Individual employer group member requirements - Initial enrollment

Employer's responsibility

To initially enroll in a retro group

You must:

• Be a dues paying member of the organization that sponsors the retro group you wish to join.
• Complete an "Application for Group Membership and Authorization for Release of Insurance Data" form supplied to you by the sponsoring organization.

Note: You must send this application to the sponsoring organization by the date requested. Do not send it directly to L&I.

• Have an active L&I industrial insurance account and the account must be in good standing at the time of enrollment.
• Comply with L&I laws, rules and regulations.
• Enroll all businesses that you (the employer member) own or have a controlling interest in and whose nature of business is substantially the same.

Note: For purposes of retro, a controlling interest means more than fifty percent ownership in one or more business by the same owner or owners.

Example: You operate a chain of ten grocery stores. Each store is operated at a different location. You have requested that each store be assigned a special account. In addition to the ten stores, your company also has a separate administrative office. This office reports under the clerical classification. You must enroll all of your store locations if you are to participate in retro. The sponsoring organization may allow you to include your administrative office in the retro group.

• Authorize the sponsoring organization to represent you in all matters pertaining to your participation in their retro group for the requested coverage period and all subsequent adjustment periods.

Sponsoring organization's responsibilities

To enroll new members

You must:

• Forward to L&I any application for your retro group that you want L&I to consider by the due date for the selected coverage period or staggered enrollment quarter.
• Represent all proposed and approved group members in all matters pertaining to their participation in your retro group for the requested coverage period and subsequent adjustment periods.
• Communicate L&I decisions directly to the members affected by the decision.

Our responsibilities

Upon receipt of an "application for group membership and authorization for release of insurance data"

We will:

• Verify that the proposed members' business operations consist of substantially similar services and activities of other approved members and are within the business/industry category selected by the sponsoring organization.
• Verify that each proposed member has an active L&I industrial insurance account and that the account is in good standing at the time of enrollment.
• Notify the sponsoring organization in writing of our decision to allow or deny enrollment to any proposed member.

[Statutory Authority: RCW 51.18.010(1) (www.leg.wa.gov). 02-23-089, § 296-17-90413, filed 11/20/02, effective 1/1/03.]

This rule applies to retro coverage period(s) established prior to January 1, 2011.

The courts can take judicial notice of the Washington Administrative Code (WAC) only as published by the Office of the Code Reviser (www.leg.wa.gov). The text contained in this Web page may reflect minor changes when compared with the WAC.

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