# Workmans Compensation



## MileHigh (Nov 6, 2007)

I need to acquire workmans compensation for my business in order to lock up this contract, and hopefully a few more. I guess I need it for myself and for any workers I will have on site.

What are you guys paying for this out there? I heard they base the rates off what your payroll is.


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## stroker79 (Dec 2, 2006)

im waiting on my quote from ADP.com right now.


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## bribrius (May 5, 2007)

dunno but i wouldnt mind having workmans comp. i could stay home all winter and watch cartoons.

DORA THE EXPLORER FOR PRESIDENT!!!!!


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## stroker79 (Dec 2, 2006)

Thanks for the new sig quote!


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## RLM (Jan 12, 2006)

Mine goes through my payroll company. They take care of all of it, its an extra charge on a weekly basis (for the comp), but I don't have to deal with a big premium at one point then an audit, etc, its taken care of.


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## QuadPlower (Jan 4, 2007)

You can't get workmans comp on your self as the owner of the company.

If you could, it would be like bribrius said and everyone would file and stay home all winter. And I think you can only do unemployeement if you are a corp of some kind.


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## basher (Nov 13, 2004)

bladescape2;600766 said:


> I need to acquire workmans compensation for my business in order to lock up this contract, and hopefully a few more. I guess I need it for myself and for any workers I will have on site.
> 
> What are you guys paying for this out there? I heard they base the rates off what your payroll is.


They base it of payroll and the state determines the rate. They classify your business, and workers i.e. PA wants $.54 per 100 dollars paid to the employee for clerical, DE wants $1.21. Weld Shop workers are $5.? (I forget.)

In Pa, DE, MD I know from first hand experience you are required by law to have Workman's comp on ALL employees.



QuadPlower said:


> You can't get workmans comp on yourself as the owner of the company.


candidate for gibberish of the day

officers can option out of Workman's comp but it's required for employees. If you do opt out of W/C be sure you have good health insurance and dis-ability insurance.

Un-employment insurance on the other hand, owners can't collect, unless you're a corporation and you dissolve the business. Though you can ask to pay it at the state level for the fed un-employment credits.


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## stroker79 (Dec 2, 2006)

Well I just got my WC quote back. 

For lawncare Im paying $3.92 per $100
For snowplowing its at $9.86! per $100

They have plowing classified as streets and roads which I do not do so I want to have that changed in hopes of it going down. The INS company is Guard INS group.

Also, you CAN get WC for the officers of the company, not sure where you heard that you cannot?? I opted out of it for the summer but im included during the winter.


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## MileHigh (Nov 6, 2007)

stroker79...That seems real high...

They basically want 10% of your payroll for snow? That's insane.


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## stroker79 (Dec 2, 2006)

yeah but im not taking a personal check during the winter so im not too worried.


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## BigLou80 (Feb 25, 2008)

bladescape2;601624 said:


> stroker79...That seems real high...
> 
> They basically want 10% of your payroll for snow? That's insane.


WOW you guys need to wake up to the reality of being a legit business. By the sounds of a lot of the replies here not to many of you are playing by the rules (at least in my state anyhow) I pay 18% for my commercial construction and right around $10 for residential construction. Because thats how my business is classified(construction) the best I can get is $10.00

I don't like it any more then the rest of you but its a fact of life thats called overhead. I add it to my price and call it a day. Its also nice knowing that if one of my employees take a fall or throw out thier back with a shovel they can't come back and sue me.

Lou


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## BigLou80 (Feb 25, 2008)

stroker79;601636 said:


> yeah but im not taking a personal check during the winter so im not too worried.


how are you going to support your self during the winter ?


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## basher (Nov 13, 2004)

If you are an owner of a corp you can take corp dividends!

no W/C, no unempl., SS, none of that, you pay capital gains on it but if your account is any good TALK TO YOUR ACCOUNTANT before playing this game, you have to do it right or it will screw you in the long run.


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## T-MAN (Jan 9, 2001)

The reason your quoted rates are so high is do to not having an experience rating. You are not established with comp so you have no rating. You are thrown into a pool with other no ratings, cancellations, or high risk (lots of claims). As you pay over the years you are issued a rating each year. It is based on how much you pay in, and what claims you have. It is called your Experience rating.
Once you pay in for about 3 years you will start to see reductions if you dont have a bunch, or major claims. Honestly dont think you will find a carrier that will be half or much lower. The rate is set by your state, so the only wiggle room will be in the Agents cut, or the Carriers profit. 
The other thing you need to do is "bundle" your policys as most Carriers wont just sell comp. One word of advice is DO NOT get canceled, as you will then join a black list and you will be on it till you can get your rating up. Its important to do your best to protect this rating.
Good luck, and welcome to my nightmare LOL


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## jglandscaping (Dec 31, 2004)

NH State law requires that ANY members of a company (owners of an LLC, board members, office or field workers) MUST have W/C on yourself. It is determined by state and way the company is setup, LLC, Corp, Sole proprietor.



basher;601978 said:


> If you are an owner of a corp you can take corp dividends!
> 
> no W/C, no unempl., SS, none of that, you pay capital gains on it but if your account is any good TALK TO YOUR ACCOUNTANT before playing this game, you have to do it right or it will screw you in the long run.


