2011 Ohio Revised Code
Title [41] XLI LABOR AND INDUSTRY
Chapter 4123: WORKERS' COMPENSATION
4123.32 Rules for administering state insurance fund.

The administrator of workers’ compensation, with the advice and consent of the bureau of workers’ compensation board of directors, shall adopt rules with respect to the collection, maintenance, and disbursements of the state insurance fund including all of the following:

(A) A rule providing that the premium security deposit collected from any employer entitles the employer to the benefits of this chapter for the remainder of the six months and also for an additional adjustment period of two months, and, thereafter, if the employer pays the premium due at the close of any six-month period, coverage shall be extended for an additional eight-month period beginning from the end of the six-month period for which the employer pays the premium due;

(B) A rule providing for ascertaining the correctness of any employer’s report of estimated or actual expenditure of wages and the determination and adjustment of proper premiums and the payment of those premiums by the employer for or during any period less than eight months and notwithstanding any payment or determination of premium made when exceptional conditions or circumstances in the judgment of the administrator justify the action;

(C) Such special rules as the administrator considers necessary to safeguard the fund and that are just in the circumstances, covering the rates to be applied where one employer takes over the occupation or industry of another or where an employer first makes application for state insurance, and the administrator may require that if any employer transfers a business in whole or in part or otherwise reorganizes the business, the successor in interest shall assume, in proportion to the extent of the transfer, as determined by the administrator, the employer’s account and shall continue the payment of all contributions due under this chapter;

(D) A rule providing that an employer who employs an employee covered under the federal “Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act,” 98 Stat. 1639, 33 U.S.C. 901 et seq., and this chapter and Chapter 4121. of the Revised Code shall be assessed a premium in accordance with the expenditure of wages, payroll, or both attributable to only labor performed and services provided by such an employee when the employee performs labor and provides services for which the employee is not eligible to receive compensation and benefits under that federal act.

(E) A rule providing for all of the following:

(1) If, within two months immediately after the expiration of the six-month period, an employer fails to file a report of the employer’s actual payroll expenditures for the period, the premium found to be due from the employer for the period shall be increased in an amount equal to one per cent of the premium, but the increase shall not be less than three nor more than fifteen dollars;

(2) The premium determined by the administrator to be due from an employer shall be payable on or before the end of the coverage period established by the premium security deposit, or within the time specified by the administrator if the period for which the advance premium has been paid is less than eight months. If an employer fails to pay the premium when due, the administrator may add a late fee penalty of not more than thirty dollars to the premium plus an additional penalty amount as follows:

(a) For a premium from sixty-one to ninety days past due, the prime interest rate, multiplied by the premium due;

(b) For a premium from ninety-one to one hundred twenty days past due, the prime interest rate plus two per cent, multiplied by the premium due;

(c) For a premium from one hundred twenty-one to one hundred fifty days past due, the prime interest rate plus four per cent, multiplied by the premium due;

(d) For a premium from one hundred fifty-one to one hundred eighty days past due, the prime interest rate plus six per cent, multiplied by the premium due;

(e) For a premium from one hundred eighty-one to two hundred ten days past due, the prime interest rate plus eight per cent, multiplied by the premium due;

(f) For each additional thirty-day period or portion thereof that a premium remains past due after it has remained past due for more than two hundred ten days, the prime interest rate plus eight per cent, multiplied by the premium due.

(3) Notwithstanding the interest rates specified in division (E)(2) of this section, at no time shall the additional penalty amount assessed under division (E)(2) of this section exceed fifteen per cent of the premium due.

(4) An employer may appeal a late fee penalty or additional penalty to an adjudicating committee pursuant to section 4123.291 of the Revised Code.

For purposes of division (E) of this section, “prime interest rate” means the average bank prime rate, and the administrator shall determine the prime interest rate in the same manner as a county auditor determines the average bank prime rate under section 929.02 of the Revised Code.

(5) If the employer files an appropriate payroll report, within the time provided by law or within the time specified by the administrator if the period for which the employer paid an estimated premium is less than eight months, the employer shall not be in default and division (E)(2) of this section shall not apply if the employer pays the premiums within fifteen days after being first notified by the administrator of the amount due.

(6) Any deficiencies in the amounts of the premium security deposit paid by an employer for any period shall be subject to an interest charge of six per cent per annum from the date the premium obligation is incurred. In determining the interest due on deficiencies in premium security deposit payments, a charge in each case shall be made against the employer in an amount equal to interest at the rate of six per cent per annum on the premium security deposit due but remaining unpaid sixty days after notice by the administrator.

(7) Any interest charges or penalties provided for in divisions (E)(2) and (6) of this section shall be credited to the employer’s account for rating purposes in the same manner as premiums.

(F) A rule providing that each employer, on the occasion of instituting coverage under this chapter, shall submit a premium security deposit. The deposit shall be calculated equivalent to thirty per cent of the semiannual premium obligation of the employer based upon the employer’s estimated expenditure for wages for the ensuing six-month period plus thirty per cent of an additional adjustment period of two months but only up to a maximum of one thousand dollars and not less than ten dollars. The administrator shall review the security deposit of every employer who has submitted a deposit which is less than the one-thousand-dollar maximum. The administrator may require any such employer to submit additional money up to the maximum of one thousand dollars that, in the administrator’s opinion, reflects the employer’s current payroll expenditure for an eight-month period.

(G) A rule providing that each employer, on the occasion of instituting coverage under this chapter, shall submit an application for coverage that completely provides all of the information required for the administrator to establish coverage for that employer, and that the employer’s failure to provide all of the information completely may be grounds for the administrator to deny coverage for that employer.

(H) A rule providing that, in addition to any other remedies permitted in this chapter, the administrator may discontinue an employer’s coverage if the employer fails to pay the premium due on or before the premium’s due date.

(I) A rule providing that if after a final adjudication it is determined that an employer has failed to pay an obligation, billing, account, or assessment that is greater than one thousand dollars on or before its due date, the administrator may discontinue the employer’s coverage in addition to any other remedies permitted in this chapter, and that the administrator shall not discontinue an employer’s coverage pursuant to this division prior to a final adjudication regarding the employer’s failure to pay such obligation, billing, account, or assessment on or before its due date.

(J) As used in divisions (H) and (I) of this section:

(1) “Employer” has the same meaning as in division (B) of section 4123.01 of the Revised Code except that “employer” does not include the state, a state hospital, or a state university or college.

(2) “State university or college” has the same meaning as in section 3345.12 of the Revised Code and also includes the Ohio agricultural research and development center and the Ohio state university cooperative extension service.

(3) “State hospital” means the Ohio state university hospital and its ancillary facilities and the medical university of Ohio at Toledo hospital.

Effective Date: 03-14-2003; 2006 SB7 06-30-2006; 2007 HB100 09-10-2007; 2008 HB562 09-22-2008