CHAPTER 4123: WORKERS' COMPENSATION

As used in this chapter:

(A)(1) “Employee” means:

(a) Every person in the service of the state, or of any county, municipal corporation, township, or school district therein, including regular members of lawfully constituted police and fire departments of municipal corporations and townships, whether paid or volunteer, and wherever serving within the state or on temporary assignment outside thereof, and executive officers of boards of education, under any appointment or contract of hire, express or implied, oral or written, including any elected official of the state, or of any county, municipal corporation, or township, or members of boards of education.

As used in division (A)(1)(a) of this section, the term “employee” includes the following persons when responding to an inherently dangerous situation that calls for an immediate response on the part of the person, regardless of whether the person is within the limits of the jurisdiction of the person’s regular employment or voluntary service when responding, on the condition that the person responds to the situation as the person otherwise would if the person were on duty in the person’s jurisdiction:

(i) Off-duty peace officers. As used in division (A)(1)(a)(i) of this section, “peace officer” has the same meaning as in section 2935.01 of the Revised Code.

(ii) Off-duty firefighters, whether paid or volunteer, of a lawfully constituted fire department.

(iii) Off-duty first responders, emergency medical technicians-basic, emergency medical technicians-intermediate, or emergency medical technicians-paramedic, whether paid or volunteer, of an ambulance service organization or emergency medical service organization pursuant to Chapter 4765. of the Revised Code.

(b) Every person in the service of any person, firm, or private corporation, including any public service corporation, that (i) employs one or more persons regularly in the same business or in or about the same establishment under any contract of hire, express or implied, oral or written, including aliens and minors, household workers who earn one hundred sixty dollars or more in cash in any calendar quarter from a single household and casual workers who earn one hundred sixty dollars or more in cash in any calendar quarter from a single employer, or (ii) is bound by any such contract of hire or by any other written contract, to pay into the state insurance fund the premiums provided by this chapter.

(c) Every person who performs labor or provides services pursuant to a construction contract, as defined in section 4123.79 of the Revised Code, if at least ten of the following criteria apply:

(i) The person is required to comply with instructions from the other contracting party regarding the manner or method of performing services;

(ii) The person is required by the other contracting party to have particular training;

(iii) The person’s services are integrated into the regular functioning of the other contracting party;

(iv) The person is required to perform the work personally;

(v) The person is hired, supervised, or paid by the other contracting party;

(vi) A continuing relationship exists between the person and the other contracting party that contemplates continuing or recurring work even if the work is not full time;

(vii) The person’s hours of work are established by the other contracting party;

(viii) The person is required to devote full time to the business of the other contracting party;

(ix) The person is required to perform the work on the premises of the other contracting party;

(x) The person is required to follow the order of work set by the other contracting party;

(xi) The person is required to make oral or written reports of progress to the other contracting party;

(xii) The person is paid for services on a regular basis such as hourly, weekly, or monthly;

(xiii) The person’s expenses are paid for by the other contracting party;

(xiv) The person’s tools and materials are furnished by the other contracting party;

(xv) The person is provided with the facilities used to perform services;

(xvi) The person does not realize a profit or suffer a loss as a result of the services provided;

(xvii) The person is not performing services for a number of employers at the same time;

(xviii) The person does not make the same services available to the general public;

(xix) The other contracting party has a right to discharge the person;

(xx) The person has the right to end the relationship with the other contracting party without incurring liability pursuant to an employment contract or agreement.

Every person in the service of any independent contractor or subcontractor who has failed to pay into the state insurance fund the amount of premium determined and fixed by the administrator of workers’ compensation for the person’s employment or occupation or if a self-insuring employer has failed to pay compensation and benefits directly to the employer’s injured and to the dependents of the employer’s killed employees as required by section 4123.35 of the Revised Code, shall be considered as the employee of the person who has entered into a contract, whether written or verbal, with such independent contractor unless such employees or their legal representatives or beneficiaries elect, after injury or death, to regard such independent contractor as the employer.

(2) “Employee” does not mean:

(a) A duly ordained, commissioned, or licensed minister or assistant or associate minister of a church in the exercise of ministry;

(b) Any officer of a family farm corporation;

(c) An individual incorporated as a corporation; or

(d) An individual who otherwise is an employee of an employer but who signs the waiver and affidavit specified in section 4123.15 of the Revised Code on the condition that the administrator has granted a waiver and exception to the individual’s employer under section 4123.15 of the Revised Code.

Any employer may elect to include as an “employee” within this chapter, any person excluded from the definition of “employee” pursuant to division (A)(2) of this section. If an employer is a partnership, sole proprietorship, individual incorporated as a corporation, or family farm corporation, such employer may elect to include as an “employee” within this chapter, any member of such partnership, the owner of the sole proprietorship, the individual incorporated as a corporation, or the officers of the family farm corporation. In the event of an election, the employer shall serve upon the bureau of workers’ compensation written notice naming the persons to be covered, include such employee’s remuneration for premium purposes in all future payroll reports, and no person excluded from the definition of “employee” pursuant to division (A)(2) of this section, proprietor, individual incorporated as a corporation, or partner shall be deemed an employee within this division until the employer has served such notice.

For informational purposes only, the bureau shall prescribe such language as it considers appropriate, on such of its forms as it considers appropriate, to advise employers of their right to elect to include as an “employee” within this chapter a sole proprietor, any member of a partnership, an individual incorporated as a corporation, the officers of a family farm corporation, or a person excluded from the definition of “employee” under division (A)(2) of this section, that they should check any health and disability insurance policy, or other form of health and disability plan or contract, presently covering them, or the purchase of which they may be considering, to determine whether such policy, plan, or contract excludes benefits for illness or injury that they might have elected to have covered by workers’ compensation.

(B) “Employer” means:

(1) The state, including state hospitals, each county, municipal corporation, township, school district, and hospital owned by a political subdivision or subdivisions other than the state;

(2) Every person, firm, professional employer organization as defined in section 4125.01 of the Revised Code, and private corporation, including any public service corporation, that (a) has in service one or more employees or shared employees regularly in the same business or in or about the same establishment under any contract of hire, express or implied, oral or written, or (b) is bound by any such contract of hire or by any other written contract, to pay into the insurance fund the premiums provided by this chapter.

All such employers are subject to this chapter. Any member of a firm or association, who regularly performs manual labor in or about a mine, factory, or other establishment, including a household establishment, shall be considered an employee in determining whether such person, firm, or private corporation, or public service corporation, has in its service, one or more employees and the employer shall report the income derived from such labor to the bureau as part of the payroll of such employer, and such member shall thereupon be entitled to all the benefits of an employee.

(C) “Injury” includes any injury, whether caused by external accidental means or accidental in character and result, received in the course of, and arising out of, the injured employee’s employment. “Injury” does not include:

(1) Psychiatric conditions except where the claimant’s psychiatric conditions have arisen from an injury or occupational disease sustained by that claimant or where the claimant’s psychiatric conditions have arisen from sexual conduct in which the claimant was forced by threat of physical harm to engage or participate;

(2) Injury or disability caused primarily by the natural deterioration of tissue, an organ, or part of the body;

(3) Injury or disability incurred in voluntary participation in an employer-sponsored recreation or fitness activity if the employee signs a waiver of the employee’s right to compensation or benefits under this chapter prior to engaging in the recreation or fitness activity;

(4) A condition that pre-existed an injury unless that pre-existing condition is substantially aggravated by the injury. Such a substantial aggravation must be documented by objective diagnostic findings, objective clinical findings, or objective test results. Subjective complaints may be evidence of such a substantial aggravation. However, subjective complaints without objective diagnostic findings, objective clinical findings, or objective test results are insufficient to substantiate a substantial aggravation.

(D) “Child” includes a posthumous child and a child legally adopted prior to the injury.

(E) “Family farm corporation” means a corporation founded for the purpose of farming agricultural land in which the majority of the voting stock is held by and the majority of the stockholders are persons or the spouse of persons related to each other within the fourth degree of kinship, according to the rules of the civil law, and at least one of the related persons is residing on or actively operating the farm, and none of whose stockholders are a corporation. A family farm corporation does not cease to qualify under this division where, by reason of any devise, bequest, or the operation of the laws of descent or distribution, the ownership of shares of voting stock is transferred to another person, as long as that person is within the degree of kinship stipulated in this division.

(F) “Occupational disease” means a disease contracted in the course of employment, which by its causes and the characteristics of its manifestation or the condition of the employment results in a hazard which distinguishes the employment in character from employment generally, and the employment creates a risk of contracting the disease in greater degree and in a different manner from the public in general.

(G) “Self-insuring employer” means an employer who is granted the privilege of paying compensation and benefits directly under section 4123.35 of the Revised Code, including a board of county commissioners for the sole purpose of constructing a sports facility as defined in section 307.696 of the Revised Code, provided that the electors of the county in which the sports facility is to be built have approved construction of a sports facility by ballot election no later than November 6, 1997.

(H) “Public employer” means an employer as defined in division (B)(1) of this section.

(I) “Sexual conduct” means vaginal intercourse between a male and female; anal intercourse, fellatio, and cunnilingus between persons regardless of gender; and, without privilege to do so, the insertion, however slight, of any part of the body or any instrument, apparatus, or other object into the vaginal or anal cavity of another. Penetration, however slight, is sufficient to complete vaginal or anal intercourse.

Effective Date: 08-01-2003; 11-05-2004; (SB 7) 10-11-2006

This chapter does not apply to policemen or firemen in municipal corporations where the injured policemen or firemen are eligible to participate in any policemen’s or firemen’s pension funds established and maintained by a municipal corporation, unless the amount of the pension funds provided by the municipal corporation through taxation and paid to the policemen or firemen is less than they would have received if the municipal corporation had no pension fund. In such event policemen and firemen shall receive the regular state compensation for policemen and firemen in municipal corporations where no pension funds have been created, less the sum received by the policemen or firemen from the pension funds provided by the municipal corporation through taxation. The sum paid from the pension fund shall be certified to the bureau of workers’ compensation by the treasurer or other officer controlling the pension fund.