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## stroker79 (Dec 2, 2006)

BigLou80;601953 said:


> how are you going to support your self during the winter ?


My wife is the bread winner right now. We live off her salery and keep all the money in company.

To respond to your previous post, I THOUGHT I had WC before. That may sound crazy but I pay ADP to process my payroll and handle my taxes and all. I had requested to have WC. Not knowing the processes in starting and owning a company I did not realize what it takes to start it up. I make sure to the best of my knowledge that I am legit and stay that way. That is why I have an experianced company take care of all my paperwork. I could sit down and learn it all, but why? Then I have even more crap to do. As far as I know now, I am completely legit and proud of that. from day one I have had plenty of ins coverage and the whole 9 yards.



T-MAN;602133 said:


> The reason your quoted rates are so high is do to not having an experience rating. You are not established with comp so you have no rating. You are thrown into a pool with other no ratings, cancellations, or high risk (lots of claims). As you pay over the years you are issued a rating each year. It is based on how much you pay in, and what claims you have. It is called your Experience rating.
> Once you pay in for about 3 years you will start to see reductions if you dont have a bunch, or major claims. Honestly dont think you will find a carrier that will be half or much lower. The rate is set by your state, so the only wiggle room will be in the Agents cut, or the Carriers profit.
> The other thing you need to do is "bundle" your policys as most Carriers wont just sell comp. One word of advice is DO NOT get canceled, as you will then join a black list and you will be on it till you can get your rating up. Its important to do your best to protect this rating.
> Good luck, and welcome to my nightmare LOL


Thanks for that explanation! Thankfully as my payroll company processes the payroll they take out from my account what is needed for WC right then based on the hours that reported. I like it that way because then I dont have to save the money or worry about the reports/paperwork. they do it all.


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## bribrius (May 5, 2007)

stroker79;602324 said:


> My wife is the bread winner right now. We live off her salery and keep all the money in company.
> 
> To respond to your previous post, I THOUGHT I had WC before. That may sound crazy but I pay ADP to process my payroll and handle my taxes and all. I had requested to have WC. Not knowing the processes in starting and owning a company I did not realize what it takes to start it up. I make sure to the best of my knowledge that I am legit and stay that way. That is why I have an experianced company take care of all my paperwork. I could sit down and learn it all, but why? Then I have even more crap to do. As far as I know now, I am completely legit and proud of that. from day one I have had plenty of ins coverage and the whole 9 yards.
> 
> Thanks for that explanation! Thankfully as my payroll company processes the payroll they take out from my account what is needed for WC right then based on the hours that reported. I like it that way because then I dont have to save the money or worry about the reports/paperwork. they do it all.


I had a x that owned video stores and did that. Had a payroll company deal with it. The more employees she had to cheaper it was per employee to cut the checks.
As far as legit, I have been around the block enough to know that No company is completley legit. 
When i hear someone say they are totally legit it sends up a red flag in my mind, Never mind innocent mistakes or negligence, multiple people working together to complete some goal........legit is not possible. You can find illegit crap in ALL OF THEM and the government comes up with new laws everyday. Have you checked the laws today? You may not be legit.. Some companies are worse than others..............
That is why uncle sam came up with fines. Course some companies decide the fines are cheaper than being legit but that is another story..... lol.
Last guy i knew that said he ran completley legit went out of business. So maybe he was actually telling the truth.  When you run legit in a illegit environment i guess you dont have a level playing field in which to compete.


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## IMAGE (Oct 21, 2007)

you guys go through a seperate company for WC? I pay mine right to the state. I started as "exemt" and got that certificate. Then I needed WC for a bid, and based on how much(little) I would be paying employees annually (until I grow), I got coverage for $250/yr, the minimum premium. '



bribrius;602340 said:


> I had a x that owned video stores and did that. Had a payroll company deal with it. The more employees she had to cheaper it was per employee to cut the checks.
> As far as legit, I have been around the block enough to know that No company is completley legit.
> When i hear someone say they are totally legit it sends up a red flag in my mind, Never mind innocent mistakes or negligence, multiple people working together to complete some goal........legit is not possible. You can find illegit crap in ALL OF THEM and the government comes up with new laws everyday. Have you checked the laws today? You may not be legit.. Some companies are worse than others..............
> That is why uncle sam came up with fines. Course some companies decide the fines are cheaper than being legit but that is another story..... lol.
> Last guy i knew that said he ran completley legit went out of business. So maybe he was actually telling the truth.  When you run legit in a illegit environment i guess you dont have a level playing field in which to compete.


