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Policy
Name:
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Self-Insuring
Employer Semi-Annual Assessments
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Policy
#:
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SI-19-02
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Code/Rule
Reference
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Ohio
Revised Code (ORC) 4121.37, 4123.34, 4123.341, 4123.35, 4123.351; & 4123.411; Ohio Administrative
Code (OAC) 4123-17-15.5, 4123-17-29, 4123-17-32, 4123-19-03, 4123-19-05, 4123-19-14, & 4123-19-15.
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Effective
Date:
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New
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Approved:
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Rex
Blateri
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Origin:
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Self-Insured
Department/Employer Services
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Supersedes:
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N/A
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History:
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New
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Review
Date:
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03/01/2026
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I. Policy Purpose
The Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC)
requires employers granted the privilege of self-insurance to pay semi-annual
assessments based on the reported paid compensation.
II. Applicability
This policy applies to self-insuring employers
(SI employers), self-insured alternate employer organizations (SI AEOs),
self-insured professional employer organizations (SI PEOs), their authorized
representatives, and the Self-Insured Department (SI Department).
III. Definitions
A.
AEO
Agreement: A
written contract between a client employer and an AEO to provide human resource
management services and to share employer responsibilities and liabilities.
Upon entering an AEO agreement, a client employer’s worksite employees are
covered under the AEO’s workers’ compensation policy. For purposes of this
policy, the AEO agreement is between a client employer with an active state
fund policy and an SI AEO.
B.
Client
Employer:
A sole proprietor, partnership, association, limited liability company, or
corporation that enters into an AEO agreement and shares employer
responsibility and liability with the AEO, or enters into a PEO agreement and
is assigned shared employees by the PEO, as permitted under Ohio law.
C.
Paid
Compensation:
All amounts of compensation paid in a calendar year by SI employers as outlined
on the Report of Paid Compensation and Case Reserves (SI-40) form.
D.
PEO
Agreement:
A written contract to co-employ employees between a PEO and a client employer
with a duration of not less than twelve (12) months. For purposes of this
policy, the PEO agreement is between a client employer with an active state
fund policy and an SI PEO.
E.
Self-Insured
Alternate Employer Organization (SI AEO): An alternate employer organization that
has been granted the privilege of paying compensation and benefits directly to
worksite employees of client employers.
F.
Self-Insured
Professional Employer Organization (SI PEO): A professional employer organization that
has been granted the privilege of paying compensation and benefits directly to
shared employees of client employers.
G.
Self-Insured
Review Panel (SIRP):
A three-person panel appointed by the Administrator to provide SI employers
with hearings on matters referred to the panel, or as requested by the employer.
H.
Self-Insuring
Employer (SI Employer): An employer that has been granted the privilege of
paying compensation and benefits directly.
I. Semi-Annual Assessments: Contributions made
by every SI employer based on a percentage of paid compensation for the
previous calendar year. Assessments are paid into the following funds:
1.
Safety
& Hygiene;
2.
BWC
Administrative Cost;
3.
Industrial
Commission Administrative Cost;
4.
Surplus
Fund (Mandatory);
5.
Self-Insuring
Employers Guaranty Fund (SIEGF); and
6.
Surplus
Fund (Disallowed Claims Reimbursement).*
*The Surplus Fund
(Disallowed Claims Reimbursement) is optional.
J.
State
Fund (SF) Paid Compensation: All amounts of compensation paid in a calendar year by
BWC in claims assigned to an SI employer, or to an SI PEO’s client employers’
prior state fund policies, as outlined on the SI-40.
IV. Policy
A.
Semi-annual
assessments.
1.
Active
and cancelled SI employers are required to pay semi-annual assessments to BWC
based on the total paid compensation for the previous calendar year as defined
in OAC 4123-17-32.
2.
SI
employer semi-annual assessments apply to all mandatory funds and for those SI employers
electing to participate in the Surplus Fund (Disallowed Claims Reimbursement
Fund).
3.
The
initial assessment is prorated for an SI employer for the first calendar year
of self-insurance to cover the period that self-insurance was in effect but is not
less than the minimum assessment for the calendar year.
4.
