WYO. WORKERS’ COMP RATES TO STAY THE SAME FOR NOW:

Wyoming officials have declined to change the amount businesses pay for workers’ compensation insurance for the time being. An administrator at the Employment Tax Division warned that the issue has not completely gone away and the division still sees the need for change. Wyoming’s current system requires that companies pay into the state workers’ comp system, which provides benefits to cover lost wages and medical expenses of employees injured on the job. In early June, the division held a public hearing to gauge reaction to proposed changes in rates paid by companies–rates which are based in large part on the number of accidents and injuries incurred by those businesses. Some of the state’s largest employers welcomed the proposal because they said it would end their subsidizing of smaller businesses. Small businesses said they were concerned their insurance rates would unfairly increase despite maintaining good safety records. They added that they would take on a disproportionate burden of the increase. The division said it would gather representatives from a cross-section of Wyoming businesses to take a closer look at the issue. The group could meet as early as the fall or early 2006.