Effective Date: 11-03-1989

As used in sections 4123.021 to 4123.024, inclusive, of the Revised Code:

“State active duty” means that status attaching to a member of the Ohio organized militia performing duty ordered by competent state authority, for which duty status injury and occupational disease benefits are not otherwise provided by act of the congress of the United States or executive regulations of the United States.

Effective Date: 09-16-1963

Every member of the Ohio organized militia as defined in section 5923.01 of the Revised Code shall, when called to state active duty, be in the employment of the state for the purposes of sections 4123.01 to 4123.94, inclusive, and 4123.99 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 11-02-1959

For the purpose of determining benefits accruing under section 4123.57 of the Revised Code, a member of the Ohio organized militia shall qualify for maximum benefits provided for workers and employees under sections 4123.01 to 4123.60, inclusive, 4123.62 to 4123.94, inclusive, and 4123.99 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 11-02-1959

Sections 4123.021 to 4123.024 and 4123.031 to 4123.037 of the Revised Code shall be administered by the bureau of workers’ compensation. Administrative and other costs, including awards of benefits and compensation, whether lump sum or recurring payments, shall be disbursed from the state insurance fund.

At the end of each six months of each fiscal year, the administrator of workers’ compensation shall certify to the adjutant general the amounts paid for compensation and benefits for accidental injuries and death compensable pursuant to sections 4123.021 to 4123.024 and 4123.031 to 4123.037 of the Revised Code and for costs of administration.

Effective Date: 11-03-1989

Any person, other than those covered by section 4123.03 of the Revised Code, who is injured, and the dependents of a deceased employee who is killed as the direct result of performing any act at the request or order of a duly authorized public official of the state, or any institution or agency thereof, or any political subdivision thereof, including a county, township, or municipal corporation, in time of emergency shall be entitled to all the benefits of Chapter 4123. of the Revised Code. Any payments made from the state insurance fund pursuant to this section shall be charged to the surplus fund as created by division (B) of section 4123.34 of the Revised Code, in order to encourage participation of all persons in times of emergency.

Effective Date: 11-16-1973

(A) The administrator of workers’ compensation, or a self-insuring public employer for the peace officers, firefighters, and emergency medical workers employed by or volunteering for that self-insuring public employer, shall pay the costs of conducting post-exposure medical diagnostic services, consistent with the standards of medical care existing at the time of the exposure, to investigate whether an injury or occupational disease was sustained by a peace officer, firefighter, or emergency medical worker when coming into contact with the blood or other body fluid of another person in the course of and arising out of the peace officer’s, firefighter’s, or emergency medical worker’s employment, or when responding to an inherently dangerous situation in the manner described in, and in accordance with the conditions specified under, division (A)(1)(a) of section 4123.01 of the Revised Code, through any of the following means:

(1) Splash or spatter in the eye or mouth, including when received in the course of conducting mouth-to-mouth resuscitation;

(2) A puncture in the skin;

(3) A cut in the skin or another opening in the skin such as an open sore, wound, lesion, abrasion, or ulcer.

(B) As used in this section:

(1) “Peace officer” has the same meaning as in section 2935.01 of the Revised Code.

(2) “Firefighter” means a firefighter, whether paid or volunteer, of a lawfully constituted fire department.

(3) “Emergency medical worker” means a first responder, emergency medical technician-basic, emergency medical technician-intermediate, or emergency medical technician-paramedic, certified under Chapter 4765. of the Revised Code, whether paid or volunteer.

Effective Date: 03-14-2003

If the state or any political subdivision thereof, including any county, township, municipal corporation, school district, and any institution or agency of the state, employs, enlists, recruits, solicits, or otherwise secures the services of any organization, association, or group of persons and the members thereof, including volunteer firemen, and auxiliary policemen and patrolmen, the individual members of which are not, by reason of such service, employees as defined in division (A)(1) of section 4123.01 of the Revised Code, or if the state or any political subdivision thereof desires to secure workers’ compensation coverage in respect of any volunteer fireman, policeman, deputy sheriff, marshal or deputy marshal, constable, or other person in its service in the event of the injury, disease, or death of such person while engaged in activities called for by his position but not such as would entitle the person to compensation as an employee as so defined, subject to the limitations contained in section 4123.02 of the Revised Code, the state or the political subdivision may contract with the bureau of workers’ compensation for coverage of such persons under this chapter, while in the performance of such service. The contract shall contain provisions for the determination of premiums, average weekly wages or their equivalent, the identity of the persons covered, and such other provisions as are necessary in each case to establish or define the risk and determine claims arising thereunder. Payment of premiums by the state or a political subdivision shall be made in the same manner as is provided with respect to workers’ compensation premiums payable by the state or a political subdivision and at the times as provided by the contract. Upon execution of a contract, the persons covered thereby are entitled to the same benefits, payable from the public insurance fund, which are accorded to employees as defined in division (A) of section 4123.01 of the Revised Code.

For the purpose of statistical and like information, the bureau shall keep a separate record of the experience of the individual risks and groups of similar risks under such contracts.

Effective Date: 10-20-1993

As used in sections 4123.031 to 4123.037 of the Revised Code:

(A) “Emergency management worker” means anyone who has been duly registered for service pursuant to section 5502.34 of the Revised Code, in connection with the development, maintenance, and operation of any state or local emergency management agency authorized by law and who has met the minimum requirements as set forth in sections 4123.031 to 4123.037 of the Revised Code, or who has been duly registered as an emergency management worker pursuant to section 5502.34 of the Revised Code during a disaster and the emergency thereby created.

(B) “Emergency management,” “disaster,” and “emergency” have the same meanings as in section 5502.21 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 10-29-1995

Every emergency management worker shall, with respect to the performance of his duties as such emergency management worker, be in the employment of the state or political subdivision for purposes of sections 4123.01 to 4123.94 of the Revised Code, and every emergency management worker or, in case of death, his dependents shall be entitled to the benefits payable on account of total disability, loss of member, or death as accorded by such sections to employees covered by its provisions. No payment for such disability, loss of member, or death shall be made unless a claim is filed within one year of the date of the accidental injury causing the total disability, loss of member, or death. If an injury claim is filed within the said one year period and the claimant subsequently dies, his dependents shall file any death claim based on such injury within six months after the death or be forever barred.

Effective Date: 09-29-1994

Any emergency management worker who suffers an accidental injury while performing emergency management duties, as defined herein, shall be compensated for any total disability or loss of member and his dependents shall be compensated for any death resulting from such an injury on the same basis as provided for workers, employees, and their dependents under sections 4123.01 to 4123.94 of the Revised Code.

This section shall not apply in the case of any person who is otherwise entitled, under sections 4123.01 to 4123.94 of the Revised Code, to receive workers’ compensation benefits for such accidental injury or death.

Effective Date: 09-29-1994

For the purpose of determining benefits accruing under section 4123.033 of the Revised Code, an emergency management worker who receives no monetary compensation for emergency management services rendered shall qualify for maximum benefits applicable with respect to accidental injury or death provided for workers and employees under sections 4123.01 to 4123.94 of the Revised Code in the fiscal year applicable.

Effective Date: 09-29-1994

The decision of the industrial commission as to all facts, except questions of dependency and whether the accident occurred in the course of claimant’s emergency management service, is final and any emergency management worker or his dependents claiming benefits under sections 4123.031 to 4123.037 of the Revised Code is not entitled to any appeal from such decision.

Effective Date: 09-29-1994

(A) An emergency management worker, in order to be included under sections 4123.031 to 4123.037 of the Revised Code, and to participate in the benefits thereof, shall be duly registered by the state or local emergency management agency making the registration pursuant to section 5502.34 of the Revised Code.

(B) Such emergency management worker shall have subscribed either to the loyalty oath administered under the provisions of section 5502.34 of the Revised Code, or to the federal form of the loyalty oath administered under the provisions of Public Law No. 268, 82nd Congress.

(C) At the time the accident or event occurs for which a claim is made under sections 4123.01 to 4123.94 of the Revised Code, the emergency management worker shall have been acting in good faith in performing an emergency management duty, function, or act in connection with the development, training, maintenance, or operation of an emergency management agency under expressed or constructive instruction or orders of a duly appointed director or an authorized staff member of the state or local emergency management agency charged with the authority and responsibility for issuing such instructions or orders. To implement this requirement, a permanent record of all meetings, drills, tests, and participation in emergency management activities and ceremonies as well as operations under disaster emergency conditions, shall be maintained, and it is a condition precedent to recovery that any claimant under the provisions of sections 4123.031 to 4123.037 of the Revised Code, shall furnish a certified copy of the permanent record attesting to the participation of said claimant or of the individual whose participation forms the basis for the claim in the respective emergency management activity during or as a result of which a claim for injury or death is made.

(D) The written registration of such worker and a copy of the loyalty oath duly subscribed shall be filed with the state, local, municipal, township, county, area, or other authorized emergency management agency and shall be available for inspection at all reasonable times and for use in providing basic data necessary or required under the regulations pertaining to the filing of claims for workers’ compensation.

Effective Date: 10-29-1995

(A) Sections 4123.01 to 4123.94 of the Revised Code shall inure to the benefit of those emergency management workers who have previously complied with the minimum requirements as set forth in sections 4123.031 to 4123.036 of the Revised Code, including those who have executed either the state form of the loyalty oath under section 5502.34 of the Revised Code or the federal form of oath administered under the provisions of Public Law No. 268, 82nd Congress, insofar as the federal loyalty oath is concerned.

(B) Any person who has executed the federal oath under the provisions of Public Law No. 268, 82nd Congress prior to September 29, 1955, is considered to have complied with the requirements for the execution of loyalty oath as required under sections 5502.21 to 5502.51 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 10-29-1995

As used in this section and section 4123.039 of the Revised Code:

(A) “Apprentice” and “apprenticeship agreement” have the meaning defined in section 4111.25 of the Revised Code.

(B) “Related and supplemental instructions” means training offered, conducted, supervised, or given under the sponsorship of any joint apprenticeship committee or other sponsoring organization to apprentices, which training is given in addition to the approved schedule of work experience through employment, and which is to be credited towards the minimum hours of related and supplemental instructions required by section 4139.01 of the Revised Code.