I am completely legit. people stare at me in wonder when they say, "i'll pay cash" and I just say, ok the price is the same. I make an invoice for EVERY job, no matter how small, because I want to be able to track REAL growth. I also have every insurance I need, and probally more then I need lol. I'm registered with the state. I pay all my taxes. My business is Completely Legit. Just because you may not be, doesnt mean others aren't.


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## cretebaby (Aug 23, 2008)

WC is different in different states, some you pay the state and some go through a typical ins company like amer fam etc


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## basher (Nov 13, 2004)

IMAGE;602346 said:


> I pay all my taxes. My business is Completely Legit. Just because you may not be, doesnt mean others aren't.


You try to be completely legit but I agree it's almost impossable. I met with everybody i could think off, state, country, township, town when we opened a place in MD, still missed a un-employment retraining tax.

The same with PA. they just sent us a notice that if we buy stuff in "tax free" DE to use in the PA location we have to pay sales tax to PA. I've talked to people who have been in business in PA for decades whom have never heard of this law or knew they had to file the form.


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## bribrius (May 5, 2007)

IMAGE;602346 said:


> I am completely legit. people stare at me in wonder when they say, "i'll pay cash" and I just say, ok the price is the same. I make an invoice for EVERY job, no matter how small, because I want to be able to track REAL growth. I also have every insurance I need, and probally more then I need lol. I'm registered with the state. I pay all my taxes. My business is Completely Legit. Just because you may not be, doesnt mean others aren't.


......tymusic


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## BlackIrish (Dec 22, 2007)

bladescape2;601624 said:


> stroker79...That seems real high...
> 
> They basically want 10% of your payroll for snow? That's insane.


Easily 10% and up to 15%, better yet they collect 4x what they pay out, if u exceed the 25% dollar value of allowed claims they have a surcharge for you.


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## Woodland (Sep 17, 2005)

This year I will pay $22 per $100!! Actually, the official rate is about $15 per $100 but since my gross wages never hit the minimum... This was my first year with employees and they are all classified under landscape/gardening - no plowing.


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## Woodland (Sep 17, 2005)

One more thing, In the state of Maine, as I understand it, I am not required to have WC on myself as the owner, however, I can choose to have coverage but...I would pay based on what the carrier determined my salary to be, not what I would actually pay myself. My agent told me that I would be better off getting health/disability insurance for what I would pay for WC.


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## mobee (Sep 21, 2008)

In Ohio my workers comp rate is currently sitting at 17.8% of my total payroll...including officers & owners since I elected shareholder coverage. It's an insane rate, but Ohio requires every corp or Llc to have a valid workers compensation certificate. 

Office employees are covered for far less. 

VERY EXPENSIVE.

Since I happen to be a CPA as well as the owner of this business, I can assure you that workers compensation is NOT the same as unemployment insurance. That's a whole separate tax -- both state and federal taxes. Workers Compensation is only for on-the-job-injury and owners and shareholders can be covered. An owner CANNOT collect unemployment from his / her own business.

And you'd think we aren't taxed enough already. 

When I bid ANY job, we add an additional 30% to our employees wages to cover things like Social Security, Medicare, Federal & State Unemployment taxes and then Workers Compensation.

CHOKE ON IT.

Many commercial customers require a valid Workers Comp certificate be on file, just as in any other construction contracting work.

Every state has different workers comp requirements, but usually if you pay wages, you are subject to whatever your state requires.


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## bribrius (May 5, 2007)

Woodland;602465 said:


> This year I will pay $22 per $100!! Actually, the official rate is about $15 per $100 but since my gross wages never hit the minimum... This was my first year with employees and they are all classified under landscape/gardening - no plowing.


 Ask if you can claim them as seasonal farm workers so your exempt. Or tell them they are seasonal farm workers. 



Woodland;602468 said:


> One more thing, In the state of Maine, as I understand it, I am not required to have WC on myself as the owner, however, I can choose to have coverage but...I would pay based on what the carrier determined my salary to be, not what I would actually pay myself. My agent told me that I would be better off getting health/disability insurance for what I would pay for WC.


yes, Make sure you check on that with how your business is incorp. I think there is paperwork to file in some cases to waive comp on yourself..


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## Jay brown (Dec 26, 2005)

we pay $30 per $100 and our exp mod is 1.10 so we pay another 10% on top of that..


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## IMAGE (Oct 21, 2007)

bribrius;602385 said:


> ......tymusic


What? I am not in Canada. Been up to Winnepeg a few times for  though.


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