On September 20, the Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) announced a proposal to increase average worker’s compensation rates by 4.8% after several years of no changes to the average rates during the pandemic. L&I cites wage inflation and increase medical and insurance costs as the reason for the rate hike.

L&I says that the rate increase is justified by wage inflation, increasing medical costs, and increasing insurance costs. According to L&I, the 4.8% average increase in workers’ compensation rates works out to an increase of about $61/FTE. However, individual job classes would see different (and often higher) increases in their workers’ compensation rates than the average rate under the proposal. In past years, individual job classes that are important for cities have seen higher rate increases then the average rate the agency has discussed in its press releases.

Importantly for local governments, the 2023 proposed workers’ compensation rates for city and county law enforcement would increase by 14% and rates for city and county firefighters would increase by 10%. You can see some city-relevant job classes and their proposed rate changes in the table below:

Premiums are determined by rates based on the type of work performed, and then multiplied by the jurisdiction’s experience factor. A jurisdiction’s experience factor can go up or down based on claim history and costs.

Members of AWC’s Retro Program can view their jurisdiction’s rate online via the RiskConsole portal.

L&I has scheduled public hearings on the rate increases for October 26 and 27. You can attend the meetings virtually on Zoom or submit written comments to the agency at the address below: