How to Save Money When Filing for Workers Comp

The key is to plan so you can mitigate any accidents that might occur in the future.

Whether you’re just starting your business operations or you already have a larger, more established company, you should learn how you can save money on workers’ compensation insurance. The law requires all businesses to conduct workers comp. There are several ways to decrease the amount it costs to take care of your worker’s compensation insurance. A worker’s compensation insurance refers to the assistance given to employees who have injuries or who have fallen sick in the workplace. The purpose of this insurance is to ensure that both the employer and the injured employee receive the assistance that they need. This coverage includes funds for medical expenses, lost salary, ongoing care, and in cases where there is death, funeral expenses.

1. Work on a safety program

Safety programs can be as simple as curating a safety manual, setting safety rules, and establishing incentives for your workers. Employers who invest a little time and energy into a safety program find that their reward is a lower cost coverage due to the experience in modification rating. When you work on a safety program that increases safety awareness through small incentives and ensures that the necessary education is dispersed, the chances of success are higher. Safety programs vary significantly in scope and depth depending on the nature and size of your business, with dangerous and complex industries requiring plenty of details and prevention measures compared to smaller, low-risk sectors. To create a good safety program, you should conduct a quick internal workplace safety audit that can help you identify the risks and establish a solid plan for your program. The following will help you create a workable safety program:

• The physical hazards that can be found in and around your workplace
• Analyze how the previous workers who received compensation got their injuries and develop ways to foresee and mitigate claims before they occur again.
• List down any risks that can be caused by chemicals, fires, and company equipment.

Once you work on the above, you can now create an employee handbook that caters to all the risks identified and distribute it to your employees to sign as an acknowledgment that they have reviewed the safety program.

2. Develop a recovery program for injured employees

Supporting an employee to recover and get back to work after an injury is an essential part of treatment and rehabilitation. Planning to keep your workers’ recovery at work can include:

• Understanding what your worker can do
• Identify suitable duties that they can manage
• Developing a recovery at work plan for your worker 

You can also liaise with the employee to find out what their goal for returning to work looks like so that you can be aware of any issues that may arise and the impact they may have while at work. When you establish a return-to-work program, you can save money by ensuring the claim stays closed. As long as a claim remains open, there will be charges to your insurance money. When an employee comes back to work, even if it’s only part-time, the claim closes, preventing further expenses. Furthermore, injured workers tend to get better quicker when they remain working, even if the tasks assigned are less critical or less demanding than their actual job.

3. Look into whether a claim might be eligible for second injury funds.

A second injury fund refers to compensation where benefits are paid to workers when an injury aggravates a pre-existing permanent health condition. Research shows that several workers who get injured have a pre-existing condition. When your employee with a preexisting impairment happens to suffer from a second injury, you are not responsible for anything else apart from the recent damage. This is something that many employers fail to realize, after which they end up spending an insane amount of money when they don’t need to. Employers who have pre-existing conditions should inform the claims adjuster of the pre-existing injury or condition. They will then calculate the claim’s settlement value and then file the claim with the second injury fund. A workers’ compensation attorney can help you look into these claims if they are available. 

Conclusion

The above loss control and premium saving ideas will help you save money while filing for workers comp. The key is to plan so you can mitigate any accidents that might occur in the future. Your goal should also be to make sure to support your injured employees to come back as soon as they can so they can recover quicker.