For Employers

Report the injury to your workers' compensation insurance carrier. As an employer, you are required to report a work injury to your workers’ compensation insurance company.

The insurance company will file a first report of injury and, if the employee's injury is work-related, will determine whether the employee is eligible for workers' compensation.

A penalty of $250 will be imposed on employers that fail to notify their insurance company of an injury.

• WC Compliance - What Employers Need to Know about Workers' Compensation
• Lo Que Los Epleadores Necesitan Saber Sobre la Compensacion de Trabajadores

With limited exceptions, employers with one or more employees are required to have workers’ compensation insurance coverage. Individual owners and partners are exempt. Most corporate officers are included under the Workers’ Compensation Act. The state-required poster naming the employer’s insurance company or adjusting company must be displayed in the workplace.

An independent contractor is someone who maintains an independent business and is available for hire. An independent contractor is not eligible for workers’ compensation benefits. An independent contractor must file a DWC 11-IC form for each hiring entity (the business that hires the independent contractor). This form may be completed and submitted online by visiting the Workers' Comp Forms web page.

Waivers - Corporate Officers are usually included as employees unless they file a waiver form, Notice of Claim of Common Law Rights (DWC-11) with the Department of Labor and Training. Injured employees who have filed the DWC-11 are not covered by the workers' compensation system, and they are NOT covered by their health care provider for medical bills related to work injuries. Employees who have filed the DWC-11 can sue the employer in civil court for damages from work related injuries.

Forms: Employers may use the First Report of Injury form, or they may use their own form to report the injury/illness to their insurance company - they do not send any forms to the Division of Workers' Compensation, because the insurance company will file electronically with the State of Rhode Island.

• An employer failing to display the workers’ compensation poster faces a fine of $250.
• An employer failing to provide the required workers’ compensation insurance may be fined $1,000 per day for each day without workers’ compensation insurance. An employer may also be subject to a felony charge, and upon conviction, face a $10,000 fine and two years in prison.
• A business operating without the required workers’ compensation insurance may be closed under the authority of the Director of DLT.