On February 2, 2020 just after 7:25 a.m. with a record-sized crowd standing in 30-degree light snow at Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, that notorious prognosticator Phil emerged from his den and failed to see his shadow due to the overcast conditions, signifying an early spring. Had Phil spotted his shadow, according to folklore, it would have meant six more weeks of winter.
There is just one problem with all of that. Even though Phil didn’t see his shadow in Punxsutawney, PA, countless other groundhogs saw their shadows in other parts of the USA (and Northern Hemisphere for that matter), so that obviously means their will continue to be winter in those geographic locations, right? And where there is winter, there will be winter related accidents. And where there are winter related accidents, there will be winter related workers’ compensation injuries like slips and falls resulting in sprains , strains, broken bones and maybe much worse.
I recently read an article that said, “Injuries from winter weather conditions are not unavoidable…” implying that these ‘accidents’ can be prevented. Well, Webster defines the word Accident as “an unforeseen and unplanned event or circumstance…”, it goes on to say “in law: an unexpected happening causing loss or injury which is not due to any fault or misconduct on the part of the person injured but for which legal relief maybe sought…”. So the article’s author appears to be directly contradicting Webster’s definition of the word ‘Accident’.
While it is possible to mitigate the circumstances that may be causative to an accident it is not possible to prevent all accidents, and winter weather related accidents causing personal injuries, such as those producing workers’ compensation claims are no exception. That’s why employers need to have, in fact they must have, good workers’ compensation coverage even if Punxsutawney Phil predicts an early spring.
States mandate the amount and types of workers’ compensation coverage required for private sector employers like small businesses. So, the question is not so much what coverage or how much coverage, rather it’s about how you secure your coverage and how you pay for it.
Most coverage is based upon the types of employees (work comp class codes) you have working for you and the amount of payroll you are paying for each of those types. Traditional coverage uses your prior year’s payroll premiums, your current payroll at the time of renewal or new coverage, and a multiplier to factor in potential changes which is always a growth factor, plus an experience factor if you have a claims history. Adjustments to your premium are typically made at year-end with what is called a ‘premium-audit’ and you may subsequently receive a sur-charge or a premium credit/refund.
But with a Pay-as-you-go plan based on each payroll computed as part of your payroll program your workers’ compensation premium is always accurate and timely, continually adjusted for actual employee changes and employee wage changes. So, if you would like to ‘Be prepared with workers’ comp that’s pay-as-you go every time you run your QuickBooks Payroll’, then head on over to the QuickBooks Workers’ Compensation website for more details. The QuickBooks Workers’ Compensation offering is provided by Intuit Insurance Services Inc. and AP Intego.
Make sure to register for Insightful Accountant's webinar on Intuit's Workers' Comp offering being held March 4, 2020 at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time, presented by Lynda Artesani and Matthew Fulton. Click here to learn more and register for 6,500 Reasons to Review Your Workers' Comp Policy.
Disclosures:
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