If you have staff who work remotely, you’ll want to pay attention to changes that are coming to the workers’ compensation class code you use for them.
Starting Sept. 1, California’s telecommuter class code will finally get its own pure premium rates, that is lower than what’s currently being charged.
Since many people starting working remotely after the COVID-19 pandemic started in 2020, the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau created a new telecommuter class code (8871) and tethered its pure premium advisory rate to the 8810 clerical classification for easier administration.
Now, under the Rating Bureau’s workers’ compensation regulatory filing which was adopted by the California Department of Insurance on May 25, code 8871 will receive its own rate, separate from the clerical rate. In fact, the new telecommuter rate will be 25% lower than the clerical rate due to the former’s lower losses and higher average payroll.
If you have remote workers, you’ll want to ensure they are in the telecommuter class code to enjoy the lower premium.
Restaurant classification split
The change to the telecommuter classification was part of a larger regulatory filing, which also includes splitting the 9079 restaurant classification into six new codes, effective Sept. 1, 2024. While there will be six codes, they will still be combined for rate-making purposes until the Rating Bureau collects a few years of data from the new codes so that it can set individual rates for each of them.
The new restaurant class codes are:
- 9058 Hotel/Motels/Short-Term Housing — Food/Beverage
- 9080 Restaurants – Full Service
- 9081(1) Restaurants – Not Otherwise Classified
9081(2) Concessionaires - 9082 Catering
- 9083 Restaurants – Fast Food/Fast Casual
- 9084 Bars/Taverns
The approval of the filing also paves the way for employer X-Mods to be updated. It also increases the workers’ comp premium threshold for experience rating (being eligible for an X-Mod) to $10,200 from $9,200 to account for wage inflation.