(C) “Pre-apprentice” means a person who receives formal classroom training designed to provide the person with the basic education, attitudes, skills, trade knowledge, and motivation necessary to enter a formal apprenticeship program.

(D) “Entry-level trainee” means a person who possesses experience that would qualify the person as a journeyperson but for the existence of certain other disqualifying conditions and who receives on-the-job training accompanied by classroom instruction outside of normal working hours.

(E) “Journeyperson trainee” means a person with journeyperson status in a given trade who receives classroom and laboratory training for the purpose of broadening the person’s skills and acquainting the person with new techniques and ideas in the trade.

Effective Date: 07-01-2000

For the purposes of sections 4123.038 and 4123.039 of the Revised Code, every apprentice with respect to his related and supplemental instructions, and every pre-apprentice, entry-level trainee, or journeyman trainee shall be in the employment of whichever of the following desires to secure workers’ compensation in respect to the apprentice:

(A) A joint apprenticeship committee;

(B) Any sponsoring organization offering, conducting, supervising, or giving training to apprentices.

If any joint apprenticeship committee, or any other sponsoring organization offering, conducting, supervising, or giving training to apprentices, pre-apprentices, entry-level trainees, or journeyman trainees desires to secure workers’ compensation coverage for those persons in the event of their injury, disease, or death while engaged in related training activities, but not such as would entitle them to compensation as an employee as defined in division (A) of section 4123.01 of the Revised Code, any joint apprenticeship committee, or other sponsoring organization may contract with the bureau of workers’ compensation for coverage of those persons under this chapter, while in the performance of the related training activities. The contract shall contain provisions for the determination of premiums, average weekly wages or their equivalent, the identity of the persons covered, and other provisions as are necessary in each case to establish or define the risk and determine claims arising thereunder. Upon execution of a contract, the persons covered thereby are entitled to the same benefits, payable from the state insurance fund, which are accorded to employees as defined in division (A) of section 4123.01 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 11-03-1989

This chapter applies to employers and their employees engaged in intrastate commerce and also in interstate and foreign commerce, for whom a rule of liability or method of compensation has been or may be established by congress, only to the extent that their mutual connection with intrastate work may be and is clearly separable and distinguishable from interstate or foreign commerce, and then only when such employer and any of his employees working only in this state, with the approval of the bureau of workers’ compensation, and so far as not forbidden by any act of congress, voluntarily accept the provisions of this chapter by filing written acceptances, which, when filed with and approved by the bureau, subject the acceptors irrevocably to this chapter to all intents and purposes as if they had been originally included in its terms, during the periods for which the premiums provided in this chapter have been paid. Payment of premium shall be on the basis of the payroll of the employees who accept.

Effective Date: 10-20-1993

The bureau of workers’ compensation shall adopt rules to regulate and provide for the kind and character of notices, and the services thereof, in cases of injury, occupational disease, or death resulting from either, to employees, the nature and extent of the proofs and evidence, and the method of taking and furnishing the same, and to establish the right to benefits or compensation from the state insurance fund, the forms of application of those claiming to be entitled to benefits or compensation, and the method of making investigations, physical examinations, and inspections. Nothing in this section shall be interpreted as affecting or limiting the rule-making authority of the industrial commission under this chapter or Chapter 4121. of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 10-20-1993

The industrial commission shall adopt rules concerning the payment of attorney’s fees and shall protect parties against unfair fees. The commission shall fix the amount of fees in the event of a controversy in respect thereto. The commission and the bureau of workers’ compensation shall prominently display in all areas of an office which claimants frequent a notice to the effect that the commission has statutory authority to resolve fee disputes. The commission shall adopt rules designed to prevent the solicitation of employment in the prosecution or defense of claims and make and adopt reasonable rules designed to promote the orderly and expeditious submission, hearing, and determination of claims and may inquire into the amounts of fees charged employers or claimants by attorneys, agents, or representatives for services in matters before the commission.

The commission shall set reasonable standards for those attorneys, agents, or representatives who practice before the bureau, district or staff hearing officers, or the commission.

With respect to payment of fees to attorneys for services in securing an award under section 4123.64 of the Revised Code, the commission shall:

(A) Approve, disapprove, or modify applications for lump sum payment for attorney’s fees;

(B) Allow payment of a reasonable fee after review of the application;

(C) Require the attorney to disclose all fees received in obtaining the award under which the fee is requested and certify that the client is liable for no further fee with respect to continuing compensation, except if a later dispute arises in the claim requiring additional services;

(D) Require such supporting evidence as the commission deems necessary to justify any such application.

The commission shall suspend from practice before the bureau, district or staff hearing officers, or the commission for such period of time as the commission determines, or reprimand, as the nature of the offense warrants, representatives of claimants or employers who violate any reasonable rule the commission adopts under authority of law. If the commission suspends or reprimands any person admitted to practice law, the commission shall notify the Ohio state bar association and the bar association of the community in which the person resides of the action taken by the commission.

Before a representative is suspended or reprimanded, the commission or a person directly interested in the results of the services of a representative shall file written charges against him stating distinctly the grounds of complaint, and a copy thereof certified by the secretary of the commission, shall be served upon the representative. After service, the representative shall be allowed a reasonable time to appear and make a defense, introduce evidence, and be heard either in person or by counsel, or both.

If the commission makes an order to suspend or reprimand a representative, the order may be reviewed on appeal on questions of law in the supreme court, which may affirm or modify the order of the commission or dismiss the complaint. Appeal proceedings shall be filed in the supreme court within forty days after the order of the commission.

The commission may readmit any person suspended upon its own motion or upon the written application of the person suspended.

The head of the legal department of the commission shall make the investigations contemplated by this section and enforce this section and the rules adopted by the commission pursuant to this section. The commission shall assign to the head of the legal department one of its employees to assist in the administration and supervision of this section and of the rules adopted under this section.

Effective Date: 10-29-1995

The administrator of the bureau of workers’ compensation shall prepare and furnish blank forms of application for benefits or compensation from the state insurance fund, reports of injury, disability or occupational disease, notices to employers and employees, proofs of injury, disease, disability or death, proofs of medical attendance and hospital and nursing care, and proofs of employment and wage earnings, and other necessary blanks, and shall provide in his rules for their preparation and distribution so that they may be readily available and so prepared that the furnishing of information required of any person with respect to any aspect of a claim shall not be delayed by a requirement that information with respect to another aspect of such claim shall be furnished on the form by the same or another person. Insured employers shall keep on hand a sufficient supply of such blanks.

Effective Date: 01-17-1977

Each member of the industrial commission, and its deputies, supervisors, directors, and secretaries, appointed by the commission, and employees of the bureau of workers’ compensation designated by the administrator of workers’ compensation, may for the purposes contemplated by this chapter, administer oaths, certify to official acts, take testimony or depositions, conduct hearings, inquiries, and investigations, issue subpoenas, and compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of books, accounts, papers, records, documents, evidence, and testimony.

Effective Date: 11-03-1989

In claims filed before the industrial commission or the bureau of workers’ compensation by injured employees and the dependents of killed employees on account of injury or death sustained by such employees in the course of their employment, the commission and bureau may cause depositions of witnesses residing within or without the state to be taken in the manner prescribed by law for the taking of depositions in civil actions in the court of common pleas.

Effective Date: 11-03-1989

The industrial commission shall not be bound by the usual common law or statutory rules of evidence or by any technical or formal rules of procedure, other than as provided in sections 4123.01 to 4123.94, inclusive, of the Revised Code, but may make an investigation in such manner as in its judgment is best calculated to ascertain the substantial rights of the parties and to carry out justly the spirit of such sections.

Effective Date: 11-02-1959

A transcribed copy of the evidence and proceedings, or any specific part thereof, or any investigation, by a stenographer appointed by the industrial commission, being certified by such stenographer to be a true and correct transcript of the testimony on the investigation or of a particular witness, or of a specific part of such testimony, carefully compared by him with his original notes, and to be a correct statement of the evidence and proceedings had on such investigation so purporting to be taken and subscribed, may be received in evidence by the commission with the same effect as if such stenographer were present and testified to the facts so certified. A copy of such transcript shall be furnished on demand to any party upon the payment of the fee therefor as provided for transcript in courts of common pleas.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

In case any person fails to comply with an order of the industrial commission or subpoena issued by the commission or its secretary or the bureau of workers’ compensation, or any of their inspectors, or examiners, or on the refusal of a witness to testify to any matter regarding which he may be lawfully interrogated, or if any person refuses to permit an inspection, the probate judge of the county in which the person resides, on application of any member of the commission or its secretary or the bureau, or any inspector, or examiner appointed by the bureau, shall compel obedience by attachment proceedings as for contempt, as in the case of disobedience of the requirements of subpoena issued from such court on a refusal to testify therein.

Effective Date: 11-03-1989

Each officer who serves a subpoena issued under section 4123.08 of the Revised Code shall receive the same fees as a sheriff, and each witness who appears, in obedience to a subpoena, before the industrial commission or its secretary or district or staff hearing officers, the administrator of workers’ compensation, or any inspector or examiner of the commission or administrator, shall receive for his attendance the fees and mileage provided for witnesses in civil cases in courts of common pleas, which shall be paid from the state insurance fund on the approval of any two members of the commission, if the witness is subpoenaed by the commission or its secretary, district or staff hearing officer, inspector, or examiner, or on the approval of the administrator, if the witness is subpoenaed by the administrator or his inspector or examiner. No witness subpoenaed at the instance of a party other than the persons listed in this section is entitled to compensation under this section unless the administrator or commission certifies that his testimony was material to the matter investigated.

