New Ohio Workers’ Comp Law to Help 40,000 Employers

A new law has gone into effect that erases a competitive disadvantage for roughly 40,000 Ohio employers paying workers compensation premiums.

For years, about 40,000 of the roughly 280,000 Ohio employers paying workers’ compensation premiums were paying them twice for the same workers, because if they had operations and employees outside Ohio, many were paying premiums in the other state as well as in Ohio.

The new law enables Ohio employers to submit payroll data that includes payments for labor and services performed only in Ohio. The employers can only file their reports this way if they have coverage from another state for work performed in that state. The data is used by the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation to determine the premiums that businesses pay.

Did the actions of other states have a role in this change in Ohio law, some officials asked? It is true that other states, including Kentucky, New York and Florida, began requiring Ohio-based employers with operations in those states to pay premiums for the work done locally. That left some Ohio-based employers paying premiums in two states for the same workers. Many started to complain.

With the new law employers based in another state must purchase Ohio workers’ comp coverage for temporary workers in the state, unless the state where the employer is based offers some degree of coverage for Ohio-based employers with operations in the other state. The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation says it is trying to negotiate with as many other states as possible so that businesses will have the least possible burden.