Comp Quotes | Summer 2022

AGC retro checks to be mailed early August

The 2020-21 AGC/SAIF workers' compensation group retrospective rating program was evaluated on July 1, 2022. Retro checks will be mailed to policyholders the week of August 1.

During the week of July 18, SAIF agency marketing specialists will be in contact with agents representing employers participating in the AGC group retro product for the 2020-21 policy period. The SAIF team will provide the relevant facts regarding the retro return as well as each agency's list of participating employers. The team will also provide information on how to easily sort and retrieve the documents from the agency inbox that will be available on July 25 via Business Online.

Of note: In the past, the AGC retro evaluations were mailed by SAIF with the retro return checks to the policyholders. However, the AGC evaluation is now treated like all other retros evaluated in Guidewire and it is the agent’s responsibility to provide the retro evaluation to the employer.

View the AGC Group retrospective timeline.

As we prepare for the October 1 renewal of the AGC group participants, some updates are being made to the underwriting eligibility criteria. The loss ratio and frequency criteria will be modified to be consistent with the criteria for our other group programs.

Additionally, the 2022-23 AGC product information will be available on August 1, and a training will take place on August 9 at 11 a.m. To view the product information, please log into your SAIF Business Online account, then choose “Competitive Resources,” then “AGC/SAIF Product.”

If you have questions, please contact your agency marketing specialist.

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2022 Workers’ Comp Seminar | A recap

  

A buzz returned to the Salem Convention Center as 140 appointed agents and SAIF employees greeted each other in person for the 30th SAIF Workers’ Compensation Seminar.

General sessions 

President and CEO Chip Terhune kicked the seminar off by outlining SAIF’s current initiatives and recent financial performance in the first general session.

Then, state economist Mark McMullen of the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis detailed the impact of the current inflationary boom and labor shortage on Oregon’s economy.

After a lunch break, attorney Chris Morgan of Barran Liebman discussed a wide range of legal updates and employment best practices for 2022.

Finally, SAIF attorneys Larry Schucht and Elaine Schooler provided a summary of recent workers’ compensation cases before Oregon’s Workers’ Compensation Board, Court of Appeals, and state Supreme Court — with a wild weather theme.

Breakout sessions 

Attendees had the option to attend two of three breakout sessions:

• Perspectives from safety and health, and claims: How our teams responded to evolving needs during the pandemic 
• The five Ws of premium audit: Discussion of the hot topics in premium audit 
• Other states coverage program: Filling a need for coverage by Oregon companies who have employees working remotely outside the state

It’s never too early to save the date: Next year’s seminar will be April 4.

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The benefits of timely claim filing

You can help employers understand how everyone benefits from filing a claim quickly.

After a workplace injury, the employer will likely be concerned about many things – the injured employee, making sure responsibilities are covered in their absence, and looking out for any more exposures.

Sometimes the last thing on their list is filing the workers’ comp claim. We want to work closely with them and help with the burden, but that requires the 801 form to be filled out and submitted timely.

The law allows the employer at injury up to five days to report a claim. Just like them, we want to ensure the worker is on their way to healing. The sooner we know about the injury, the sooner we can begin getting benefits out, and assist in mitigating costs and navigating the process to get the employee back to an appropriate level of work. 

These are just some of the benefits of filing an 801 quickly:

• We can deliver benefits promptly and accurately, including time-loss payments. An injured worker may worry about where their next paycheck is coming from. By law SAIF only has 14 days from the employer’s date of knowledge of a claim to pay the initial time-loss benefit. Quicky filing the claim allows SAIF to meet that requirement.
• Filing quickly also avoids the risk of a penalty in litigation.
• The sooner the claim is reported, the sooner SAIF can advise the worker of the claim process. The adjuster can contact the injured worker to review all benefits and timeframes, which reduces their stress.
• Claims that are reported timely are less likely to result in litigation or prolonged time loss.

Learn more about reporting a workplace injury on saif.com.

