North Dakota businesses will see their workers compensation insurance rate go up by about 5 percent.
Workforce Safety and Insurance director Bryan Klipfel says the base rate will go up an average of 1-point-two percent. But he says it also goes up because the average weekly wage also went up.
“We have 141 rate classes," said Klipfel. "Out of those, we had 68 rate classes going up, 65 rate classes going down, and 7 remained the same.”
The new rates took effect July First.
Klipfel says the WSI fund is healthy, and employers have been receiving premium dividends. This year is no exception.
“This year, fortunately we've had a good rate of return," said Klipfel. "And we were able to give back a 30 percent premium dividend to our employers.”
Klipfel says WSI has been able to give employers premium dividends for several years, while meeting its obligations to the injured worker.