In response to a request by Gov. Mike DeWine, the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation (OBWC) is distributing $5 billion in dividends to Ohio employers to help mitigate some of COVID-19’s economic impact.
“This is about keeping businesses open and people employed,” DeWine said in a release posted on the OBWC website.
The dividends will be distributed via check or credits to 178,415 private and public employers in the state, a separate OWBC report said. In Knox County, 805 employers will receive a total of $16.6 million, with $13.6 million going to 762 private employers and $3 million going to 43 public employers.
Knox County’s public employer recipients are a mixture of local governments and schools. Among the highest recipients was Knox County at $837,909, Mount Vernon at $826,682 and Mount Vernon City Schools at $440,443.
“This is our largest dividend ever and our third this year, bringing total dividends to nearly $8 billion for private and public employers across the state,” OBWC spokesman Tony Gottschlich told the Mount Vernon News. “For Knox County, the total this year is $26.6 million.”
After distributing the dividends, OBWC’s net position will be approximately $7.2 billion, the report stated.
“We are in unprecedented times,” Gottschlich said. “At Gov. DeWine’s request, we needed to go as far as we could while ensuring the long-term stability of the State Insurance Fund.”
OBWC is able to help with such substantial dividends because the Bureau has seen healthy investment returns on employer premiums, a declining number of injury claims and prudent fiscal management, the report said.
Unlike many grants being handed out from the CARES Act, there are no stipulations as to how the OBWC dividends are to be spent.
“This is the employers’ money,” Gottschlich said. “They can spend it as they wish. We always encourage them to invest in workplace safety, however; because safer workplaces means fewer injuries, fewer claims costs, steady production and a healthy workforce.”
