Member Benefits

Dear Employer:

Each year Ohio employers have the opportunity to participate in BWC’s Group-Experience-Rating Program or Group-Retrospective-Rating Program. While these programs are not required, they do provide you with an opportunity to significantly reduce your workers’ compensation premiums, while increasing your awareness of safety and risk-management strategies.

Workplace safety is an important component of these programs. To succeed in accident prevention, we encourage you to use the many resources available to you. We believe a group-rating program is a partnership that includes you and your employees, your sponsoring organization or third-party administrator (TPA) and BWC. Each has specific roles and responsibilities, all designed to assist in preventing workplace accidents. This letter outlines the safety services expectations you should have as an employer enrolled in a group-rating program.

The goal of this collaborative effort is to make sure all your safety needs are met. Using these resources will assist you in preventing accidents, reducing claims costs and achieving the highest discounts possible. Below you’ll find contact information for various resources.

Group Sponsor:

TPA: Sedgwick Claims Management Services https://www.sedgwick.com/ohiotpa

BWC: https://info.bwc.ohio.gov/safety, groupratingsafety@bwc.state.oh.us

SOCA Benefit Plan: This new self-funded health program that can lead to more rate stability and is a smart solution that offers potential savings for groups with 50 or fewer employees.

Legal Shield ID Shield: We believe every family and every business deserves affordable legal and identity theft protection. Including you.

No matter how traumatic or trivial your situation, and no matter how large or small your business, we are here to help.

Give Todd Goodwin or Nick Goodwin a call at 855-294-0888 or email Toddg@voluntarymkt.com or Nickg@voluntarymkt.com with questions or schedule an appointment

Worker’s Comp: Hunter Consulting Company in collaboration with SOCA offers members a Group Rating program designed to substantially reduce your company’s rates, which in turn represent significant savings for your business.

Sedgwick: As Ohio’s leading workers’ compensation risk consulting and claims management service provider, Sedgwick strives to exceed customer expectations and reduce the impact of workers’ compensation costs on our clients’ bottom lines. By delivering best-in-class service, Sedgwick is proud to maintain one of the highest client retention rates in the industry.

Our service delivery model is based on a team approach with the client as our focus. Our knowledgeable associates and advanced technologies continue to distinguish us from other Third Party Administrators (TPAs) in Ohio.

https://www.sedgwick.com/ohiotpa

Chamber Energy Program & Chamber Sustainability Program: The Chamber Energy Program provides energy supply solutions for our members’ homes, small businesses, and large commercial operations.

As your trusted partner, we strive to provide education and protection in everything we do.

The Chamber Sustainability Program helps members reduce their energy costs by connecting them with effective efficiency solutions and project funding and financing.

This program can assist you with solution and vendor selection and ensure you are maximizing your ROI using a wide array of available federal, state, and local rebates, grants, incentives, and other funding options.

If you would like to obtain a complimentary bill review to see if you can save on your energy costs and/or improve your energy efficiency, simply choose one of the following options.

• Email a recent copy of your utility bill to billreview@ceateam.com
• Call 330-208-2082

For more information, visit https://chamberenergyprogram.com

Elavon US Bank Processing: a leading payment processor, to provide you with innovative payment solutions to enhance your business. Chamber members who take advantage of Elavon’s payment processing program will get the Chambers preferred partner pricing. Contact John Webb for learn more 937-671-1606 or john.webb@usbank.com

Strategic HR inc.: Strategic HR inc. is an outsourced HR management firm working with organizations that have a lean HR or no HR department. Our HR experts partner with you to support some or all of your HR needs, without adding headcount.

For a free quote contact our experts ChamberSales@strategichrinc.com

Did you know that many alternative discounts are available to help reduce your annual Ohio workers’ compensation costs?

Through the Fairborn Area Chamber of Commerce workers’ compensation program, your organization can significantly reduce your workers’ compensation costs through a variety of alternative rating programs.

Our program, administered by Sedgwick, offers you quality service and stability through the complex workers’ compensation environment.

For over 50 years, Sedgwick has been helping employers navigate Ohio’s workers’ compensation system, providing services to help them control claim-related costs and reduce premiums.

Our team includes the experienced colleagues from CompManagement and CareWorks Comp. The two companies merged and are now Sedgwick. Together, we serve nearly 65,000 Ohio employers including organizations of all sizes operating in various industries across the state. Group rating programs administered by Sedgwick have produced over $4 billion in savings since group rating was introduced in 1991, and their group retrospective programs have returned over $630 million in premium refunds since the program began in 2009.

If your organization is not yet participating in this member benefit, and you would like to receive a free, no-obligation analysis from Sedgwick, email our Business Development Manager, Julia Bowling at julia.bowling@sedgwick.com

Contact Sedgwick:

Julia Bowling

Phone: 513-218-4062

Email: julia.bowlingl@sedgwick.com

Website: www.sedgwick.com/ohiotpa

Sedgwick Safety Resource Page

www.sedgwick.com/ohiotpa/resources

BWC Division Of Safety & Hygiene

https://info.bwc.ohio.gov/about-bwc/safety-and-hygiene

For a no obligation online quote:

https://ohiotpa.sedgwick.com/AC3/GroupRating.aspx?Organization=Fairborn

Employers must pay premiums timely to the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) to receive and maintain workers’ compensation coverage.

Through the year, employers have been making premium installment payments based on estimated payroll. As we near the conclusion of the 2021 policy year (July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022), BWC will be requiring all employers to reconcile (“true-up”) the payroll that was used to estimate their premium with their actual payroll for the policy year.

Important Reminders

BWC mailed 2022 estimated annual premium notices along with your installment schedule around May 1, 2022.

