Tips For Saving Money On Workers Compensation Insurance Premiums
In almost all states, companies are required to purchase a workers compensation insurance policy to protect their employees in the event of a workplace injury. While this is an extremely important safety net, workers compensation insurance premiums can be quite expensive and can become a big burden for nearly any business. Luckily, there are several things that a company can do to lower the costs of their workers' compensation insurance policy and ensure that they are paying the lowest premiums possible. If you own a company, use the following tips to help reduce the cost of your workers' compensation premiums:
Create a Safety Plan
Just like any other type of insurance policy, premiums go up the more claims a policy has. Thus, if one or more employees of your company are injured on the job in a short period of time, your workers' compensation insurance premiums will be high. One way to minimize costs is by doing your best to prevent accidents and injuries so no claims need to be filed. The best way to do this is by implementing a comprehensive safety plan and ensuring that all employees are trained in proper safety in the workplace. When your whole company works together to stay safe and prevent accidents, your workers' compensation insurance premiums will go down.
Implement a Return to Work Program
No matter how much your company focuses on safety, accidents can still happen. Workers' compensation insurance is designed to pay for an injured employee's medical care and lost wages. So, the longer an employee is out of work, the bigger the claim will be, which can cause your premiums to go up. One way to lower the amount of time that an injured employee is out of work is by creating a return to work program. This type of program allows employees to return to work as soon as they are medically cleared by a doctor; even if an employee can't immediately do his or her normal job duties, you can assign other tasks until he or she is fully recovered.
Ensure Your Employees are Properly Classified
Workers' compensation rates are determined by how much of a risk it is to ensure a type of employee. Some jobs are a lot riskier than others, so rates will be higher. For example, working as a roofer comes with more risks than working in an office, so it will cost more to insure employees who are classified as roofers. If you want to lower your workers' comp insurance premiums, make sure that each employee is classified correctly. If you do own a roofing company, make sure that your office staff are not classified as roofers — there is no reason to pay more in premiums than you have to.
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