Quote of the day
"But we do know that ... possibly up to 16,000 small businesses have been overpaying for workers' compensation insurance."
Frank Knapp, president of the South Carolina Small Business Chamber
Longtime Workers Feel Squeezed by Winery’s Plan
“For an employer right now, workers’ compensation costs are a major factor in how we run our business. The physical capacity test is to make sure employees in the vineyard can do the work and won’t get hurt doing it,” says Charles Krug winery CFO Tom Fossey, about its plan to replace unionized employees with a vineyard manager who brings his own work crews. By Julissa McKinnon, St. Helena Star
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South Carolina Small Biz Advocate Say Many Pay Too Much
A study conducted for the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce shows that more than half of small businesses that qualify for reduced premiums from the state’s Second Injury Fund have not received the discount. A proposed increase in workers’ compensation rates is currently before a state judge. By Peter Hull, Charleston Post and Courier
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South Carolina Man Nabbed for Alleged Comp Fraud
A 59-year-old South Carolina resident is arrested on charges he collected more than $300,000 in workers’ compensation while performing physically demanding jobs including mowing, raking, shoveling and handling bagged topsoil. By AP via the Sun News (Myrtle Beach, S.C.)
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New York Insurance Department to Hold Hearing on Premium Boost
The New York Insurance Department schedules a June 28 public hearing in Manhattan on a proposed 7.5 percent workers’ compensation premium increase. The New York Compensation Insurance Rate Board proposed the rate boost. The Business Review (Albany)
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Delaware Employers Exhorted to Pressure Lawmakers for Reform
With Delaware’s neighboring sites paying less for workers’ compensation insurance, creating a competitive disadvantage, the president of the state chamber says businesses must pressure the state senate to get workers’ compensation reform passed. “You don’t need to know all the details. You just need to say, ‘We need to get workers’ compensation resolved this year,'” James A. Wolfe tells members at the annual Retail & Small Business Conference. By Eric Ruth, News Journal (Wilmington, Del.)
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Beacon Plans Significant Rate Cut
Beacon Mutual Insurance Co., Rhode Island’s dominant workers’ compensation insurer, files a plan with state regulators for its first rate reduction since 1998. Beacon says it will cut rates for its roughly 14,500 policyholders by an average of 16 percent, which it expects will save Rhode Island employers about $9 million in premiums over 12 months. By Lynn Arditi, Providence Journal
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Bay State Town Inks New Insurance Deal
Belmont, Mass. signs on to a new insurance plan covering property, automobile, boiler and machinery insurance, and liability and workers’ compensation, that town officials say will save it money. By Melody Hanatani, Belmont Citizen-Herald
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