Per diem and workers comp in Texas

[airpower]

If I am an oil and gas field service contractor and I am paying my employees the appropriate per diem on the days they stay overnight more than 50 miles from home, according to Texas workers comp laws, is an insurance company allowed to include the per diem with the payroll and charge premium for it?

To add to that, if I reimburse some of my employees for the use of their vehicles on the right-of-way, can the insurance company also charge premium on the reimbursement expense?

I'm running into this issue with a company (not named Texas Mutual), and they are ultimately refusing to refund $25K that I feel is owed at the annual audit.

Does anyone have any experience with this type of issue?

Thanks,
AP

 

[airpower]

If I am an oil and gas field service contractor and I am paying my employees the appropriate per diem on the days they stay overnight more than 50 miles from home, according to Texas workers comp laws, is an insurance company allowed to include the per diem with the payroll and charge premium for it?

To add to that, if I reimburse some of my employees for the use of their vehicles on the right-of-way, can the insurance company also charge premium on the reimbursement expense?

I'm running into this issue with a company (not named Texas Mutual), and they are ultimately refusing to refund $25K that I feel is owed at the annual audit.

Does anyone have any experience with this type of issue?

Thanks,
AP

Wow... not even any smart ass comments?

Am I not following forum rules?

 

[LdiJ]

Wow... not even any smart ass comments?

Am I not following forum rules?

Perhaps no one has the answer to your question. However, you might want to consider going over the head of the insurance auditor.

 

[commentator]

If you are putting the per diem on the payroll and are taxing the employees for it and treating it as wages, then they probably should be considering it income for worker's comp purposes. If there were to be an injury, and your WC provider called for your payroll records on someone, and reimbursed them at 66% of their regular wage, would this money show up as regular income that your employees had earned for which they'd be reimbursed? Of course this is getting into Texas worker's comp, and the WC program in Texas may be more generous than the federal requirements, is likely different than the states I am familiar with. I suggest you ask someone who is very familiar with worker's comp in Texas to look at this issue.

 

[LdiJ]

If you are putting the per diem on the payroll and are taxing the employees for it and treating it as wages, then they probably should be considering it income for worker's comp purposes. If there were to be an injury, and your WC provider called for your payroll records on someone, and reimbursed them at 66% of their regular wage, would this money show up as regular income that your employees had earned for which they'd be reimbursed? Of course this is getting into Texas worker's comp, and the WC program in Texas may be more generous than the federal requirements, is likely different than the states I am familiar with. I suggest you ask someone who is very familiar with worker's comp in Texas to look at this issue.

If its a non-accountable plan then he would have to include it in their wages as taxable income. Since he specifically mentions per diem, that would tend to be non-accountable. The car reimbursement however might be a different story.