Risk Class for Workers' Compensation Insurance in Washington

1.Risk class in detail

In the State of Washington, the amount a company pays for workers' compensation insurance depends on the company's risk class and experience factor.

See the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries Site to determine or look up a company's risk class and tax rates.

Risk class in detail

Risk classes group companies by the likelihood that someone employed by that company will file a claim for workers' compensation. These classes separate companies with a higher incidence of workplace injuries, e.g., construction companies, from companies with a lower incidence, e.g., software development companies.
Risk classes are assigned an identifying code with the format 0000-00, e.g., 5302-00, Software Design & Engineering and Internet Service Providers.
Companies in each risk class are assigned the specific base tax rate for each of 4 Washington state funds that pay for workers' compensation claims, which are used (along with the experience factor) to compute a company's Composite Rate, the premium amount paid for each hour worked by an employee in Washington.
Rates for each base tax rate are updated each year based on historical claims for businesses in each risk over a 5-year period.

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