At the onset of a WC policy, employers provide payroll projections to their insurance company to classify their payroll exposure. Payroll projections are a key component in determining Workers’ Compensation premium.
COVID-19 required many employers to have their employees working from home or in a different classification code than originally projected. As a result, if your employees were working from home or performing different roles than initially expected, we recommend you review your current payrolls & classification codes as there may be premium savings.
Below is an example of potential payroll audit considerations:
How to Treat Payroll during COVID-19 for a WC Audit
| Employee Payroll Status (During COVID-19 Pandemic) |
Employee |
Payroll Classification at Audit |
| Paid | No change in job function | Classify per usual class code |
| Working remotely in same job function | Classify per usual class code | |
| Working in a different job function | Re-allocate to proper class code | |
| Not working but continue to receive salary | Allocate to a separate/special code | |
| Unpaid | Not working | Allocate to a separate/special code |
The most important take away is for insureds to maintain detailed records of class code changes for auditors
If you have any questions, your Conner Strong & Buckelew Account Service Team is available to assist.
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