The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation said it plans to return $1.6 billion in premiums to the 248,000 private and public employers in Ohio that it covers. That is about equal to the amount the employers paid in premiums in 2018.
Checks will go out this month, the bureau said Wednesday.
“This dividend is possible in no small part to the employers in our state that have worked hard to improve workplace safety and reduce injury claims,” Stephanie McCloud, the bureau’s administrator, said in a statement. “We are also fortunate that despite the market’s recent downturn, our fiscal position is strong enough to allow for this dividend while maintaining funds to take care of injured workers for years to come.”
The bureau’s board is expected to vote on the proposal Friday.
Of the $1.6 billion, $1.4 billion will go to private employers and $200 million will go counties, cities, public schools and other government employers.
The bureau will apply the money to an employer’s outstanding balances first. Any amount exceeding those balances will go the employer.
While this particular rebate is tied to the coronavirus outbreak, the bureau has been awarding similar rebates in previous years along with cutting rates.
The bureau has said these rebates are possible because of strong investment returns on the premiums it collects and a decline in claims. There also has been an emphasis on employers improving workplace safety.
But the proposal does follow other moves by the bureau to ease the strain on employers this year from the coronavirus pandemic that has all but shut down restaurants, bars, offices and other businesses.
In late March, the bureau told employers they could defer their monthly premium installment payments for March, April and May until June 1. It also waived or postponed some requirements and deadlines for several programs that reduce employer premiums and applied the discounts automatically.
If approved by the board, the dividend would be the sixth of $1 billion or more since 2013 and seventh overall in that time.
On top of that, the bureau lowered premium rates in recent years, including a 10% cut for public employers that took effect in January and a 13% cut for private employers that begins July 1.
In total, the bureau has saved employers approximately $10 billion in workers’ comp costs since 2011 through dividends, credits, rate reductions and greater efficiencies.