Who this is for
Any employer, usually from the first employee, though the threshold varies by state. Sole proprietors and partners can often exclude themselves, and sometimes should not.
What it typically covers
Medical costs. Treatment for a work-related injury or illness, with no deductible to the employee.
Wage replacement. A portion of lost earnings while an employee is unable to work.
Rehabilitation. Physical therapy and retraining where a return to the same job is not possible.
Death benefits. Payments to dependants after a fatal workplace incident.
Employer’s liability. Defence when an injury claim goes beyond the compensation system.
What it usually doesn’t cover
Injuries away from work, and commuting in most states
Injuries from intoxication or a deliberate violation of safety rules
Independent contractors, unless a court or an auditor decides they were employees
Ordinary illness that is not occupational in origin
Claims that go unreported past the state’s filing deadline
Classification codes, briefly
Every job on your payroll is assigned a class code, and each code has its own rate per $100 of wages. A carpenter and a bookkeeper at the same firm are priced very differently, so splitting payroll across codes correctly is worth real money. Get it wrong the cheap way and the audit at year end collects the difference, with interest.
How we’d approach it
We review your payroll by class code before we market the policy, because that is where the savings are, then run it across carriers with different appetites for your industry. We also flag anything that will surface at audit, since a clean audit is worth more than a low deposit premium.