Effective Date: 10-20-1993

Effective Date: 10-20-1993

(A) An employer who is a member of a recognized religious sect or division of a recognized religious sect and who is an adherent of established tenets or teachings of that sect or division by reason of which the employer is conscientiously opposed to benefits to employers and employees from any public or private insurance that makes payment in the event of death, disability, impairment, old age, or retirement or makes payments toward the cost of, or provides services in connection with the payment for, medical services, including the benefits from any insurance system established by the “Social Security Act,” 42 U.S.C.A. 30l, et seq., may apply to the administrator of workers’ compensation to be excepted from payment of premiums and other charges assessed under this chapter and Chapter 4121. of the Revised Code with respect to, or if the employer is a self-insuring employer, from payment of direct compensation and benefits to and assessments required by this chapter and Chapter 4121. of the Revised Code on account of, an individual employee who meets the requirements of this section. The employer shall make an application on forms provided by the bureau of workers’ compensation which forms may be those used by or similar to those used by the United States internal revenue service for the purpose of granting an exemption from payment of social security taxes under 26 U.S.C.A. 1402(g) of the Internal Revenue Code, and shall include a written waiver signed by the individual employee to be excepted from all the benefits and compensation provided in this chapter and Chapter 4121. of the Revised Code.

The application also shall include affidavits signed by the employer and the individual employee that the employer and the individual employee are members of a recognized religious sect or division of a recognized religious sect and are adherents of established tenets or teaching of that sect or division by reason of which the employer and the individual employee are conscientiously opposed to benefits to employers and employees received from any public or private insurance that makes payments in the event of death, disability, impairment, old age, or retirement or makes payments toward the cost of, or provides services in connection with the payment for, medical services, including the benefits from any insurance system established by the “Social Security Act,” 42 U.S.C.A. 301, et seq. If the individual is a minor, the guardian of the minor shall complete the waiver and affidavit required by this division.

(B) The administrator shall grant the waiver and exception to the employer for a particular individual employee if the administrator finds that the employer and the individual employee are members of a sect or division having the established tenets or teachings described in division (A) of this section, that it is the practice, and has been for a substantial number of years, for members of the sect or division of the sect to make provision for their dependent members which, in the administrator’s judgment, is reasonable in view of their general level of hiring, and that the sect or division of the sect has been in existence at all times since December 31, 1950.

(C) A waiver and exception under division (B) of this section is effective on the date the administrator grants the waiver and exception. An employer who complies with this chapter and the employer’s other employees, with respect to an individual employee for whom the administrator grants the waiver and exception, are entitled, as to that individual employee and as to all injuries and occupational diseases of the individual employee that occurred prior to the effective date of the waiver and exception, to the protections of sections 4123.74 and 4123.741 of the Revised Code. On and after the effective date of the waiver and exception, the employer is not liable for the payment of any premiums or other charges assessed under this chapter or Chapter 4121. of the Revised Code, or if the individual is a self-insuring employer, the employer is not liable for the payment of any compensation or benefits directly or other charges assessed under this chapter or Chapter 4121. of the Revised Code in regard to that individual employee, and is considered a complying employer under those chapters, and the employer and the employer’s other employees are entitled to the protections of sections 4123.74 and 4123.741 of the Revised Code, as to that individual employee, and as to injuries and occupational diseases of that individual employee that occur on and after the effective date of the waiver and exception.

(D) A waiver and exception granted in regard to a specific employer and individual employee are valid for all future years unless the administrator determines that the employer, individual employee, or sect or division ceases to meet the requirements of this section. If the administrator makes this determination, the employer is liable for the payment of premiums and other charges assessed under this chapter and Chapter 4121. of the Revised Code, or if the employer is a self-insuring employer, the employer is liable for the payment of compensation and benefits directly and other charges assessed under those chapters, in regard to the individual employee for all injuries and occupational diseases of that individual that occur on and after the date of the administrator’s determination, and the individual employee is entitled to all of the benefits and compensation provided in those chapters for an injury or occupational disease that occurs on or after the date of the administrator’s determination.

Effective Date: 08-01-2003

Effective Date: 11-02-1959

Effective Date: 10-05-1955

Effective Date: 01-17-1977

Effective Date: 10-05-1955

Effective Date: 07-27-1979

The bureau of workers’ compensation may make necessary expenditures to obtain statistical and other information to establish the classes provided for in section 4123.29 of the Revised Code.

The salaries and compensation of all of the actuaries, accountants, inspectors, examiners, experts, clerks, physicians, stenographers, and other assistants of the bureau, and all other expenses of the bureau, including the premium to be paid for the bond to be furnished by the treasurer of state pursuant to section 4123.42 of the Revised Code, shall be paid out of the workers’ compensation fund pursuant to warrants signed by the administrator of workers’ compensation.

Effective Date: 10-20-1993

The administrator of workers’ compensation shall cause to be printed, in proper form for distribution to the public, its classifications, rates, rules, and rules of procedure, and shall furnish the same to any person upon application therefor, and the fact that the classifications, rates, rules, and rules of procedure are printed ready for distribution to all who apply for the same is a sufficient publication of the same as required by this chapter.

Effective Date: 11-03-1989

No injunction shall issue suspending or restraining any order, classification, or rate adopted by the industrial commission or the bureau of workers’ compensation, or any action of the auditor of state, treasurer of state, attorney general, or the county auditor or county treasurer of any county, required to be taken by them or any of them by this chapter. This section does not effect any right or defense in any action brought by the commission, the bureau, or the state in pursuance of authority contained in this chapter.

Effective Date: 11-03-1989

The administrator of workers’ compensation shall prepare and publish annually a complete report of the bureau of workers’ compensation’s and the industrial commission’s operations for the preceding year. The annual report shall be submitted to the governor and shall be made available to all employees, employers, and the general public upon request. As a part of its annual report the bureau shall make a report for the preceding fiscal year of the number of awards made by the commission, a general statement of the causes of accidents leading to the injuries for which awards were made, a general statement of the causes of occupational diseases for which awards were made, and a detailed statement of the condition of its respective funds. In such report, he may bring to the attention of the governor the diseases arising out of and due to industrial processes as he believes should be made compensable as occupational diseases.

The bureau may collate general information as to the business transacted by the bureau and commission as in its judgment is desirable for distribution to employers and employees.

Effective Date: 11-03-1989

All books, records, and payrolls of the employers of the state, showing or reflecting in any way upon the amount of wage expenditure of such employers, shall always be open for inspection by the bureau of workers’ compensation, or any of its traveling auditors, inspectors, or assistants, for the purpose of ascertaining the correctness of the wage expenditure, the number of men employed, and such other information as is necessary for the uses and purposes of the bureau in its administration of the law.

Refusal on the part of any employer to submit his books, records, and payrolls for the inspection of the bureau or any traveling auditor, inspector, or assistant presenting written authority from the bureau shall subject the employer to a forfeiture of one hundred dollars for each offense, to be collected by civil action in the name of the state, and paid into the state insurance fund.

Effective Date: 11-03-1989

Every employer amenable to this chapter shall keep, preserve, and maintain complete records showing in detail all expenditures for payroll and the division of such expenditures into the various divisions and classifications of the employer’s business. The records shall be preserved for at least five years after the respective times of the transactions upon which the records are based.

All books, records, papers, and documents reflecting upon the amount and the classifications of the payroll expenditures of an employer shall be kept available for inspection at any time by the bureau of workers’ compensation or any of its assistants, agents, representatives, or employees. If an employer fails to keep, preserve, and maintain the records and other information reflecting upon payroll expenditures, fails to make the records and information available for inspection, or fails to furnish to the bureau or any of its assistants, agents, representatives, or employees, full and complete information in reference to expenditures for payroll when the information is requested, the bureau may determine the amount of premium due from the employer upon such information as is available to it, and its findings are prima-facie evidence of the amount of premium due from the employer.

Effective Date: 11-03-1989

(A) No employer shall knowingly misrepresent to the bureau of workers’ compensation the amount or classification of payroll upon which the premium under this chapter is based. Whoever violates this division shall be liable to the state in an amount determined by the administrator of workers’ compensation for not more than ten times the amount of the difference between the premium paid and the amount the employer should have paid. The liability to the state under this division may be enforced in a civil action in the name of the state, and all sums collected under this division shall be paid into the state insurance fund.

(B) No self-insuring employer shall knowingly misrepresent the amount of paid compensation paid by such employer for purposes of the assessments provided under this chapter and Chapter 4121. of the Revised Code as required by section 4123.35 of the Revised Code. Whoever violates this division is liable to the state in an amount determined by the self-insuring employers evaluation board pursuant to division (C) of section 4123.352 of the Revised Code or for an amount the board determines that is not more than ten times the amount of the difference between the assessment paid and the amount of the assessment that should have been paid. The liability to the state under this division may be enforced in a civil action in the name of the state and all sums collected under this division shall be paid into the self-insurance assessment fund created pursuant to division (K) of section 4123.35 of the Revised Code.

(C) The administrator of workers’ compensation, with the advice and consent of the bureau of workers’ compensation board of directors, shall adopt rules establishing criteria for determining both of the following:

(1) The amount of the penalty assessed against an employer for a violation of division (A) of this section;

(2) Acts or omissions that do not constitute a violation of division (A) or (B) of this section.

Effective Date: 07-11-2001; 2007 HB100 09-10-2007

Every employer shall keep records of, and furnish to the bureau of workers’ compensation upon request, all information required by the administrator of workers’ compensation to carry out this chapter. In January of each year, every employer of the state employing one or more employees regularly in the same business, or in or about the same establishment, shall prepare and mail to the bureau at its main office in Columbus a statement containing the following information:

(A) The number of employees employed during the preceding year from the first day of January through the thirty-first day of December;

(B) The number of such employees employed at each kind of employment and the aggregate amount of wages paid to such employees.

The information shall be furnished on a blank to be prepared by the bureau. The bureau shall furnish the blanks to employers free of charge upon request therefor. Every employer receiving from the bureau any blank, with directions to fill out the same, shall cause the same to be properly filled out so as to answer fully and correctly all questions therein propounded, and give all the information therein sought, or if unable to do so, he shall give to the bureau in writing good and sufficient reasons for such failure. The bureau may require that the information required to be furnished be verified under oath and returned to the bureau within the period fixed by it or by law. The bureau or any person employed by the bureau for that purpose, may examine, under oath, any employer, or the officer, agent, or employee thereof, for the purpose of ascertaining any information which the employer is required to furnish to the bureau.

No employer shall fail to furnish to the bureau the annual statement required by this section, nor shall any employer fail to keep records of or furnish such other information as may be required by the bureau under this section.

Whoever violates this section shall forfeit five hundred dollars, to be collected in a civil action brought against the employer in the name of the state, to be paid into the state insurance fund and become a part thereof.

