NCCI Changes It's Rules Re: Payroll and Classifications During the Pandemic

The National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) has announced it is changing its rules regarding Workers Compensation insurance premiums. NCCI is the Workers Compensation insurance rating bureau used in most (but not all) states in the U.S. and the manuals of rules NCCI produces are used by all Workers Compensation insurance companies writing insurance within those states.

Just a couple of weeks ago, NCCI issued a notice that payroll paid to workers who were not actually working (due to the pandemic) would still be included in the payroll used to compute Workers Comp premiums.

That has now changed. NCCI has indicated it will be filing revised manual rules so that remuneration paid during the pandemic to workers who are not actually working will be excluded from insurance premiums.

The separate California rating bureau, WCIRB, had made a similar announcement a week or so ago.

NCCI has also announced the revised rules will allow for classification changes for workers who have changed the nature of their work duties (like working from home) as long as employers document when the change occurred.

So a small bit of good news amidst all the angst and anxiety of our current crisis.