Update to RIM Articles regarding Weekly Workers’ Compensation - article correction

This is a corrected version of the article that appeared in MPSERS Employer News - March 2019. Corrections will also appear in the newsletter posted on the Employer Information website under "What's New".

Update to RIM Articles regarding Weekly Workers’ Compensation

3.02.03: Workers' Compensation
4.04.16: Workers' Compensation (Wage Code 01)
7.13.00: How to Report Workers' Compensation on a DTL2 Record

What is being updated?
3.02.03  If employees are on workers’ compensation and also being paid for working at temporary jobs, it is important to know that the wages and hours earned for work performed while receiving workers’ compensation are not reportable compensation.

4.04.16  Occasionally, a reporting unit will have employees on workers’ compensation who also work at temporary jobs. Wages and hours earned for actual work performed while receiving workers’ compensation are not reportable compensation. Do not report these wages or hours to ORS; submit only the workers’ compensation information.

7.13.00 (Added examples for) WWC Special Circumstances: How to report compensation when employee works while receiving WWC

Why the update?
Occasionally, a reporting unit will have employees on workers’ compensation who also work at temporary jobs. In the past, wages earned for work performed while simultaneously receiving WWC were not reportable compensation. 

When an employee earns remuneration (wages) on account of service (hours) performed as a public school employee, such remuneration is reportable as “compensation” under the Retirement Act. The Retirement Act specifies that “compensation” includes “[r]emuneration earned for all services performed as a public school employee including … weekly worker's disability compensation payments received for personal injury in the employ of and while employed by a reporting unit.”

In situations involving employees who are absent from work yet receiving weekly worker’s compensation payments, the employee is entitled to full service credit hours that they would have worked had their injury never occurred.

Retirement laws and associated regulations limit service credit (hours) that can be earned during a given period.  These regulations provide for “full” service to be tallied based on a 6-hour workday (or 30-hour workweek). Service rendered in excess of these periodic thresholds is not counted. “Compensation,” on the other hand, is not similarly capped.  Except as otherwise excluded by the retirement regulations, all payments made on account of services performed as a public school employee are considered reportable. 

How does this affect me?
If you don’t have employees earning wages for service performed while at the same time receiving WWC wages, it doesn’t affect you.

If you do have employees earning wages for work performed while at the same time receiving WWC wages, it’s important to be sure their full wages and hours earned are reported.

Please report all wages under the correct class code. Report the actual wages and hours for the work performed at a temporary job under the appropriate class code for that position. The actual wage paid for WWC should be reported in full under class code ‘8000’ regardless of who makes the payment (3rd party, Reporting Unit, check signed over to Reporting Unit by employee, etc.). Also, the hours reported with the WWC class code of ‘8000’ should reflect the total hours the employee would have worked if the injury had not occurred (full time or part time).

Example 1:  employee who works 80 hours per pay period (full time)

Type of wage	Class code	Amount	Hours
For work performed at a temporary job	Regular class code	$300 (actual amount earned)	24* (actual hours worked)
WWC	8000	$743 (set by law)	80*

*Note: due to service credit caps, this employee will be credited with 60 hours of service per bi-weekly pay period.

Example 2: employee who works 20 hours per pay period (part time)

Type of wage	Class code	Amount	Hours
For work performed at a temporary job	Regular class code	$50 (actual amount earned)	5 (actual hours worked)
WWC	8000	$160 (set by law)	20