Effective Date: 11-03-1989

Information contained in the annual statement provided for in section 4123.26 of the Revised Code, and such other information as may be furnished to the bureau of workers’ compensation by employers in pursuance of that section, is for the exclusive use and information of the bureau in the discharge of its official duties, and shall not be open to the public nor be used in any court in any action or proceeding pending therein unless the bureau is a party to the action or proceeding; but the information contained in the statement may be tabulated and published by the bureau in statistical form for the use and information of other state departments and the public. No person in the employ of the bureau, except those who are authorized by the administrator of workers’ compensation, shall divulge any information secured by the person while in the employ of the bureau in respect to the transactions, property, claim files, records, or papers of the bureau or in respect to the business or mechanical, chemical, or other industrial process of any company, firm, corporation, person, association, partnership, or public utility to any person other than the administrator or to the superior of such employee of the bureau.

Notwithstanding the restrictions imposed by this section, the governor, select or standing committees of the general assembly, the auditor of state, the attorney general, or their designees, pursuant to the authority granted in this chapter and Chapter 4121. of the Revised Code, may examine any records, claim files, or papers in possession of the industrial commission or the bureau. They also are bound by the privilege that attaches to these papers.

The administrator shall report to the director of job and family services or to the county director of job and family services the name, address, and social security number or other identification number of any person receiving workers’ compensation whose name or social security number or other identification number is the same as that of a person required by a court or child support enforcement agency to provide support payments to a recipient or participant of public assistance, and whose name is submitted to the administrator by the director under section 5101.36 of the Revised Code. The administrator also shall inform the director of the amount of workers’ compensation paid to the person during such period as the director specifies.

Within fourteen days after receiving from the director of job and family services a list of the names and social security numbers of recipients or participants of public assistance pursuant to section 5101.181 of the Revised Code, the administrator shall inform the auditor of state of the name, current or most recent address, and social security number of each person receiving workers’ compensation pursuant to this chapter whose name and social security number are the same as that of a person whose name or social security number was submitted by the director. The administrator also shall inform the auditor of state of the amount of workers’ compensation paid to the person during such period as the director specifies.

The bureau and its employees, except for purposes of furnishing the auditor of state with information required by this section, shall preserve the confidentiality of recipients or participants of public assistance in compliance with division (A) of section 5101.181 of the Revised Code.

For the purposes of this section, “public assistance” means medical assistance provided through the medical assistance program established under section 5111.01 of the Revised Code, Ohio works first provided under Chapter 5107. of the Revised Code, prevention, retention, and contingenc ybenefits and services provided under Chapter 5108. of the Revised Code, disability financial assistance provided under Chapter 5115. of the Revised Code, or disability medical assistance provided under Chapter 5115. of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 06-26-2003

The administrator of workers’ compensation may furnish to the tax commissioner, on a quarterly basis, a list in a format approved by the tax commissioner containing the name and social security number or employer identification number of any employer, and may request that the tax commissioner, on a quarterly basis, report the total amount of compensation paid that the employer reported for the period for which the annual return is made pursuant to division (F)(3) of section 5747.07 of the Revised Code, for each employer contained on the administrator’s list.

Upon receipt of this list and request, the tax commissioner shall provide to the administrator, in a format designed by the tax commissioner, information identifying any employer listed by the administrator who reported compensation paid to employees on the most recent return filed by the person pursuant to section 5747.07 of the Revised Code and the total amount of compensation paid that the employer reported for the period for which the annual return is made pursuant to division (F)(3) of section 5747.07 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: (SB 7) 06-30-2006

Every employer in this state shall keep a record of all injuries and occupational diseases, fatal or otherwise, received or contracted by his employees in the course of their employment and resulting in seven days or more of total disability. Within a week after acquiring knowledge of an injury or death therefrom, and in the event of occupational disease or death therefrom, within one week after acquiring knowledge of or diagnosis of or death from an occupational disease or of a report to the employer of the occupational disease or death, a report thereof shall be made in writing to the bureau of workers’ compensation upon blanks to be procured from the bureau for that purpose. The report shall state the name and nature of the business of the employer, the location of his establishment or place of work, the name, address, nature and duration of occupation of the injured, disabled, or deceased employee and the time, the nature, and the cause of injury, occupational disease, or death, and such other information as is required by the bureau.

The employer shall give a copy of each report to the employee it concerns or his surviving dependents.

No employer shall refuse or neglect to make any report required by this section.

Each day that an employer fails to file a report required by this section constitutes an additional day within the time period given to a claimant by the applicable statute of limitations for the filing of a claim based on the injury or occupational disease, provided that a failure to file a report shall not extend the applicable statute of limitations for more than two additional years.

Effective Date: 11-03-1989

(A) The administrator of workers’ compensation, subject to the approval of the bureau of workers’ compensation board of directors, shall do all of the following:

(1) Classify occupations or industries with respect to their degree of hazard and determine the risks of the different classes according to the categories the national council on compensation insurance establishes that are applicable to employers in this state;

(2) Fix the rates of premium of the risks of the classes based upon the total payroll in each of the classes of occupation or industry sufficiently large to provide a fund for the compensation provided for in this chapter and to maintain a state insurance fund from year to year. The administrator shall set the rates at a level that assures the solvency of the fund. Where the payroll cannot be obtained or, in the opinion of the administrator, is not an adequate measure for determining the premium to be paid for the degree of hazard, the administrator may determine the rates of premium upon such other basis, consistent with insurance principles, as is equitable in view of the degree of hazard, and whenever in this chapter reference is made to payroll or expenditure of wages with reference to fixing premiums, the reference shall be construed to have been made also to such other basis for fixing the rates of premium as the administrator may determine under this section.

The administrator in setting or revising rates shall furnish to employers an adequate explanation of the basis for the rates set.

(3) Develop and make available to employers who are paying premiums to the state insurance fund alternative premium plans. Alternative premium plans shall include retrospective rating plans. The administrator may make available plans under which an advanced deposit may be applied against a specified deductible amount per claim.

(4)(a) Offer to insure the obligations of employers under this chapter under a plan that groups, for rating purposes, employers, and pools the risk of the employers within the group provided that the employers meet all of the following conditions:

(i) All of the employers within the group are members of an organization that has been in existence for at least two years prior to the date of application for group coverage;

(ii) The organization was formed for purposes other than that of obtaining group workers’ compensation under this division;

(iii) The employers’ business in the organization is substantially similar such that the risks which are grouped are substantially homogeneous;

(iv) The group of employers consists of at least one hundred members or the aggregate workers’ compensation premiums of the members, as determined by the administrator, are expected to exceed one hundred fifty thousand dollars during the coverage period;

(v) The formation and operation of the group program in the organization will substantially improve accident prevention and claims handling for the employers in the group;

(vi) Each employer seeking to enroll in a group for workers’ compensation coverage has an industrial insurance account in good standing with the bureau of workers’ compensation such that at the time the agreement is processed no outstanding premiums, penalties, or assessments are due from any of the employers.

(b) If an organization sponsors more than one employer group to participate in group plans established under this section, that organization may submit a single application that supplies all of the information necessary for each group of employers that the organization wishes to sponsor.

(c) In providing employer group plans under division (A)(4) of this section, the administrator shall consider an employer group as a single employing entity for purposes of retrospective rating. No employer may be a member of more than one group for the purpose of obtaining workers’ compensation coverage under this division.

(d) At the time the administrator revises premium rates pursuant to this section and section 4123.34 of the Revised Code, if the premium rate of an employer who participates in a group plan established under this section changes from the rate established for the previous year, the administrator, in addition to sending the invoice with the rate revision to that employer, shall send a copy of that invoice to the third-party administrator that administers the group plan for that employer’s group.

(e) In providing employer group plans under division (A)(4) of this section, the administrator shall establish a program designed to mitigate the impact of a significant claim that would come into the experience of a private, state fund group-rated employer for the first time and be a contributing factor in that employer being excluded from a group-rated plan. The administrator shall establish eligibility criteria and requirements that such employers must satisfy in order to participate in this program. For purposes of this program, the administrator shall establish a discount on premium rates applicable to employers who qualify for the program.

(f) In no event shall division (A)(4) of this section be construed as granting to an employer status as a self-insuring employer.

(g) The administrator shall develop classifications of occupations or industries that are sufficiently distinct so as not to group employers in classifications that unfairly represent the risks of employment with the employer.

(5) Generally promote employer participation in the state insurance fund through the regular dissemination of information to all classes of employers describing the advantages and benefits of opting to make premium payments to the fund. To that end, the administrator shall regularly make employers aware of the various workers’ compensation premium packages developed and offered pursuant to this section.

(6) Make available to every employer who is paying premiums to the state insurance fund a program whereby the employer or the employer’s agent pays to the claimant or on behalf of the claimant the first fifteen thousand dollars of a compensable workers’ compensation medical-only claim filed by that claimant that is related to the same injury or occupational disease. No formal application is required; however, an employer must elect to participate by telephoning the bureau after July 1, 1995. Once an employer has elected to participate in the program, the employer will be responsible for all bills in all medical-only claims with a date of injury the same or later than the election date, unless the employer notifies the bureau within fourteen days of receipt of the notification of a claim being filed that it does not wish to pay the bills in that claim, or the employer notifies the bureau that the fifteen thousand dollar maximum has been paid, or the employer notifies the bureau of the last day of service on which it will be responsible for the bills in a particular medical-only claim. If an employer elects to enter the program, the administrator shall not reimburse the employer for such amounts paid and shall not charge the first fifteen thousand dollars of any medical-only claim paid by an employer to the employer’s experience or otherwise use it in merit rating or determining the risks of any employer for the purpose of payment of premiums under this chapter. If an employer elects to enter the program and the employer fails to pay a bill for a medical-only claim included in the program, the employer shall be liable for that bill and the employee for whom the employer failed to pay the bill shall not be liable for that bill. The administrator shall adopt rules to implement and administer division (A)(6) of this section. Upon written request from the bureau, the employer shall provide documentation to the bureau of all medical-only bills that they are paying directly. Such requests from the bureau may not be made more frequently than on a semiannual basis. Failure to provide such documentation to the bureau within thirty days of receipt of the request may result in the employer’s forfeiture of participation in the program for such injury. The provisions of this section shall not apply to claims in which an employer with knowledge of a claimed compensable injury or occupational disease, has paid wages in lieu of compensation or total disability.

