northwest TeleHealth (see available TeleHealth sites below). More information and a formal invitation will follow.
Updates from L&I's "News for Small Business":
1) 2010 Workers' Comp Rates Average 7.6 Percent Increase
Most employers will see a workers' comp rate increase in 2010, given that overall average rates for workers' compensation premiums will increase by 7.6% next year due to higher medical, time-loss and pension costs.
L&I Director Judy Schurke said the agency made the increase as small as possible while ensuring that the workers' comp fund meets its obligations to injured workers.
At Gov. Gregoire’s direction, Schurke convened a group of business and labor leaders to examine ways to control long-term costs to the workers’ compensation system. Workers' comp program managers also have intensified their efforts to reduce operational costs of managing the system while protecting benefits that injured workers receive.
Two of the biggest factors that influenced this rate increase are health-care inflation and wage inflation, up 8.5 percent and 3.4 percent last year, respectively. Because Washington premiums are based on hours worked, L&I must explicitly adjust rates for wage inflation. Other states assess premiums as a percentage of payroll hours and, as a result, revenue automatically goes up as wages increase, without the need for a formal rate increase.
The 7.6 percent rate increase, which will bring in an additional $117 million, is an average for all Washington employers Average premiums will go up by about 4 cents per hour worked. Individual employers could see their rates go higher or lower than 7.6 percent, depending on their recent claims history and any changes in the frequency and cost of claims in their industry.
Workers will pay more too. Washington is the only state where workers pay a significant portion of premiums. Next year, their share will increase slightly to about 28 percent. Employers are entitled to deduct their workers' portion of the premium from employees' paychecks. The annual rate notice will specify the exact amount per hour that you may deduct.
Please call your L&I account manager if you need to know your specific 2010 rates immediately. Your account manager’s phone number is on your quarterly report, or you can find them by calling L&I Employer Services at 360-902-4817.
2) New Workers' Comp Quarterly Report Form Launched
L&I’s new quarterly report form is cleaner and easier to use for employers who prefer to file a paper report rather than use the online filing system.
Changes make the form easier to use, thanks to help from small business owners who tested our early versions and helped us to make useful, practical improvements over the old form.
What’s different?
• The form’s organization is basically the same, but we’ve made it visually clearer and dropped the insurance lingo. For example, we changed the column heading: "Composite rate per hour/unit" to "Your Rate."
• We eliminated the yellow carbon copy with its fine-print instructions. Instead, we now enclose a step-by-step instruction sheet with a visual “map” of the form itself. A late-fee calculator sheet is on the other side if you need it.
To save time and postage, consider joining more than 60,000 business owners who file online with L&I’s Quick File system. You can find it by clicking this link or by selecting the “File Quarterly Reports” link on the L&I home page at www.Lni.wa.gov.
3) Save Money: Provide On-the-Job Training for an Injured Worker
A new on-the-job training program at L&I can help you save on workers’ comp premiums and reduce your risk when filling a job opening. By providing on-the-job training to injured workers, you can get:
• Up to two years of training fees in return for training an injured worker.
• Savings on your workers’ compensation premiums and protection from risk if the injured worker aggravates the original injury or has a new work-related injury or illness.
• The ability to evaluate a worker before taking them on permanently (an employer isn’t required to hire the worker at the end of the training).
Interested? You can read more by, or by contacting your nearest L&I consultant:
· Northwest Washington: Rick Freitas, 360-416-3050
· Southwest Washington: Sally Irish, 360-902-4837
· King County: Peggy Halstead, 206-515-2818
· Pierce County/Central Peninsula: Steve Hagoski, 253-596-3874
· Central Washington: Jack Patton, 509-886-6571
· Eastern Washington: Candace Shroll, 509-324-2593
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