Washington State Comp Rates Going Up 2 Percent

The average base rate Washington businesses pay for workers compensation insurance will increase by 2 percent in 2016, according to the state Department of Labor & Industries (L&I).

Washington businesses and employees pay workers comp premiums to help cover the cost of providing wage replacement and disability benefits, as well as medical treatment of work-related injuries and illnesses. The money also goes toward building reserves to protect the workers comp funds against unexpected costs.

L&I uses wage inflation as a benchmark to help determine workers comp rates for the coming year because as wages climb, the cost of providing coverage rises.

Washington’s most recent wage inflation rate is 4.2 percent. The 2016 premium increase is less than half that amount, in part because of significant cost saving by the agency over the last year.

Workers’ compensation premium increases since 2013 have been between 0.8 percent and 2.7 percent.

The two percent increase for 2016 comes out to a little more than an additional one cent per hour worked.

Rate Increase Average Across Various Companies

The rate increase is an average across all types of businesses.

Many will see smaller increases or even lower rates because they receive a discount for having safe workplaces and low claims costs. Employers and industries with higher numbers of claims and costs will see rate changes of more than two percent.

The new rates take effect Jan. 1, 2016.

Author Kori Shafer-Stack, Editor, Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. is an expert in post-injury response procedures and part of the Amaxx team helping companies reduce their workers compensation costs by 20% to 50%. www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com. Contact: [email protected].

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