It just seemed unfair, recalls Robert Bradshaw, president and CEO of the Independent Insurance Agents of Virginia Inc. A small contractor whose truck had been rear-ended while stopped at a traffic light was penalized with a higher workers’ compensation insurance experience modification rate, disqualifying it from bidding on projects.
The incident wasn’t the first time Bradshaw had heard about contractors receiving EMR hikes after off-site accidents in which employees or their companies were not at fault. But it was enough for his association to launch the first and so far only successful state lobbying effort of its kind. It sought to prohibit the use of a particular EMR for eligibility to bid on construction services, including private-sector projects not covered by the state’s public procurement rules.
弗吉尼亚州运输部收集承包商EMR数据以得出该机构称为经验修改因子的六年平均值，该数字仅代表整体安全评估的一小部分。
布拉德肖说，这一规则的改变是由弗吉尼亚州立法机关在2016年制定的，此后一年失败了。该措施要求为工人补偿保险公司制定的主要利率组织国家薪酬保险委员会（NCCI）创建单独的EMR计算，以排除承包商没有过错的事件。
“As it turned out, we got a 100-percent better bill,” Bradshaw says of the final legislation. It calls for dropping EMRs entirely from prequalification requirements. “We also used that additional time to talk to legislators about problems with the existing situation and get everyone on board.”
Recognizing some of the problems in the use of EMR, NCCI now includes a disclaimer in its reports, advising against the calculation as a prequalification metric. Some insurance agents in other states report a greater willingness among general contractors and owners to gather more information about a contractor’s EMR. “We encourage smaller contractors to be up-front about it,” says Joe Tiernan, a shareholder in the Kansas City, Mo., office of broker Holmes Murphy.
布拉德肖说,除了少数由mem查询bers, the years following Virginia’s law change have been largely quiet. Not all contractors may realize they have an avenue to contest EMR-related disqualifications.
But he’s satisfied with having brought a “patently unfair practice” to the legislators’ attention. “The bill takes effect, and the phones stop ringing,” he says of the problem. “That’s how it’s supposed to work.”
