Hurricane Matthew Recovery – What Florida Roofers Need To Know About Worker’s Comp

Hurricane Matthew Roofing Florida Worker’s Comp Quick-Start

In the wake of Hurricane Matthew there is an immediate  need for contractors and roofers to get set up too work in Florida for repairs. This program can help out-of-state companies and contractors get to work immediatley!

Hybrid Financial has a quick and easy program to get you up and running almost immediately so you can determine your hard costs,  get employees on the job and get to work and be full compliant with all state and federal laws. This is a pay-as-you-go program so the startup costs are minimal.

Call now! 888-982-3334

What You need To Know About Roofing Worker’s Comp In Florida

Workers’ compensation is a necessary expense for Florida businesses, and it is important for employers to understand their duties and responsibilities under Florida law. 

All businesses (except construction) with 4 or more employees, full-time or part-time. [Corporate officers ­count as employees unless the officer has been issued an exemption] must carry this insurance.

This includes all roofing or construction industry businesses, unless the business owners have exemptions and there are no employees. The owner is included unless he/she specifically files for an exemption. (Please see below for more details on exemptions.)

Class code 5551 is used for employees that perform all kinds of roofing installations and roofing repair jobs, including drivers. Because this is an all-inclusive classification, roofing work may be done on any surface, including flat, built-up, or sloped roofs.

Florida’s investigators conduct routine job-site inspections to ensure Employer compliance with the Workers’ Compensation law. When an Employer is operating without the required coverage, civil enforcement action is taken. This most often results in the issuance of a Stop-Work Order, requiring that the business cease all operations until it complies with the law and pays a penalty.

The penalty is equal to 2 times the amount the employer would have paid in manual premium within the preceding two year period.

A Stop-Work Order may also be issued if an employer

• understates or conceals payroll,
• misrepresents or conceals employee duties or
• otherwise attempts to avoid paying the proper amount of premium when purchasing a Workers’ Compensation Insurance policy.

Such violations and other actions may result in criminal charges as filed by the Division of Insurance Fraud.

It is against the law to:

• Work without workers’ compensation insurance when required to do so
• Work in violation of a Stop-Work Order
• Make a false statement for the purpose of obtaining insurance coverage or to reduce premiums
• Fail to report an injury to the insurance carrier
• Discharge or threaten to discharge an employee for filing or attempting to file a workers’ compensation claim
• Deduct workers’ compensation premium from employees’ pay
• Misclassify an employee as an independent contractor

Two Florida Supreme Court decisions earlier this year are prompting a 14.5 percent increase in workers comp insurance rates.  One case, Westphal v. St. Petersburg, has to do with the cut off for disability payments.  The other, Castellanos v. Next Door Company, overturns statutory limits on attorney’s fees.

Florida’s Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier explains, “The requested rate increases that NCCI submitted to us related to those two were a 15 percent rate increase from the Castellanos decision and a 2.2 percent increase for the Westphaldecision.”

How can a company get Worker’s comp insurance quickly in order two help with the recovery from Hurricane Matthew?

Get Connected online or  Call now! 888-982-3334