(B) The administrator, with the advice and consent of the board, by rule, may do both of the following:

(1) Grant an employer who makes the employer’s semiannual premium payment at least one month prior to the last day on which the payment may be made without penalty, a discount as the administrator fixes from time to time;

(2) Levy a minimum annual administrative charge upon risks where semiannual premium reports develop a charge less than the administrator considers adequate to offset administrative costs of processing.

Effective Date: 09-01-1995; (SB 7) 06-30-2006; 2007 HB100 09-10-2007

(A) An adjudicating committee appointed by the administrator of workers’ compensation to hear any matter specified in divisions (B)(1) to (7) of this section shall hear the matter within sixty days of the date on which an employer files the request, protest, or petition. An employer desiring to file a request, protest, or petition regarding any matter specified in divisions (B)(1) to (7) of this section shall file the request, protest, or petition to the adjudicating committee on or before twenty-four months after the administrator sends notice of the determination about which the employer is filing the request, protest, or petition.

(B) An employer who is adversely affected by a decision of an adjudicating committee appointed by the administrator may appeal the decision of the committee to the administrator or the administrator’s designee. The employer shall file the appeal in writing within thirty days after the employer receives the decision of the adjudicating committee. The administrator or the designee shall hear the appeal and hold a hearing, provided that the decision of the adjudicating committee relates to one of the following:

(1) An employer request for a waiver of a default in the payment of premiums pursuant to section 4123.37 of the Revised Code;

(2) An employer request for the settlement of liability as a noncomplying employer under section 4123.75 of the Revised Code;

(3) An employer petition objecting to the assessment of a premium pursuant to section 4123.37 of the Revised Code and the rules adopted pursuant to that section;

(4) An employer request for the abatement of penalties assessed pursuant to section 4123.32 of the Revised Code and the rules adopted pursuant to that section;

(5) An employer protest relating to an audit finding or a determination of a manual classification, experience rating, or transfer or combination of risk experience;

(6) Any decision relating to any other risk premium matter under Chapters 4121., 4123., and 4131. of the Revised Code;

(7) An employer petition objecting to the amount of security required under division (C) of section 4125.05 of the Revised Code and the rules adopted pursuant to that section.

(C) The bureau of workers’ compensation board of directors, based upon recommendations of the workers’ compensation actuarial committee, shall establish the policy for all adjudicating committee procedures, including, but not limited to, specific criteria for manual premium rate adjustment.

Effective Date: 07-11-2001; 11-05-2004; 2007 HB100 09-10-2007

Money contributed by the employers mentioned in division (B)(1) of section 4123.01 of the Revised Code constitutes the “public fund” and the money contributed by employers mentioned in division (B)(2) of such section constitutes the “private fund.” Each such fund shall be collected, distributed, and its solvency maintained without regard to or reliance upon the other. Whenever in this chapter reference is made to the state insurance fund, the reference is to such two separate funds but such two separate funds and the net premiums contributed thereto by employers after adjustments and dividends, except for the amount thereof which is set aside for the investigation and prevention of industrial accidents and diseases pursuant to Section 35 of Article II, Ohio Constitution, any amounts set aside for actuarial services authorized or required by sections 4123.44 and 4123.47 of the Revised Code, and any amounts set aside to reinsure the liability of the respective insurance funds for the following payments, constitute a trust fund for the benefit of employers and employees mentioned in sections 4123.01, 4123.03, and 4123.73 of the Revised Code for the payment of compensation, medical services, examinations, recommendations and determinations, nursing and hospital services, medicine, rehabilitation, death benefits, funeral expenses, and like benefits for loss sustained on account of injury, disease, or death provided for by this chapter, and for no other purpose. This section does not prevent the deposit or investment of all such moneys intermingled for such purpose but such funds shall be separate and distinct for all other purposes, and the rights and duties created in this chapter shall be construed to have been made with respect to two separate funds and so as to maintain and continue such funds separately except for deposit or investment. Disbursements shall not be made on account of injury, disease, or death of employees of employers who contribute to one of such funds unless the moneys to the credit of such fund are sufficient therefor and no such disbursements shall be made for moneys or credits paid or credited to the other fund.

Effective Date: 10-20-1993

The moneys in the state treasury for the use of the bureau of workers’ compensation and the industrial commission shall be known as the workers’ compensation fund group. The moneys from each fund shall be disbursed respectively pursuant to vouchers approved by the administrator of workers’ compensation or the administrator’s designee, or by the chairperson of the commission or the chairperson’s designee.

The bureau and the commission shall provide for the custody, safekeeping, and deposit of all moneys, checks, and drafts received by the bureau or commission or any employees or agents prior to paying the moneys, checks, and drafts to the treasurer of state as provided by section 113.08 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 08-01-2003

(A) The administrator of workers’ compensation may do all of the following:

(1) Utilize direct deposit of funds by electronic transfer for all disbursements the administrator is authorized to pay under this chapter and Chapters 4121., 4127., and 4131. of the Revised Code;

(2) Require any payee to provide a written authorization designating a financial institution and an account number to which a payment made according to division (A)(1) of this section is to be credited, notwithstanding division (B) of section 9.37 of the Revised Code;

(3) Contract with an agent to do both of the following:

(a) Supply debit cards for claimants to access payments made to them pursuant to this chapter and Chapters 4121., 4127., and 4131. of the Revised Code;

(b) Credit the debit cards described in division (A)(3)(a) of this section with the amounts specified by the administrator pursuant to this chapter and Chapters 4121., 4127., and 4131. of the Revised Code by utilizing direct deposit of funds by electronic transfer.

(4) Enter into agreements with financial institutions to credit the debit cards described in division (A)(3)(a) of this section with the amounts specified by the administrator pursuant to this chapter and Chapters 4121., 4127., and 4131. of the Revised Code by utilizing direct deposit of funds by electronic transfer.

(B) The administrator shall inform claimants about the administrator’s utilization of direct deposit of funds by electronic transfer under this section and section 9.37 of the Revised Code, furnish debit cards to claimants as appropriate, and provide claimants with instructions regarding use of those debit cards.

(C) The administrator, with the advice and consent of the bureau of workers’ compensation board of directors, shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code regarding utilization of the direct deposit of funds by electronic transfer under this section and section 9.37 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: (SB 7) 06-30-2006; 2007 HB100 09-10-2007

The administrator of workers’ compensation, with the advice and consent of the bureau of workers’ compensation board of directors, shall adopt rules with respect to the collection, maintenance, and disbursements of the state insurance fund including all of the following:

(A) A rule providing that the premium security deposit collected from any employer entitles the employer to the benefits of this chapter for the remainder of the six months and also for an additional adjustment period of two months, and, thereafter, if the employer pays the premium due at the close of any six-month period, coverage shall be extended for an additional eight-month period beginning from the end of the six-month period for which the employer pays the premium due;

(B) A rule providing for ascertaining the correctness of any employer’s report of estimated or actual expenditure of wages and the determination and adjustment of proper premiums and the payment of those premiums by the employer for or during any period less than eight months and notwithstanding any payment or determination of premium made when exceptional conditions or circumstances in the judgment of the administrator justify the action;

(C) Such special rules as the administrator considers necessary to safeguard the fund and that are just in the circumstances, covering the rates to be applied where one employer takes over the occupation or industry of another or where an employer first makes application for state insurance, and the administrator may require that if any employer transfers a business in whole or in part or otherwise reorganizes the business, the successor in interest shall assume, in proportion to the extent of the transfer, as determined by the administrator, the employer’s account and shall continue the payment of all contributions due under this chapter;

(D) A rule providing for all of the following:

(1) If, within two months immediately after the expiration of the six-month period, an employer fails to file a report of the employer’s actual payroll expenditures for the period, the premium found to be due from the employer for the period shall be increased in an amount equal to one per cent of the premium, but the increase shall not be less than three nor more than fifteen dollars;

(2) The premium determined by the administrator to be due from an employer shall be payable on or before the end of the coverage period established by the premium security deposit, or within the time specified by the administrator if the period for which the advance premium has been paid is less than eight months. If an employer fails to pay the premium when due, the administrator may add a late fee penalty of not more than thirty dollars to the premium plus an additional penalty amount as follows:

(a) For a premium from sixty-one to ninety days past due, the prime interest rate, multiplied by the premium due;

(b) For a premium from ninety-one to one hundred twenty days past due, the prime interest rate plus two per cent, multiplied by the premium due;

(c) For a premium from one hundred twenty-one to one hundred fifty days past due, the prime interest rate plus four per cent, multiplied by the premium due;

(d) For a premium from one hundred fifty-one to one hundred eighty days past due, the prime interest rate plus six per cent, multiplied by the premium due;

(e) For a premium from one hundred eighty-one to two hundred ten days past due, the prime interest rate plus eight per cent, multiplied by the premium due;

(f) For each additional thirty-day period or portion thereof that a premium remains past due after it has remained past due for more than two hundred ten days, the prime interest rate plus eight per cent, multiplied by the premium due.

(3) Notwithstanding the interest rates specified in division (D)(2) of this section, at no time shall the additional penalty amount assessed under division (D)(2) of this section exceed fifteen per cent of the premium due.

(4) An employer may appeal a late fee penalty or additional penalty to an adjudicating committee pursuant to section 4123.291 of the Revised Code.

For purposes of division (D) of this section, “prime interest rate” means the average bank prime rate, and the administrator shall determine the prime interest rate in the same manner as a county auditor determines the average bank prime rate under section 929.02 of the Revised Code.

(5) If the employer files an appropriate payroll report, within the time provided by law or within the time specified by the administrator if the period for which the employer paid an estimated premium is less than eight months, the employer shall not be in default and division (D)(2) of this section shall not apply if the employer pays the premiums within fifteen days after being first notified by the administrator of the amount due.

