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 6.4 for 2011.
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 through 2011.
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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