Employers
who maintain workers compensation insurance for their workers
are subject to two types of payment: (1) the insurance premium and
premium assessment; and (2)
the Workers Benefit
Fund (WBF) assessment.
The insurance premium is what employers pay insurers for workers
compensation insurance coverage. The State of Oregon does not collect
insurance premiums, and insurance premiums do not fund state programs
or services.
The workers compensation premium assessment, which insurers
calculate as a percentage of the insurance premium paid by employers,
is collected by insurers at the same time they collect insurance
premiums. The insurers then pay the premium assessment to the State.
It funds administrative costs of the workers compensation
system, non-complying employer claims, a portion of OR-OSHA administrative
costs, and other related programs. The premium
assessment rate is 4.6 for 2008.
The WBF assessment is a payroll assessment calculated
on the basis of hours worked by workers covered by workers
compensation insurance. Employers pay this assessment, along with
other payroll taxes, directly to the State. The WBF assessment funds
programs for direct benefits to injured workers and the employers
who help make it possible for them to return to the workforce. The
rate was lowered for 2007 to 2.8 cents per hour from the 2006 rate
of 3.0 cents per hour, and will remain at 2.8 for 2008.
Note that prior to the year 2000, the WBF assessment was known as
the workers compensation cents-per-pay assessment.
For more information on the WBF assessments, visit Fiscal
and Business Services WBF Assessment information.
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