(6) Any deficiencies in the amounts of the premium security deposit paid by an employer for any period shall be subject to an interest charge of six per cent per annum from the date the premium obligation is incurred. In determining the interest due on deficiencies in premium security deposit payments, a charge in each case shall be made against the employer in an amount equal to interest at the rate of six per cent per annum on the premium security deposit due but remaining unpaid sixty days after notice by the administrator.

(7) Any interest charges or penalties provided for in divisions (D)(2) and (6) of this section shall be credited to the employer’s account for rating purposes in the same manner as premiums.

(E) A rule providing that each employer, on the occasion of instituting coverage under this chapter, shall submit a premium security deposit. The deposit shall be calculated equivalent to thirty per cent of the semiannual premium obligation of the employer based upon the employer’s estimated expenditure for wages for the ensuing six-month period plus thirty per cent of an additional adjustment period of two months but only up to a maximum of one thousand dollars and not less than ten dollars. The administrator shall review the security deposit of every employer who has submitted a deposit which is less than the one-thousand-dollar maximum. The administrator may require any such employer to submit additional money up to the maximum of one thousand dollars that, in the administrator’s opinion, reflects the employer’s current payroll expenditure for an eight-month period.

(F) A rule providing that each employer, on the occasion of instituting coverage under this chapter, shall submit an application for coverage that completely provides all of the information required for the administrator to establish coverage for that employer, and that the employer’s failure to provide all of the information completely may be grounds for the administrator to deny coverage for that employer.

(G) A rule providing that, in addition to any other remedies permitted in this chapter, the administrator may discontinue an employer’s coverage if the employer fails to pay the premium due on or before the premium’s due date.

(H) A rule providing that if after a final adjudication it is determined that an employer has failed to pay an obligation, billing, account, or assessment that is greater than one thousand dollars on or before its due date, the administrator may discontinue the employer’s coverage in addition to any other remedies permitted in this chapter, and that the administrator shall not discontinue an employer’s coverage pursuant to this division prior to a final adjudication regarding the employer’s failure to pay such obligation, billing, account, or assessment on or before its due date.

(I) As used in divisions (G) and (H) of this section:

(1) “Employer” has the same meaning as in division (B) of section 4123.01 of the Revised Code except that “employer” does not include the state, a state hospital, or a state university or college.

(2) “State university or college” has the same meaning as in section 3345.12 of the Revised Code and also includes the Ohio agricultural research and development center and the Ohio state university cooperative extension service.

(3) “State hospital” means the Ohio state university hospital and its ancillary facilities and the medical university of Ohio at Toledo hospital.

Effective Date: 03-14-2003; (SB 7) 06-30-2006; 2007 HB100 09-10-2007

The bureau of workers’ compensation board of directors, based upon recommendations of the workers’ compensation actuarial committee, shall adopt a rule with respect to the collection, maintenance, and disbursements of the state insurance fund providing that in the event there is developed as of any given rate revision date a surplus of earned premium over all losses that, in the judgment of the board, is larger than is necessary adequately to safeguard the solvency of the fund, the board may return such excess surplus to the subscribers to the fund in either the form of cash refunds or a reduction of premiums, regardless of when the premium obligations have accrued.

Effective Date: 2007 HB100 09-10-2007

Where, in the judgment of the administrator of workers’ compensation, the circumstances justify or require a certificate entitling an employer to protection under this chapter for a period of less than one year, the administrator may, upon such conditions as are just and for such premium as the facts require, grant to the employer a certificate for the length of time the administrator designates in the certificate.

Effective Date: 10-20-1993

It shall be the duty of the bureau of workers’ compensation board of directors and the administrator of workers’ compensation to safeguard and maintain the solvency of the state insurance fund and all other funds specified in this chapter and Chapters 4121., 4127., and 4131. of the Revised Code. The administrator, in the exercise of the powers and discretion conferred upon the administrator in section 4123.29 of the Revised Code, shall fix and maintain, with the advice and consent of the board, for each class of occupation or industry, the lowest possible rates of premium consistent with the maintenance of a solvent state insurance fund and the creation and maintenance of a reasonable surplus, after the payment of legitimate claims for injury, occupational disease, and death that the administrator authorizes to be paid from the state insurance fund for the benefit of injured, diseased, and the dependents of killed employees. In establishing rates, the administrator shall take into account the necessity of ensuring sufficient money is set aside in the premium payment security fund to cover any defaults in premium obligations. The administrator shall observe all of the following requirements in fixing the rates of premium for the risks of occupations or industries:

(A) The administrator shall keep an accurate account of the money paid in premiums by each of the several classes of occupations or industries, and the losses on account of injuries, occupational disease, and death of employees thereof, and also keep an account of the money received from each individual employer and the amount of losses incurred against the state insurance fund on account of injuries, occupational disease, and death of the employees of the employer.

(B) Ten per cent of the money paid into the state insurance fund shall be set aside for the creation of a surplus until the surplus amounts to the sum of one hundred thousand dollars, after which time, whenever necessary in the judgment of the administrator to guarantee a solvent state insurance fund, a sum not exceeding five per cent of all the money paid into the state insurance fund shall be credited to the surplus fund. A revision of basic rates shall be made annually on the first day of July.

Notwithstanding any provision of the law to the contrary, one hundred eighty days after the effective date on which self-insuring employers first may elect under division (D) of section 4121.66 of the Revised Code to directly pay for rehabilitation expenses, the administrator shall calculate the deficit, if any, in the portion of surplus fund that is used for reimbursement to self-insuring employers for all expenses other than handicapped reimbursement under section 4123.343 of the Revised Code. The administrator, from time to time, may determine whether the surplus fund has such a deficit and may assess all self-insuring employers who participated in the portion of the surplus fund during the accrual of the deficit and who during that time period have not made the election under division (D) of section 4121.66 of the Revised Code the amount the administrator determines necessary to reduce the deficit.

Revisions of basic rates shall be in accordance with the oldest four of the last five calendar years of the combined accident and occupational disease experience of the administrator in the administration of this chapter, as shown by the accounts kept as provided in this section, excluding the experience of employers that are no longer active if the administrator determines that the inclusion of those employers would have a significant negative impact on the remainder of the employers in a particular manual classification; and the administrator shall adopt rules, with the advice and consent of the board, governing rate revisions, the object of which shall be to make an equitable distribution of losses among the several classes of occupation or industry, which rules shall be general in their application.

(C) The administrator may apply that form of rating system that the administrator finds is best calculated to merit rate or individually rate the risk more equitably, predicated upon the basis of its individual industrial accident and occupational disease experience, and may encourage and stimulate accident prevention. The administrator shall develop fixed and equitable rules controlling the rating system, which rules shall conserve to each risk the basic principles of workers’ compensation insurance.

(D) The administrator, from the money paid into the state insurance fund, shall set aside into an account of the state insurance fund titled a premium payment security fund sufficient money to pay for any premiums due from an employer and uncollected that are in excess of the employer’s premium security deposit.

The fund shall be in the custody of the treasurer of state. All investment earnings of the fund shall be deposited in the fund. Disbursements from the fund shall be made by the bureau of workers’ compensation upon order of the administrator to the state insurance fund. The use of the moneys held by the premium payment security fund is restricted to reimbursement to the state insurance fund of premiums due and uncollected in excess of an employer’s premium security deposit. The moneys constituting the premium payment security fund shall be maintained without regard to or reliance upon any other fund. This section does not prevent the deposit or investment of the premium payment security fund with any other fund created by this chapter, but the premium payment security fund is separate and distinct for every other purpose and a strict accounting thereof shall be maintained.

(E) The administrator may grant discounts on premium rates for employers who meet either of the following requirements:

(1) Have not incurred a compensable injury for one year or more and who maintain an employee safety committee or similar organization or make periodic safety inspections of the workplace.

(2) Successfully complete a loss prevention program prescribed by the superintendent of the division of safety and hygiene and conducted by the division or by any other person approved by the superintendent.

(F)(1) In determining the premium rates for the construction industry the administrator shall calculate the employers’ premiums based upon the actual remuneration construction industry employees receive from construction industry employers, provided that the amount of remuneration the administrator uses in calculating the premiums shall not exceed an average weekly wage equal to one hundred fifty per cent of the statewide average weekly wage as defined in division (C) of section 4123.62 of the Revised Code.

(2) Division (F)(1) of this section shall not be construed as affecting the manner in which benefits to a claimant are awarded under this chapter.

(3) As used in division (F) of this section, “construction industry” includes any activity performed in connection with the erection, alteration, repair, replacement, renovation, installation, or demolition of any building, structure, highway, or bridge.

Effective Date: 06-30-1997; 2007 HB100 09-10-2007

The administrative costs of the industrial commission, the bureau of workers’ compensation board of directors, and the bureau of workers’ compensation shall be those costs and expenses that are incident to the discharge of the duties and performance of the activities of the industrial commission, the board, and the bureau under this chapter and Chapters 4121., 4125., 4127., 4131., and 4167. of the Revised Code, and all such costs shall be borne by the state and by other employers amenable to this chapter as follows:

(A) In addition to the contribution required of the state under sections 4123.39 and 4123.40 of the Revised Code, the state shall contribute the sum determined to be necessary under section 4123.342 of the Revised Code.

(B) The director of budget and management may allocate the state’s share of contributions in the manner the director finds most equitably apportions the costs.

(C) The counties and taxing districts therein shall contribute such sum as may be required under section 4123.342 of the Revised Code.

