Employers who maintain workers’ compensation insurance for their workers are subject to two types of payment: (1) the insurance premium and premium assessment; and (2) the Workers’ Benefit Fund (WBF) assessment.

The insurance premium is what employers pay insurers for workers’ compensation insurance coverage. The State of Oregon does not collect insurance premiums, and insurance premiums do not fund state programs or services.

The workers’ compensation premium assessment, which insurers calculate as a percentage of the insurance premium paid by employers, is collected by insurers at the same time they collect insurance premiums. The insurers then pay the premium assessment to the State. It funds administrative costs of the workers’ compensation system, non-complying employer claims, a portion of OR-OSHA administrative costs, and other related programs. The premium assessment rate is 4.6 for 2010.

The WBF assessment is a payroll assessment calculated on the basis of hours worked by workers covered by workers’ compensation insurance. Employers pay this assessment, along with other payroll taxes, directly to the State. The WBF assessment funds programs for direct benefits to injured workers and the employers who help make it possible for them to return to the workforce. The rate was lowered for 2007 to 2.8 cents per hour from the 2006 rate of 3.0 cents per hour, and will remain at 2.8 through 2010.

Note that prior to the year 2000, the WBF assessment was known as the workers’ compensation “cents-per-pay” assessment.

For more information on the WBF assessments, visit Fiscal and Business Services WBF Assessment information.