Washington state proposes hike to workers' comp rates

Washington state's Department of Labor and Industries this week proposed a 3.8 percent boost in 2006 workers' compensation rates that would cost employers on average an additional $57 per worker.

The proposed increase is an average for all of Washington's hundreds of risk classifications.

In almost all instances under the proposal, employers would pay more in 2006 while employees would pay less, although workers in some risk classifications, including roofers and some workers in the logging industry, would see their annual payments increase.

Washington is the only state in which workers contribute a substantial portion of premiums paid into the workers' compensation system.

Under the 2006 proposal, workers' share is more than a quarter of total premiums, or about 13 cents per hour.

Washington's Labor Department beginning Oct. 11 will hold five hearings across the state to take comment on the proposed changes.

The department's director, Gary Weeks, would then make a final decision on rates in mid-November, with changes taking effect Jan. 1, 2006 and appearing on employers' first-quarter-2006 billing statements in April.

The rate hearings will be held Oct. 11 in Spokane, Oct. 13 in Yakima, Oct. 18 in Mount Vernon, Oct. 20 in Vancouver and Oct. 25 in Tumwater.

A breakdown of how the rate proposal would affect specific industries' is available on the Department of Labor and Industries' Web site at www.lni.wa.gov.

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