“Oh I don’t need comp, I’m exempt.” Have you heard this before?

Perhaps it is best to start with a few definitions to clear things up.

In Florida, Every employer is subject to the workers’ compensation act, regardless of how many employees they have¹. The statute more or less states that an employer shall cover the expenses and lost time of any employee hurt on the job.²

An exemption from outside coverage is available from several states when there are certain conditions met, such as 1 employee or less, all employees are also 25% or more owners, etc. This exemption must be applied for, paid for and filed with the state.³

There are no “automatic exemptions.” No one is “exempt” by default. The state must approve the exemption.

Once an employer has received such an exemption, he or she is making a promise to the state that they will pay for all workers’ compensation claims with their own funds. In a phrase, they are “self-insured.”

Some employers argue that being self-insured is enough, since a lawsuit will only proceed against an insurance company. Please be advised that lawyers are aware that most small business owners have other assets, such as homes, cars, retirement funds, children’s college funds, etc. Since some collect a percentage based on what is recovered, it can be profitable to pursue private assets.

Exemptions No Longer Being Honored
Add to this confusion that many larger contractors and municipalities are no longer accepting workers’ comp exemptions in lieu of an actual policy. They have found that lawyers have learned to pierce the veil of an exemption and perform what is known as “climbing the ladder” to the actual contractor in the case of a sub-contractor injury. Exemptions do not protect the contractors.

So is it worth the fee ($50 to $100 for “construction” business based on the state) and the application to get an exemption? A small business owner may consider getting comp coverage instead. There are many options available, including direct policies, “pay as you go” polices from payroll companies (even Paychex and ADP are offering this now) or even the more extensive liability coverage available from a PEO (formerly Employee Leasing Company).

It is true that initially it would appear that an exemption is indeed cheaper. But as is the case with all insurance, consider this: What if something happens? What if someone gets hurt? What if the OWNER gets hurt seriously? Loses a limb or loss of an organ? A properly written and paid workers’ compensation policy will pay for all medical expenses, legal fees and up to two-thirds of lost wages for as long as the injury is in effect.

Choices: It’s left up to the business owner.
The business owner has a decision to make, to run with an exemption or to have peace of mind through a somewhat more expensive workers’ comp policy.
If a small business owner wishes to know more about exemptions, their relative uses and other options available, please use the contact form below.

The authors of this article had assistance from the members of The PEO Message, a Facebook group used to communicate within the PEO and Workers’ Comp industry. Specifically, thanks go to Doug Lilak, Christopher Yarn, Chad Filley, and Jeffrey Rendel for their valued input.

Notes:
From Florida Statutes Chapter 440
¹ 440.03 Application.–Every employer and employee as defined in s. 440.02 shall be bound by the provisions of this chapter.

² 440.02 (16)(a) “Employer” means the state and all political subdivisions thereof, all public and quasi-public corporations therein, every person carrying on any employment, and the legal representative of a deceased person or the receiver or trustees of any person. “Employer” also includes employment agencies, employee leasing companies, and similar agents who provide employees to other persons. If the employer is a corporation, parties in actual control of the corporation, including, but not limited to, the president, officers who exercise broad corporate powers, directors, and all shareholders who directly or indirectly own a controlling interest in the corporation, are considered the employer for the purposes of ss. 440.105, 440.106, and 440.107.

³ 440.05

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When is a worker an employee?

The IRS is targeting the workforce that is incorrectly being classified as “1099 contractors” when in fact they are employees.

Excerpts are taken from this article: W2 vs. 1099
Employers should be wary.  Under a recent initiative from the White House, the IRS is taking a dim view of incorrectly classified employees.

For the record, there is no such thing as a “1099 Employee.”  It’s W-2 employee or independent contractor.

Why Are They Cracking Down?
The risk of treating legitimate employees as 1099 contractors is substantial.  The employer will be responsible for back withholdings for income tax, social security and Medicare.  In addition there will be interest and fines. But the big reason?  Unemployment tax.  This has become a serious issue with today’s administration.

