COVID-19 Payroll Reporting Guidelines and 2020 Estimated Annual Premium Notice for Private Employers

See below for the PDF “BWC Payroll Reporting Guidelines” or click this link to open the PDF: BWC Payroll Reporting Guidelines

The 2020 Estimated Annual Premium Notices for private employers have been mailed. At this point for private employers, the next invoice with a payment due would be for the Estimated Annual Premium. This is due on June 22^nd. If an employer would like to change their installment option (annual, semi-annual, quarterly, b-monthly, or monthly), let me know by May 15^th.
For the Estimated Annual Premium, we reduced the estimated payroll by 20% due to COVID-19. If you would like to make an adjustment to this estimate prior to your next billing, please let me know by May 15^th.
Employers do not have to report to BWC the wages for employees for the period that they are using Emergency Sick Leave or Extended FMLA pay under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. You should keep track of this time by employee so if you have a premium audit, you are able to account for the time. (See Reportable Payroll Guidelines and Question # 24 on the attached FAQ for guidelines)
Employers do not have to report to BWC the wages for employees while they are idle at home and being paid because of the COVID-19 pandemic. You should also keep track of this time by employee so if you have a premium audit, you are able to account for the time. (See Reportable Payroll Guidelines and Question # 29 on the attached FAQ for guidelines)
Private employers may report operational staff currently teleworking to class code 8871 – Clerical Telecommuter during a declared state of emergency. We are creating a new class code, 9420- Public Employee Clerical Telecommuter, to report operational staff currently teleworking. (See Reportable Payroll Guidelines and Question # 25 on the attached FAQ for guidelines)

Also, here is a link to BWC/COVID-19 FAQ https://www.bwc.ohio.gov/downloads/blankpdf/COVID-19-BWCFAQs.pdf

This is a lot of information so let me know if you have any questions. I know these are challenging times.

Kathleen Davenport
Southwest Regional Business Consultant
Business Consulting Department
135 Merchant Street
Springdale, OH 45246-3730
P: 513-785-4591 I C: 614-357-6970