76 ©2018 WASHINGTON DC ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP BUSINESS INSURANCE
TYPES OF BUSINESS INSURANCE
WORKERS’ COMPENSATION INSURANCE
A typical workers’ compensation policy has two main
components. Part one covers the employer's statutory
liabilities under workers’ compensation laws. Part two,
employer’s liability, covers liability arising from employees'
work-related injuries that do not fall under the workers’
compensation statutes.
Part one of a workers’ compensation insurance policy is
compulsory in the District of Columbia. Every employer
subject to the District of Columbia workers’ compensation
law is liable for covered claims made by employees who
experience a work-related injury, illness or death sustained
either on business premises or due to business operations.
With few exceptions, companies in the District are
required to carry workers’ compensation insurance for
their employees.
Part one of a workers’ compensation policy covers the
employee’s medical expenses, rehabilitation costs, death
benefits and lost wages. If a business does not have workers’
compensation and one of its employees is injured on the job,
the business may be liable for expenses incurred for that
individual. Also, the business may face fines and penalties
for noncompliance.
Usually, a workers’ compensation policy will not provide
coverage for on-the-job accidents caused while committing
an illegal act, while intoxicated, while using illegal drugs, by a
worker who starts a fight, by an accident that is self-inflicted
or when an employee’s conduct violates company policy.
Part two of a workers’ compensation policy, employer’s
liability insurance, protects employers from work place injury
claims attributed to the employer’s negligence or fault and
brought by an employee who is injured due to a work-related
incident. Coverage afforded under this part can help pay for
attorney fees, court costs, settlements or judgements.
Like many policies, employer’s liability coverage has
exclusions designed to help define the scope of coverage.
For example, employer’s liability coverage does not
apply to: liability assumed under a contract; punitive
or exemplary damages because the employee was in
violation of the law; damages arising out of the discharge
of, coercion of, or discrimination against any employee in
violation of the law; bodily injury intentionally caused or
aggravated by the insured.
PROCESSING CLAIMS
The District’s Office of Workers’ Compensation (OWC)
within the District’s Department of Employment Services
processes claims and monitors the payment of benefits
to injured private-sector employees in the District. The
program mediates disputes, monitors employer compliance,
and administers the Special Fund, which provides benefits
in cases of uninsured employers or in situations where an
injury combines with a pre-existing disability and causes a
greater disability.
OWC, in partnership with the Department of Insurance,
Securities and Banking, and the National Council on
Compensation Insurance (NCCI), has implemented the
Safe Workplace Program. This program allows employers to
receive a five percent reduction in workers’ compensation
premiums if they meet the criteria and requirements for
establishing a safe work place.
To learn more about this program, contact DISB at
(202) 727-8000 or OWC at (202) 724-7000.
LIMITING WORK INJURIES
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and
Health Administration (OSHA) offers specific information
by industry type and provides other helpful resources to
small businesses on how to comply with safety requirements
that can limit work injuries. To learn more, visit the OSHA
website at osha.gov/dcsp/smallbusiness.
GROUP HEALTH INSURANCE
Providing health insurance for employees is one of the
greatest challenges many businesses face today. As business
owners know, health insurance is extremely important to
most employees and is a very powerful benefit in recruiting
and retaining workers. Cost and availability of health
insurance are key issues.
Signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2010,
the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA)
is responsible for the most comprehensive reforms of
the United States’ health care system since the 1960’s
passage of laws that created Medicare and Medicaid.
The ACA established state health insurance exchanges,
or marketplaces, where individuals, families and small
businesses may purchase guaranteed-issue qualified health
insurance plans with affordable premiums.
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