by Kory Wells, WorkCompEdge Blog Editor
Trick or treat, WorkCompEdge blog readers. In the spirit of Halloween, this week we offer some scary stories contributed by our staff. Some are true and some are imagined, but all illustrate concepts of which employers should beware. Can you tell which is which?
Of course, we think the scariest thing of all is an employer who doesn’t understand their experience mod!
Category 1: Do we really want this employee returning to work?
The employee who tried to siphon liquid chemicals with his mouth.
The skull and crossbones must not have been enough. Now there has to be a label that says
“use an approved siphoning device.”
The employee who instigated an assault that led to work comp claims for himself and another employee.
Talk about needing an improvement in corporate culture.
Category 2: They said that?
Employer: “What’s wrong with putting our gear machine operators in code 8810?”
8810 is the common code for office and clerical workers. A manufacturer classifying all employees in this category would probably be charged with, let’s see, falsifying business records and committing a fraudulent practice.
Employer, in incredulous tone: “That’s the sixth work comp claim this employee has made?”
Needless to say, they hadn’t been doing much with claims management.
Employer, on buying work comp insurance: “I went with the low bid.”
Cliches are usually true. You get what you pay for.
Employer, on buying work comp insurance the next year: “I don’t know why my premiums went up so much this year.”
It’s called experience rating. Your agent should be helping you understand it.
Agent to employer: “The mod? I really can’t explain it, but I know it’s better if it’s low.”
Time for a new agent!