BWC
bills assessments in two installments that are payable by the invoice due date.
5.
The
second half assessment installment may be adjusted to reflect a change in paid
compensation resulting from:
a.
A
new entity added to an SI policy;
b.
The
addition of a client employer to an SI AEO or an SI PEO as detailed in section IV.C.
of this policy; or
c.
Adjustments
to the paid compensation total made by the employer or BWC.
6.
Pursuant
to OAC 4123-17-32, when an SI employer’s
paid compensation falls below the annual established amount, an SI employer is
required to pay the minimum assessments.
7.
SI
employer requirements for paying assessments:
a.
Payment
must be received, and posted by the invoice due date, to be considered timely.
b.
Assessments
must be paid online through BWC’s website.
c.
BWC
may grant a waiver to the online payment requirement with written justification
supporting the inability to make the payments online. BWC considers an
employer’s payment history and other factors impacting an employer’s ability to
pay through the Bureau’s website.
d.
SI
employers with outstanding balances are referred to the Ohio Attorney General
for collection.
e.
Active
SI employers may be subject to non-renewal for failure to pay semi-annual
assessments in a timely manner.
8.
If
an SI employer fails to pay the assessments when due, BWC may add a late fee
penalty of not more than five hundred dollars ($500) to the assessments, plus
an additional penalty amount, as permitted in OAC 4123-17-32.
B.
Reported
paid compensation (SI-40).
1.
SI
employers are required to complete the annual SI-40 online by the last day
in February each year.
2.
SI
employers may adjust the SI-40 for two years after the reported calendar year. Any changes
to the paid compensation total made after the second assessment billing are invoiced
with the invoice cycle immediately after the amended SI-40 is filed.
3.
SF
paid compensation is added to the SI-40 for assessment
purposes for no less than a five-year period following the effective date of a
combination.
C.
SI AEO
and SI PEO assessments.
1.
BWC
calculates an SI AEO’s assessment, or an SI PEO’s assessment, by including all
client employers’ paid compensation for no less than five years from the
effective date the AEO or the PEO was granted self-insurance.
2.
BWC
includes paid compensation of all client employers for the previous calendar
year whether or not the AEO agreement or the PEO agreement was initiated during
the policy year pursuant to OAC 4123-17-15.5.
3.
When
an AEO agreement or a PEO agreement terminates, the client employer’s SF paid
compensation that was included for assessment purposes remains in the SI AEO’s
paid compensation or the SI PEO’s paid compensation for the entire policy year
assessment period.
D.
Cancelled
SI employer assessments:
1.
A cancelled
SI employer must continue to report paid compensation, and pay assessments, for
a minimum of ten years after the date of cancellation as outlined in OAC 4123-17-32.
2.
If a
cancelled SI employer reports paid compensation less than the minimum amount as
defined in OAC 4123-17-32, its assessments are reduced
by ten percent (10%) each year until the assessment is phased out.
3.
A cancelled
SI employer that reports less than the established minimum paid compensation
amount for two consecutive calendar years, may pay its remaining assessment
obligations in a single payment.
a.
The
assessments included in the single payment option are limited to amounts paid
for the mandatory funds listed in Section III.G. of this policy.
b.
Upon
BWC approval, the employer is no longer required to submit the SI-40 or pay semi-annual
assessments.
c.
The
employer must continue to reimburse the BWC for Disabled Workers’ Relief Fund
(DWRF) payments, as detailed in the Self-Insured Disabled
Workers’ Relief Fund (DWRF) Assessment Policy.
d.
The
employer must continue to administer any self-insured claims and pay
compensation and benefits pursuant to OAC 4123-19-05.
V. Resolution of
Complaints
A.
Any
complaints or disputes related to this policy must be submitted in writing to
the SI Department, via mail or email, as detailed in the Self-Insured Employer
Dispute/Protest Policy.
Ohio Bureau of Workers'
Compensation
Self-Insured Department
30 W. Spring St., 22nd
Floor
Columbus, Ohio
43215-2256
Email: siinq@bwc.state.oh.us
B.
The
SI employer may file a written appeal of the SI Department’s decision to the
SIRP.