• If you expect your payroll to change during the 2022 rating year from the estimate provided, you can call BWC at 800-644-6292 and request a change to your payroll and installment schedule.
• Failure to make installment payments based on the installment schedule can result in lapses in coverage, therefore make sure installment payments are paid by the due dates as noted on the installment schedule. The first installment payment will be due by mid/late June 2022.
• If you pay your full 2022 premium by the June installment due date, you can earn a 2% Early Payment Discount. There is no need to switch to an annual installment, but the premium must be paid in full by the due date. BWC will issue the 2% refund the following month.

BWC will mail notices regarding the July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022 true-up around July 1, 2022. True-up reporting and payment is due by August 15, 2022.

• Failure to true-up and pay any additional premium will result in your policy being removed from all discount and rebate programs and it will remain ineligible for discounts and rebate in future years.

Employers can receive a rebate for paying premiums and completing true-up online with BWC’s Go- green Rebate Program.

If you have any questions regarding premium installments or the true-up process, contact our Sedgwick program manager, Julia Bowling at 513-218-4062 or julia.bowling@sedgwick.com.

Developing an effective safety program is key to a healthy workplace for your employees and your bottom line.

Not only are there costs associated with injuries but there are other affected areas such as employee morale and potential violations that could result in expensive fines.

The benefits of implementing an effective safety program, according to OSHA, include:

• Prevent workplace injuries and increase employee morale
• Improve compliance with laws and regulations
• Reduce costs, including potentially significant reduction in workers’ compensation premiums
• Engaged workers
• Enhanced social responsibility goals
• Increased productivity and better overall business operations

It may seem like a daunting task to create a safety and health program but if you break it down, it will be much easier to develop. A successful safety program is built around key elements. Some of the key elements when creating a safety program include:

1. Management leadership/employee participation and commitment to safety
   a. Commitment and participation demonstrate the need for a strong and effective safety program from all levels of management.
2. Learn the requirements for your industry
   a. There are many requirements and regulations that pertain to industry and knowing which ones relate to your organization is key to efficiency and effectiveness.
3. Hazard identification, assessment, control and prevention
   a. Workplace hazard assessment should be a team effort between employers and employees.
   b. Once identified, come up with a strategy to eliminate or minimize these hazards.
4. Education and training for the workforce
   a. Always educate and train employees about the hazards, how to identify them and how to report them.
5. Injury and illness tracking
   a. Tracking your injuries and illnesses and near misses will help uncover hazardous situations.
6. Program review and updating
   a. Never stop evaluating the workplace for hazards. Successful safety programs are an ongoing process.
7. Communication with outside organizations
   a. Outside vendors, contractors and temporary employees need to understand the safety program to ensure a healthy workplace.

Creating an effective safety program needs to included involvement from all levels of management. It goes beyond just writing it up, but includes a thorough review of hazard evaluation, hazard control and employee training.

Continuing to be successful with a safety program is an ongoing process. Remember, do not try to do it all at one time. It will take time!

For more information, please contact Sedgwick’s Andy Sawan at 330-819-4728 or andrew.sawan@sedgwick.com.

July 2023

Dear Employer:

Each year Ohio employers have the opportunity to participate in BWC’s Group-Experience-Rating Program or Group-Retrospective-Rating Program.

While these programs are not required, they do provide you with an opportunity to significantly reduce your workers’ compensation premiums, while increasing your awareness of safety and risk-management strategies.

Workplace safety is an important component of these programs.

To succeed in accident prevention, we encourage you to use the many resources available to you.

We believe a group-rating program is a partnership that includes you and your employees, your sponsoring organization or third-party administrator (TPA) and BWC. Each has specific roles and responsibilities, all designed to assist in preventing workplace accidents.

This letter outlines the safety services expectations you should have as an employer enrolled in a group-rating program.

The employer will:

• Maintain a safe workplace.
• Attend safety training to enhance workplace safety;
• Use BWC’s safety services as needed;
• Fulfill the required two-hour training requirement and provide proof of attendance to sponsor for claim(s) occurring within the last year.

The certified primary and affiliated sponsoring organizations will:

• Sponsor eight hours of safety training (this may be done at one time or may be provided incrementally as long as the total is at least eight hours);
• Provide information regarding safety resources to group members;
• Possibly assist an employer in achieving its safety needs;
• Manage employer fulfillment of the two-hour training requirement, where applicable;
• Publish this letter to group members.

The TPA may:

• Assist sponsoring organizations with fulfilling the group-rating safety requirements;
• Assist an employer with its safety needs;
• Work in conjunction with sponsors to develop safety training and deliver safety resources;
• Provide resources for claims handling.

BWC will:

• Monitor group-rating safety activities to confirm requirements are met;
• Remain in communication with sponsoring organizations to provide recommendations for fulfilling safety requirements;
• Provide safety training through Ohio’s Center for Occupational Safety & Health;
• Offer on-site safety consultation (hazard assessments, air and noise monitoring, ergonomics evaluation, training) by a BWC safety professional;
• Offer publications and videos for safety program support;
• Conduct employer visits to confirm the employer is meeting group-rating requirements, when appropriate.

The goal of this collaborative effort is to make sure all your safety needs are met.

Using these resources will assist you in preventing accidents, reducing claims costs and achieving the highest discounts possible.

Below you’ll find contact information for various resources.

Group sponsor: Southwestern Ohio Educational Purchasing Council

TPA: Hunter Consulting Company

BWC: https://www.bwc.ohio.gov/employer/services/safetyhygiene.asp

Email: groupratingsafety@bwc.state.oh.us

View Official Letter – Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation – Group Rating Safety Accountability

Our Website: https://fairbornchamber.com

Our Facebook Page: Fairborn Area Chamber of Commerce

Discounted prices to be a vendor at our Annual Halloween Festival.

Various Networking Events throughout the year.