Tips for Saving on Workers Compensation Insurance in NY
You can get over the sticker shock when looking for New York workers’ compensation quotes by understanding the high cost of not having coverage.
If you’re an employer in New York State, it pays to understand what the state considers to be an employee, because not knowing could be exceedingly costly. The New York State Workers’ Compensation Board takes two pages to define it, and you might be surprised to learn that it includes unpaid volunteers (even family members) and most subcontractors. The bottom line: a workers’ compensation law judge decides whether a person is considered an employee at a hearing following a work-related accident or illness. Unless you want to leave your assets up to a judge, it’s prudent to carry workers compensation insurance in NY. At bare minimum, check out the Board’s handbook.
Not having workers compensation insurance in NY is a criminal offense with fines and/or imprisonment.
An injured employee can bring civil suit. Plus you’re going to end up paying your defense attorney way more than anything you saved not having your New York workers comp coverage.
It gets worse. If an uninsured worker is injured and files a claim or brings civil suit, you could be subject to stop-work orders. You could also find your personal assets and other business assets exposed. Get a workers compensation quote, already!
If you have more than 15 employees, you’re subject to federally mandated Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) anti-disability discrimination statutes. So you need to have an effective pre-employment job application process as part of a well-written workers’ compensation program. While you should be aware of any physical or mental limitations a prospect or employee has, you’re not allowed to as a prospect to divulge his or her medical history. You can ask about the prospect’s ability to do tasks specifically related to the job. Having a legally compliant employment application can help you avoid ADA suits and keep you from putting somebody in a job situation where he or she could get hurt or endanger others.
When looking for workers compensation insurance quotes in NY, it helps to understand the three criteria insurance companies use to establish your premiums. The first in the size of your payroll, evaluated in increments of $100. Secondly, each type of business is classified into different industry categories. Categories with higher risk exposure (a skyscraper window washer, for instance) will typically carry higher premiums than a business where everybody sits in a cubicle doing office work. The third criterion is your specific experience record against the number and severity of injuries incurred. You’re compared against other in your classification and the more accidents you’ve had in the past, the higher your experience modification rating.