So How Do You Know?
The State of Florida uses a list of questions which can be described as “enigmatic” at best:

A “Yes” answer for the following questions indicates that the worker is an employee:
1. Does the business provide instructions to the worker about when, where and how he or she is to perform the work?
2. Does the business provide training to the worker?
3. Are the services provided by the worker integrated into the business’ operations?
4. Must the services be rendered personally by the worker?
5. Does the business hire, supervise and pay assistants to the worker?
6. Is there a continuing relationship between the business and the worker?
7. Does the business set the work hours and schedule?
8. Does the worker devote substantially full time to the work of the business?
9. Is the work performed on the business’ premises?
10. Is the worker required to perform the services in an order or sequence set by the business?
11. Is the worker required to submit oral or written reports to the business?
12. Is the worker paid by the hour, week or month?
13. Does the business have the right to discharge the worker at will?
14. Can the worker terminate his or her relationship with the business any time he or she wishes without incurring liability to the business?
15. Does the business pay the traveling expenses of the worker?

A “Yes” answer for the following questions indicates that the worker is an Independent Contractor:
16. Does the worker furnish significant tools, materials and equipment?
17. Does the worker have a significant investment in the facilities?
18. Can the worker realize a profit or loss as a result of his or her services?
19. Does the worker provide services for more than one firm at a time?
20. Does the worker make his or her services available to the general public?

Some of the questions make sense while others have employers scratching their head and saying “huh?”

Where Can I Get Answers?
We strongly suggest consulting an HR expert or even your CPA.  If you can’t get answers there you can always contact us at PEO Pros – 800.788.8343

Perhaps you get frustrated by the annual “premium audit” that always costs you money?

Maybe the annual bill for your workers’ comp insurance never comes at the right time does it?

Have you ever wondered why they can’t just take the comp premium at the same time you do payroll?

Did you know there are “Pay as you Go” workers’ comp insurance programs available?

At PEO Pros, we have helped employers develop programs in at least three areas:

• Pay as you go workers’ comp insurance
• Pay as you go unemployment insurance
• Pay as you go payroll taxes

PEO Pros functions both as a licensed insurance agency and employer consultants to assist employers in this area. Usually this involves placing the employer with a payroll service, or even a PEO.

The advantages to pay as you go services are many but here a few headaches that go away:

• Workers’ Comp annual audit is no longer needed
• Tax forms will be filed by the payroll service
• Large premium deposits go away
• Fewer problems predicting cost of employees
• Easier to add employees without incurring insurance increases

If any of this addresses a problem with your business or company, you may want to give us a call at 800.788.8343 or use the form below to contact us with your inquiry:

Your Name

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PEO Services Workers Compensation Pay As You Go Comp Services Construction General Liability Health Insurance Broker/Agency Alliance Other Business Insurance Agent Appointment Other

How Did You Find Us?

Please tell is more about your business? What do you do? Your line of business?

Comments - for PEO services it would be helpful to know how many employees you have, what states do they work, what do they do, and an rough idea of what your payroll is and how often (weekly, bi-weekly, etc)

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Is it better to be with a PEO? To have a professional partner to assist you with risk management? We of course, have a bias, but here is another point of view. This is an excellent article written by Antony Kelly
Antony Kelly’s Article

Here are some excerpts we particularly liked:
“Simply put, traditional workers comp coverage will require a small business owner to make an upfront deposit, based on an estimate of their gross annual wages. The company will send quarterly information to the insurer, who then calculates the bill and requests payments. Since these are all estimates, however, an audit is required, including a reconciliation process that will help bring the numbers together. Unfortunately, if the deposits and quarterly estimates do not cover the total amount due, the company is mandated to reimburse the carrier at the end of the year. This could potentially be a substantial cut to the small business person’s cash flow. Interestingly enough, payments that extend beyond the balance may roll over into next years beginning balance; nice for the carrier, bad for the business owner. ”

“PEO companies not only provide you with pay as you go workers compensation but also outsourced benefits and a variety of resources that help you comply with employment related issues and administrative paperwork. In fact, many businesses under 100 employees should be able to significanly reduce their in-house administrative burden through the use of a PEO, which provides additional value over traditional and pay as you go workers comp plans. ”

Thank you to Antony Kelly for writing this article, and to Shane Underwood for finding it.

Hard question to answer with anything other than “Maybe you don’t!”

Our staff can spend a lot of time telling you why you should have a PEO, and you can probably find some of that on other parts of this site. For fun though, and maybe for educational purposes, we asked them, “When DON’T you need a PEO?” Well they tossed it around the bullpen and surprise surprise, they came up with at least 7 scenarios when a PEO is not called for.

