| Workers' Compensation
Self Insured Employer
Frequently Asked Questions:
- As an employer, how do
I know whether I have to carry workers’ compensation insurance?
All public and private employers in Colorado, with limited
exceptions, must provide workers' compensation coverage for their
employees if one or more full or part-time persons are employed. A
person hired to perform services for pay is presumed by law to be an
employee. This includes all persons elected or appointed to public
sector service and all persons appointed or hired by private
employers for remuneration. There are a few exemptions to this
definition.
Return to
Top
Return to Quick List
Return to Home Page
- How do I obtain
insurance?
Workers' compensation insurance may be purchased from one of over
two hundred private insurance companies authorized to conduct
business in the State of Colorado. Coverage may be purchased from
any authorized insurance company.
Return to
Top
Return to Quick List
Return to Home Page
- Am I exempt from
carrying workers’ compensation coverage if I’m an independent
contractor?
Generally, an independent contractor is a person who contracts to
complete a specific project for another business for a set price.
The independent contractor must be: (1) free from control and
direction over the means and method of performing work; and (2)
customarily engaged in an independent trade, occupation, profession
or business related to the work being performed. While a business
and an independent contractor may help establish independence in a
written document, the actual facts will determine whether a
particular worker qualifies as an independent contractor. If the
independent contractor has employees, workers' compensation
insurance for the employees must be obtained.
Return to
Top
Return to Quick List
Return to Home Page
- Can my business be self-insured for workers’ compensation?
Colorado workers' compensation statutes allow employers,
meeting strict financial and loss control standards, to self-insure
this risk. Authorized by special permit, such workers' compensation
obligations are paid directly from the earnings and assets of the
employer. Permits to self-insure individual companies are obtained
through the Division of Workers' Compensation. Employers applying
for self-insurance must regularly employ 300 or more employees in
Colorado or be a division or subsidiary of a parent company that has
a minimum of $100,000,000 in assets.
Return to
Top
Return to Quick List
Return to Home Page
-
Do the changes in statute and rule requiring electronic
filing of all First Reports of Injury impact when a First Report
is required? In other words, is a First Report required for all
claims, including medical only claims?
No. §8-43-101(1) was
amended so that a First Report must be filed upon the contraction of
certain occupational diseases, as outlined in Rule 5-2(B)(2). That is
the only expansion of when a First Report must be filed. Also,
whenever any claim is denied, including a medical only claim, a First
Report must be filed. That has been the Division’s policy for some
time, and is now clearly stated in rule. Other than the expansion for
occupational diseases, and the clarification on denied claims, the
requirements for when a First Report of Injury must be filed with the
Division have not changed. The mandate for electronic filing involves
the mechanism for how a First Report is filed, not when one is
required. The rule stating all First Reports must be filed
electronically is specifically directed to all First Reports that are
required by statute to be filed with the Division.
Return to
Top
Return to Quick List
Return to Home Page
No. The requirement for a
Final Payment Notice applies to claims that have been filed with the
Division. The requirement does not have any effect on when a First
Report must be filed. If a First Report has not been filed with the
Division, such as in a medical only claim, no Final Payment Notice is
required.
Return to
Top
Return to Quick List
Return to Home Page
|
