WCD administers the state’s laws and rules governing workers’ compensation. The division’s operating budget comes from a dedicated fund that is not part of the state’s general fund. The director of DCBS imposes an assessment on all insurers, self-insured employers, and self-insured employer groups. The assessment is levied against the insurers’ direct earned premium and a simulated earned premium for self-insured employers. These assessments are deposited into the Consumer & Business Services Fund. No General Fund revenue is used to support the division’s budget.


Effective January 1, 2007, the assessment will be set at an amount equal to 4.6 percent of the premiums charged for workers' compensation coverage. The 2007 premium assessment rate of 4.6 percent is down from 5.5 percent, the rate effective during 2006. This amounts to a reduction of over 16 percent in the total assessment, bringing it to its lowest level since 1997. Self-insured employers and self-insured employer groups will pay a rate of 4.8 percent.