Premium audit
It is important that your payroll records be accurate, because they're a key part of determining how much you pay for workers' comp insurance and in establishing fair payroll reporting for all Oregon employers.
A premium audit is a review of an employer's business operations and worker duties, and an examination of payroll books and accounting records. Oregon Administrative Rules require insurers to investigate all possible sources of employee earnings, including payments to uninsured contract employment.
Policies are selected for premium audit based on multiple criteria, including size, rating characteristics, and business rules.
Our goal is to ensure accurate payroll reporting, which determines the premium you pay. Auditors verify that you correctly reported all subject workers and reported the payroll in the proper rate classification. It is your responsibility to document gross, subject, and excluded payroll by employee and in summary by classification. Learn more about submitting a payroll report.
Which records are audited
The records audited depend on the type of records you keep. An audit review may include:
- Verbal interview and tour of premises
- Employee job descriptions
- Basic information about your policy
- Ownership status of your business
- Rate classifications
- Payroll records
- State unemployment and Federal Form 941 reports
- Annual Farm Form 943
- Income tax filings
- Cash disbursement journal
- Check register
- Bank statements
- General ledger
- Job contracts/invoices
- Job costing reports
- Total acreage by farm crop
- Certificates of insurance for subcontractors, or
- Construction Contractors Board registration on independent contractors
- Landscape Contractors Board registration
- Contract labor agreements
- Verifiable time records used to divide payroll by rate classification
- Other records may be requested by the auditor when necessary.
Appealing your premium audit
If you disagree with the results of a SAIF premium audit, you have the regulatory right to appeal your audit to the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS).
Your appeal must be made directly to DCBS no later than 60 days from the date you receive your initial or revised final audit billing. The 60-day period for initiating your request continues to run even though SAIF may be working with you in an attempt to resolve the disagreement. Your final premium audit billing letter will contain instructions on how you can appeal the audit.