Here’s some situations they gave us when you DON’T need a PEO:

1: You don’t have any employees
2: You have employees but they cause no problems and create no risks
3: You are a government entity who cannot be sued
4: You are a very large company with an internal legal and HR department
5: You are a very large company with annual workers’ comp premiums in excess of $250,000. (In this case you should have your own, custom comp solution, such as a captive or a self funded plan. Ask us about that)
6: You are a short term company, not likely to be around for a while
7: You will never want to sell your company, or facilitate an easy ownership transfer

Can you think of some others? Please let us know!

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Wouldn’t your payroll clients like to be free of the hassle of yearly audits?
Are they sick of massive deposits and big down payments?
Are they frustrated because they can’t find coverage?

We may be ably to help your payroll company with our “Pay As You Go” workers’ comp program. Premiums can be paid as earned, by rating the current payroll against the correct comp codes. Audits can be minimized, made less painful or possibly done away with completely.

This program is designed for payroll companies and their insurance agents. Please have your insurance agent contact us to find out about this income stream that is being left by the wayside.

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Alabama is a “loss-cost” state, where the workers’ comp carriers can set their own rates by showing their own claims history. The rates must be approved, but still, it is possible to be competitive by changing carriers from time to time, and that includes PEOs.

We have PEO partners in the following locations:
Birmingham, Dothan, Mobile, Montgomery, Muscle Shoals / Florence, Columbus, and Gadsden just to name a few.

Here is an article that explains a little more about PEO Services: Why Use a PEO?

If you would like to get some more information on a quote, please use the form below:

Your Name

Company Name

Email

Phone #

Information Concerning

PEO Services Workers Compensation Pay As You Go Comp Services Construction General Liability Health Insurance Broker/Agency Alliance Other Business Insurance Agent Appointment Other

How Did You Find Us?

Please tell is more about your business? What do you do? Your line of business?

Comments - for PEO services it would be helpful to know how many employees you have, what states do they work, what do they do, and an rough idea of what your payroll is and how often (weekly, bi-weekly, etc)

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Georgia is a “loss-cost” state, where the workers’ comp carriers can set their own rates by showing their own claims history. The rates must be approved, but still, it is possible to be competitive by changing carriers from time to time, and that includes PEOs.

We have PEO partners in the following locations:
Atlanta, Macon, Dalton, Lawrenceville, Valdosta, Savannah, Brunswick, Augusta and Athens just to name a few.

Here is an article that explains a little more about PEO Services: Why Use a PEO?

If you would like to get some more information on a quote, please use the form below:

Your Name

Company Name

Email

Phone #

Information Concerning

PEO Services Workers Compensation Pay As You Go Comp Services Construction General Liability Health Insurance Broker/Agency Alliance Other Business Insurance Agent Appointment Other

How Did You Find Us?

Please tell is more about your business? What do you do? Your line of business?

Comments - for PEO services it would be helpful to know how many employees you have, what states do they work, what do they do, and an rough idea of what your payroll is and how often (weekly, bi-weekly, etc)

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PEO Pros is an independent broker, not affiliated with any one PEO but has contracts and agreements with over 125 choices. Doesn’t it make sense to let the Pros find the best match for you?

PEOs in Florida can provide the following services to name a few:

• Payroll Service in Florida
• Workers’ Comp in Florida (or Florida Workers’ Comp)
• Assistance with Unemployment Insurance in Florida
• Assistance with Health Insurance in Florida

We have PEO partners in the following locations:
Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Sarasota, Bradenton, Ft. Myers, Port Charlotte, Panama City, Ft. Walton Beach, Tallahassee, Pensacola, Destin, Orange County, Lake County, Osceola County, Seminole County, Volusia County, Brevard County, Okaloosa County, Santa Rosa County and Polk County; just to name a few.

Here is an article that explains a little more about PEO Services: Why Use a PEO?

If you would like to get some more information on a quote, please use the form below:

Your Name

Company Name

Email

Phone #

Information Concerning

PEO Services Workers Compensation Pay As You Go Comp Services Construction General Liability Health Insurance Broker/Agency Alliance Other Business Insurance Agent Appointment Other

How Did You Find Us?

Please tell is more about your business? What do you do? Your line of business?

Comments - for PEO services it would be helpful to know how many employees you have, what states do they work, what do they do, and an rough idea of what your payroll is and how often (weekly, bi-weekly, etc)

Verify that you are a real person :)