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Subjectivity: Oregon workers outside of Oregon

Some employers have Oregon workers who perform work outside of Oregon. Those workers could be subject in more than one jurisdiction, commonly referred to as “dual subjectivity” for workers’ comp benefits. Oregon workers deployed to another jurisdiction may continue to be subject to Oregon workers’ compensation benefits if the jobs are temporary in nature (have a beginning and tentative end date, not ongoing, not a permanent relocation, etc.).

A policyholder who employs workers outside of Oregon may need a policy in the states where they work to comply with regulatory requirements and ensure workers are covered appropriately. Obtaining a policy through SAIF’s other states coverage program (a partnership with Zurich) protects employers and allows SAIF to assist in efficient claim processing and payroll reporting. However, employers may also secure a policy with another carrier for those states.

SAIF also has general guidelines to assist policyholders, agents, and SAIF employees in determining worker state subjectivity for industries in which workers may leave Oregon for periods of time. 

If you have any questions, please contact your underwriter or the service center.

This information is provided for educational purposes only. This should not be construed in any way as giving business, legal, or other advice. Subjectivity of a particular individual worker is based on the applicable laws of each State, Territory, or Country applied to the unique factual circumstances of that worker and may vary from this general educational.

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Oregon Supreme Court: Driver of leased truck is a subject worker

Under the law, a person who has an ownership or leasehold interest in equipment and who furnishes and operates the equipment for a for-hire motor carrier is not considered a subject worker. A recent case went all the way to the Oregon Supreme Court.

The driver in this case leased a truck from a for-hire motor carrier under an agreement that paid by the mile and charged back for the lease of the truck and maintenance.  Under the lease, the driver had full possession of and responsibility for the truck, but no ownership interest in it. The agreement prohibited using the leased truck for anything other than hauling loads for this one carrier. After an accident, the driver filed a claim with SAIF for his injuries. SAIF denied the claim on the grounds that the driver fell under the statutory exemption for leasehold interest drivers. An administrative law judge upheld SAIF’s denial.

The claimant appealed the judge’s decision. The Workers' Compensation Board found in the driver’s favor and reversed the judge’s order. SAIF challenged the Board’s decision, and the Court of Appeals agreed with claimant’s argument, concluding that because the driver could only drive for the lessee, the driver did not truly have the ability to “furnish” the leased vehicle as that term was used in the statute. Because the driver could not “furnish” the vehicle except to the lessor, the court found that the driver did not meet the requirements for the exception.

SAIF appealed to the Oregon Supreme Court, which noted that the driver could only operate the leased truck under the specific direction and control of the lessor. In other words, the lease prohibited the lessee/driver from using the truck for any purpose other than carrying loads for the lessor/motor carrier. The court concluded that because the leasehold agreement in this instance did not grant the driver “sufficient authority over the equipment to possess, use, and furnish the equipment as he chooses,” it found that he did not qualify for the subject worker exemption. 

Learn more about the subjectivity of drivers of leased trucks.

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Billing and invoice improvements: What comes next?

SAIF has been working with agents and policyholders to identify issues across our invoicing and billing processes. You spoke, and we listened!

Our billing and invoicing improvements project team continues to work on system customization to make improvements in these key areas:

• Payment plans
• Payroll report
• Invoice
• Credit and payment
• Renewal and reconciliation
• Delinquency and cancellation

As the project team wraps up development, we’ll make sure you’re kept informed of all changes that will impact you and our policyholders. We are hoping to implement system changes sometime in the fourth quarter of this year. Soon, we’ll publish billing and invoice resources on saif.com that will provide more details about the changes. Additionally, we’ll send an email to your agency to provide more context.

For any questions related to the billing and invoice improvement project, please reach out to BIIProject@saif.com.

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New Business Online feature: Email notifications

All SAIF service center policyholders (excluding combinables) that currently have profiles/logins for Business Online can opt in to receive email notifications starting at the end of July.

Those policyholders will be able to receive notifications from Business Online for:

• Payment due
• Payroll due
• Cancellation notice
• Upcoming premium audit
• Expiring certificates

They will still get notifications by old-fashioned paper mail. This feature won’t be available to regional policies or combination policies until the fourth quarter of 2022.

Policyholders should keep an eye out in July for an email that promotes the notification feature. It will provide them with a link to subscribe and a list of topic choices.