During the pandemic, the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC) created manual classification code 9444 Public Clerical Telecommuter Employees for Public Employer Taxing Districts (PEC) which assigned operational staff to perform clerical or non-operational duties at home.
The BWC Board of Directors recently voted to keep class code 9444 and update the description to include all clerical employees. This change will go into effect for the January 1, 2023 policy year and will allow public employers to report their clerical employees, as well as clerical telecommuters, separately under manual 9444. Historically, all public employees were generally reported under one manual classification with the same blended rate.
Please note that reporting payroll under the new 9444 manual is optional. The BWC recently released additional details explaining this change to the classification descriptions and it can be found here: How to properly assign manual code 9444 resource page.
As usual, BWC is allowing employers to adjust their estimated annual payroll in advance of the first premium installment. This opportunity is more meaningful for 2023 if the employer opts to use this newly modified clerical classification code. If an employer alerts BWC of their updated payroll estimate by Nov. 15, BWC will make the changes to all applicable premium installment payments for 2023. If an employer is unable to update the estimated payroll by November 15, employers can still update payroll any time after and BWC will make the adjustment to any future premium installments for 2023. Additionally, if an employer does not notify BWC of their new estimated payroll during the rate year, it can be corrected during the True-Up process at the end of the January 1, 2023 rate year.
Rejeana Woolum-Napier is Client Services Manager at Sedgwick, an OASBO Strategic Partner. She can be reached at 614.359.2403 or rejeana.woolum-napier@sedgwick.com.