(D) The private employers shall contribute the sum required under section 4123.342 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 09-01-1995; 2007 HB100 09-10-2007

(A) The administrator of workers’ compensation shall allocate among counties and taxing districts therein as a class, the state and its instrumentalities as a class, private employers who are insured under the private fund as a class, and self-insuring employers as a class their fair shares of the administrative costs which are to be borne by such employers under division (D) of section 4123.341 of the Revised Code, separately allocating to each class those costs solely attributable to the activities of the industrial commission, and those costs solely attributable to the activities of the bureau of workers’ compensation board of directors, and the bureau of workers’ compensation in respect of the class, allocating to any combination of classes those costs attributable to the activities of the industrial commission, board, or bureau in respect of the classes, and allocating to all four classes those costs attributable to the activities of the industrial commission, board, and bureau in respect of all classes. The administrator shall separately calculate each employer’s assessment in the class, except self-insuring employers, on the basis of the following three factors: payroll, paid compensation, and paid medical costs of the employer for those costs solely attributable to the activities of the board and the bureau. The administrator shall separately calculate each employer’s assessment in the class, except self-insuring employers, on the basis of the following three factors: payroll, paid compensation, and paid medical costs of the employer for those costs solely attributable to the activities of the industrial commission. The administrator shall separately calculate each self-insuring employer’s assessment in accordance with section 4123.35 of the Revised Code for those costs solely attributable to the activities of the board and the bureau. The administrator shall separately calculate each self-insuring employer’s assessment in accordance with section 4123.35 of the Revised Code for those costs solely attributable to the activities of the industrial commission. In a timely manner, the industrial commission shall provide to the administrator, the information necessary for the administrator to allocate and calculate, with the approval of the chairperson of the industrial commission, for each class of employer as described in this division, the costs solely attributable to the activities of the industrial commission.

(B) The administrator shall divide the administrative cost assessments collected by the administrator into two administrative assessment accounts within the state insurance fund. One of the administrative assessment accounts shall consist of the administrative cost assessment collected by the administrator for the industrial commission. The other administrative assessment account shall consist of the administrative cost assessments collected by the administrator for the bureau and the board. The administrator may invest the administrative cost assessments in these accounts on behalf of the bureau and the industrial commission as authorized in section 4123.44 of the Revised Code. In a timely manner, the administrator shall provide to the industrial commission the information and reports the commission deems necessary for the commission to monitor the receipts and the disbursements from the administrative assessment account for the industrial commission.

(C) The administrator or the administrator’s designee shall transfer moneys as necessary from the administrative assessment account identified for the bureau and the board to the workers’ compensation fund for the use of the bureau and the board. As necessary and upon the authorization of the industrial commission, the administrator or the administrator’s designee shall transfer moneys from the administrative assessment account identified for the industrial commission to the industrial commission operating fund created under section 4121.021 of the Revised Code. To the extent that the moneys collected by the administrator in any fiscal biennium of the state equal the sum appropriated by the general assembly for administrative costs of the industrial commission, board, and bureau for the biennium, the moneys shall be paid into the workers’ compensation fund and the industrial commission operating fund of the state and any remainder shall be retained in the state insurance fund and applied to reduce the amount collected during the next biennium. Sections 4123.41, 4123.35, and 4123.37 of the Revised Code apply to the collection of assessments from public and private employers respectively, except that for boards of county hospital trustees that are self-insuring employers, only those provisions applicable to the collection of assessments for private employers apply.

Effective Date: 08-01-2003; 2007 HB100 09-10-2007

This section shall be construed liberally to the end that employers shall be encouraged to employ and retain in their employment handicapped employees as defined in this section.

(A) As used in this section, “handicapped employee” means an employee who is afflicted with or subject to any physical or mental impairment, or both, whether congenital or due to an injury or disease of such character that the impairment constitutes a handicap in obtaining employment or would constitute a handicap in obtaining reemployment if the employee should become unemployed and whose handicap is due to any of the following diseases or conditions:

(1) Epilepsy;

(2) Diabetes;

(3) Cardiac disease;

(4) Arthritis;

(5) Amputated foot, leg, arm, or hand;

(6) Loss of sight of one or both eyes or a partial loss of uncorrected vision of more than seventy-five per cent bilaterally;

(7) Residual disability from poliomyelitis;

(8) Cerebral palsy;

(9) Multiple sclerosis;

(10) Parkinson’s disease;

(11) Cerebral vascular accident;

(12) Tuberculosis;

(13) Silicosis;

(14) Psycho-neurotic disability following treatment in a recognized medical or mental institution;

(15) Hemophilia;

(16) Chronic osteomyelitis;

(17) Ankylosis of joints;

(18) Hyper insulinism;

(19) Muscular dystrophies;

(20) Arterio-sclerosis;

(21) Thrombo-phlebitis;

(22) Varicose veins;

(23) Cardiovascular, pulmonary, or respiratory diseases of a firefighter or police officer employed by a municipal corporation or township as a regular member of a lawfully constituted police department or fire department;

(24) Coal miners’ pneumoconiosis, commonly referred to as “black lung disease”;

(25) Disability with respect to which an individual has completed a rehabilitation program conducted pursuant to sections 4121.61 to 4121.69 of the Revised Code.

(B) Under the circumstances set forth in this section all or such portion as the administrator determines of the compensation and benefits paid in any claim arising hereafter shall be charged to and paid from the statutory surplus fund created under section 4123.34 of the Revised Code and only the portion remaining shall be merit-rated or otherwise treated as part of the accident or occupational disease experience of the employer. If the employer is a self-insuring employer, the proportion of such costs whether charged to the statutory surplus fund in whole or in part shall be by way of direct payment to such employee or the employee’s dependents or by way of reimbursement to the self-insuring employer as the circumstances indicate. The provisions of this section apply only in cases of death, total disability, whether temporary or permanent, and all disabilities compensated under division (B) of section 4123.57 of the Revised Code. The administrator shall adopt rules specifying the grounds upon which charges to the statutory surplus fund are to be made. The rules shall prohibit as a grounds any agreement between employer and claimant as to the merits of a claim and the amount of the charge.

(C) Any employer who has in its employ a handicapped employee is entitled, in the event the person is injured, to a determination under this section.

An employer shall file an application under this section for a determination with the bureau or commission in the same manner as other claims. An application only may be made in cases where a handicapped employee or a handicapped employee’s dependents claim or is receiving an award of compensation as a result of an injury or occupational disease occurring or contracted on or after the date on which division (A) of this section first included the handicap of such employee.

(D) The circumstances under and the manner in which an apportionment under this section shall be made are:

(1) Whenever a handicapped employee is injured or disabled or dies as the result of an injury or occupational disease sustained in the course of and arising out of a handicapped employee’s employment in this state and the administrator awards compensation therefor and when it appears to the satisfaction of the administrator that the injury or occupational disease or the death resulting therefrom would not have occurred but for the pre-existing physical or mental impairment of the handicapped employee, all compensation and benefits payable on account of the disability or death shall be paid from the surplus fund.

(2) Whenever a handicapped employee is injured or disabled or dies as a result of an injury or occupational disease and the administrator finds that the injury or occupational disease would have been sustained or suffered without regard to the employee’s pre-existing impairment but that the resulting disability or death was caused at least in part through aggravation of the employee’s pre-existing disability, the administrator shall determine in a manner that is equitable and reasonable and based upon medical evidence the amount of disability or proportion of the cost of the death award that is attributable to the employee’s pre-existing disability and the amount found shall be charged to the statutory surplus fund.

(E) The benefits and provisions of this section apply only to employers who have complied with this chapter either through insurance with the state fund or as a self-insuring employer.

(F) No employer shall in any year receive credit under this section in an amount greater than the premium the employer paid if a state fund employer or greater than the employer’s assessments if a self-insuring employer.

(G) Self-insuring employers may, for all claims made after January 1, 1987, for compensation and benefits under this section, pay the compensation and benefits directly to the employee or the employee’s dependents. If such an employer chooses to pay compensation and benefits directly, the employer shall receive no money or credit from the surplus fund for the payment under this section, nor shall the employer be required to pay any amounts into the surplus fund that otherwise would be assessed for handicapped reimbursements for claims made after January 1, 1987. Where a self-insuring employer elects to pay for compensation and benefits pursuant to this section, the employer shall assume responsibility for compensation and benefits arising out of claims made prior to January 1, 1987, and shall not be required to pay any amounts into the surplus fund and may not receive any money or credit from that fund on account of this section. The election made under this division is irrevocable.

(H) An order issued by the administrator pursuant to this section is appealable under section 4123.511 of the Revised Code but is not appealable to court under section 4123.512 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 08-06-1999

(A) Except as provided in this section, every employer mentioned in division (B)(2) of section 4123.01 of the Revised Code, and every publicly owned utility shall pay semiannually in the months of January and July into the state insurance fund the amount of annual premium the administrator of workers’ compensation fixes for the employment or occupation of the employer, the amount of which premium to be paid by each employer to be determined by the classifications, rules, and rates made and published by the administrator. The employer shall pay semiannually a further sum of money into the state insurance fund as may be ascertained to be due from the employer by applying the rules of the administrator, and a receipt or certificate certifying that payment has been made, along with a written notice as is required in section 4123.54 of the Revised Code, shall be mailed immediately to the employer by the bureau of workers’ compensation. The receipt or certificate is prima-facie evidence of the payment of the premium, and the proper posting of the notice constitutes the employer’s compliance with the notice requirement mandated in section 4123.54 of the Revised Code.

The bureau of workers’ compensation shall verify with the secretary of state the existence of all corporations and organizations making application for workers’ compensation coverage and shall require every such application to include the employer’s federal identification number.

An employer as defined in division (B)(2) of section 4123.01 of the Revised Code who has contracted with a subcontractor is liable for the unpaid premium due from any subcontractor with respect to that part of the payroll of the subcontractor that is for work performed pursuant to the contract with the employer.

Division (A) of this section providing for the payment of premiums semiannually does not apply to any employer who was a subscriber to the state insurance fund prior to January 1, 1914, or who may first become a subscriber to the fund in any month other than January or July. Instead, the semiannual premiums shall be paid by those employers from time to time upon the expiration of the respective periods for which payments into the fund have been made by them.

The administrator shall adopt rules to permit employers to make periodic payments of the semiannual premium due under this division. The rules shall include provisions for the assessment of interest charges, where appropriate, and for the assessment of penalties when an employer fails to make timely premium payments. An employer who timely pays the amounts due under this division is entitled to all of the benefits and protections of this chapter. Upon receipt of payment, the bureau immediately shall mail a receipt or certificate to the employer certifying that payment has been made, which receipt is prima-facie evidence of payment. Workers’ compensation coverage under this chapter continues uninterrupted upon timely receipt of payment under this division.

Every public employer, except public employers that are self-insuring employers under this section, shall comply with sections 4123.38 to 4123.41, and 4123.48 of the Revised Code in regard to the contribution of moneys to the publi