North Carolina Businesses Without Workers’ Comp Coverage Fined $3.2M

The North Carolina Industrial Commission’s Compliance and Fraud Investigative Division collected more than $3.2 million in penalties and issued 289 criminal charges at the end of the first two quarters of Fiscal Year 2018-19 as it continues to identify businesses out of compliance with the Workers’ Compensation Act, according to a statement from the commission.

The division’s Compliance Unit handles civil cases and issues civil penalties to non-insured businesses for failure to carry the requisite workers’ compensation insurance. The proceeds of the penalties collected go to the North Carolina Civil Penalty and Forfeiture Fund to benefit North Carolina’s public schools.

“Businesses without proper workers’ compensation insurance put North Carolina’s workers at risk of not being promptly or adequately compensated for medical expenses incurred from workplace injuries,” said Compliance and Fraud Director Bryan Strickland.

The Division’s Fraud Investigative Unit conducts criminal investigations of suspected workers’ compensation fraud and violations related to workers’ compensation claims. In addition to the 289 criminal charges issued thus far this fiscal year, the Fraud Investigative Unit had 640 active investigations at the end of the first two quarters.

Last fiscal year the Compliance and Fraud Investigative Division collected more than $8 million in penalties, which represented an increase of 465 percent from the $1.7 million collected in Fiscal Year 2016-2017. It also issued 696 criminal charges, up from 405 criminal charges the year before. Previously, the unit issued 269 criminal charges in Fiscal Years 2013-2014 through 2015-2016 combined.

Source: The North Carolina Industrial Commission