Bumble Bee Foods LLC agreed to pay $6 million in fines, restitution and equipment upgrades to settle charges that it willfully violated workplace safety rules that lead to an employee’s death. Two company officials also agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges for their role in the accident. The settlement with the Los Angeles District …
A California employer was denied a 2013 X-Mod by the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau because its insurance carrier failed to report the company’s loss and payroll data before being declared insolvent. The employer challenged the decision; the California Department of Insurance upheld the Bureau’s action. And the decision may open new questions. The Bureau …
Employers hoping to avoid a hit to their experience rating mod by refusing to cooperate with a year-end audit by their workers’ comp carrier might soon be out of luck. The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau is drafting a rule change to close a potential loophole in the experience rating system that is allowing some …
California’s experience rating system could be moving from a single split point for dividing primary from excess losses to one using 90 or more different thresholds based upon the size of the rated employer. The planned changes, according to the Bureau, have the potential to make the system a more accurate predictor, while lessening the …
Compline, our sister company, confirms it will be releasing an electronic submission feature for workers’ compensation in the near future. The electronic submission feature will function as part of its integrated comparative rating feature, and will not cost extra for retail agents and brokers. Compline says the feature will be fully integrated with its other …
Tips to a workers’ comp anti-fraud task force put investigators on the trail of a Riverside area business that is now facing charges it cheated two workers’ comp carriers and stole $2 million in wages from its employees. Prosecutors say the owners and operators of United Paving and Prestige Striping could see up to …
Earned premium in the California workers’ comp market was up 19% last year according to the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau and the vast majority of the increase is due to the rate hikes by carriers. These increases have pushed the average filed rate in the state to $2.56 per $100 of payroll while the …
The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau is considering changing up the process for making its annual workers’ comp rate filing and updating the experience rating plan used to establish X-Mods for employers. The Bureau is considering returning to its former practice of making its annual rate filing in July every year instead of its current …