Employers often look for ways to encourage their employees to do their jobs as safely as possible. But do their employees know that accidents can affect their paychecks personally?

Part of a company’s L&I insurance premium cost comes directly out of an employee’s paycheck. If the shop is accident-prone with a high experience factor, all of the employees will ‘feel’ it in their take-home pay. If the business has multiple branches, an accident at one location can affect the premium rates of all the others. It benefits shops to work safely to keep L&I insurance rates as low as possible, which can also earn employers accident-free discounts, similar to an auto insurance policy. Being injury-free allows employees to enjoy their usual time-off activities as well.

When employers’ rates decrease, the employee portion of the premium will go down. So, if an employee sees a fellow worker doing something unsafe, they will be more likely to encourage safe behavior. Accidents cost all employees, even those who don’t get hurt, and having a safe work environment directly affects the size of workers’ paychecks.

Here is a link to a table showing how a rate change can affect take-home pay.

Rick Means, Director of Safety and Education, is available to help members with safety. Contact Rick at 360-943-9198, Ext. 118 or [email protected].