Washington Proposes 4.9% Increase in Workers’ Comp Rates for 2024

The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries is proposing a 4.9% increase in the average hourly rate employers and workers will pay for workers’ compensation insurance next year.

If adopted, the increase would have employers and workers jointly paying an average of an additional $65 a year for each full-time employee within a business.

“With help from our reserves, we’re finding a balance between charging enough to cover costs and keeping rates steady and predictable, as Washington employers deal with economic uncertainty and lingering impacts of the pandemic,” L&I Director Joel Sacks said in a statement.

In part, the rate increase is needed because Washington has had higher-than-normal increases in the state’s average wage in recent years.

The proposed increase is below what L&I expects to pay for 2024 claims, so the agency says it will augment the premiums with funds from the workers’ comp contingency reserve.

A typical worker will continue to pay about a quarter of the premium. The proposed increase means employees would pay about $11 more on average in 2024, according to L&I.

This will be the fourth year L&I has tapped the contingency reserve to avoid larger increases in premiums. If the agency did not tap into the reserve, it would need to raise average rates nearly 10% to collect enough premiums to cover new claims in 2024, according to L&I.

Public hearings are scheduled for Oct. 26, 27, and 31 to take input on the rate proposal before a final decision is made. The Oct. 26 hearing will be held at 10 a.m. virtually and in person at L&I headquarters in Tumwater. The Oct. 27 hearing will be held at 9 a.m. in person only in Spokane. The Oct. 31 hearing will be held at 10 a.m. in person only in Yakima.

Final rates are expected to be adopted on Nov. 30 and go into effect Jan. 1, 2024.

Topics Trends Workers' Compensation Pricing Trends Washington