Ohio Bureau of Employees’ Compensation is about to begin sending $5 billion in dividends to employers

The checks are almost in the mail.

The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation announced that it will pay $ 5 billion in dividends to Ohio employers on Thursday, December 10, as part of a government effort to combat the effects of COVID-19 on businesses and workers becomes. The dividend proposed in late October and approved in early November is the third and largest BWC dividend of 2020. Combined with a dividend of $ 1.54 billion that the agency paid out in late April and a dividend of 1.34 billion . USD in October results in a total dividend from BWC to Ohio Employers will have just under $ 8 billion this year.

In total, according to BWC in a press release, 178,415 private and public employers covered by the state insurance fund are entitled to the final dividend through a combination of postal checks and credits on their BWC accounts.

Approximately $ 4.3 billion in dividends goes to private employers, while $ 687 million goes to local government tax districts such as counties, cities, towns, and schools. BWC said it would apply the dividend to an employer’s unpaid balance first, and then send a check for the rest. Checks are being sent “in multiple lots over the next week,” BWC said.

The agency was able to pay the dividends due to strong investment returns on employer premiums and a declining number of claims for damages. According to BWC, the latest dividend is “almost four times the premium employers paid in the 2019 insurance year”.

Here you can find a breakdown of the dividend payments by district. Dividends for certain public employers are publicly known and can be found here.

BWC has set up a Frequently Asked Questions page on its website, which you can find here.

The agency offers employee compensation insurance to around 245,000 private employers and 4,000 public employers.