A new topic being discussed amidst the pandemic is how to correctly classify employees who are being paid to stay home for purposes of workers compensation. In the case of employees that are still able to perform their core duties while staying home, this may be less applicable, but for many employees who are regularly classified in higher risk categories, there could be a material impact at audit. For example a construction laborer or equipment operator may normally be classified in a higher risk, more costly workers compensation class code; however, they may now be working from home or perhaps even being paid to stay home as they are key personnel. Other examples may include key restaurant personnel such as chefs and managers or key manufacturing employees that are being retained on payroll through these times, but not performing their typical work.
The National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI), state governments, and other workers compensation regulatory bodies are still developing rules and regulations regarding how the payroll paid to these individuals should be classified at audit. While we await further guidance from these governing bodies and our insurance carrier partners, we offer the following 3 recommendations:
For more information on how the NCCI is responding to COVID-19’s Impact on Workers Compensation, click here.
