Policy dates are January 1 – December 21 and renewed annually.
Minnesota state employees are covered by the Department of Administration for workers' compensation liability while they are working in Minnesota or while they are temporarily working in any other state. Such employees are extended Minnesota workers’ compensation coverage under our program while permanently teleworking in other states. The issue is all other states also require that workers’ compensation coverage be available to such employees under that state’s workers’ compensation laws.
In general terms for employees to be eligible for Minnesota workers’ compensation benefits, employees must be hired in Minnesota or, alternatively, be working in Minnesota at the time of an injury to be eligible for Minnesota workers’ compensation benefits. For employees who are hired outside of the State of Minnesota and who never work in Minnesota, the workers’ compensation benefits are provided under that state’s workers’ compensation laws. Under this scenario, any claims should be reported under the policy that Risk purchases for that state.
When an employer allows its employees to work from other locations, such as a home office, the employer extends Its operations to that location. When these locations are outside of Minnesota, the workers' compensation laws in other states can apply.
Each state has its own specific workers' compensation law. Most states allow for an employee to elect coverage under its workers' compensation law if an injury occurs while the employee is working at an employer location in that state. So, while the Department of Administration will provide Minnesota workers' compensation coverage to teleworkers who are injured in another state, the teleworker could instead elect to choose coverage under the telework state's workers' compensation laws. Please note that this option does not apply if they were hired outside the State of Minnesota and do not work in Minnesota.
The process for obtaining workers’ compensation coverage depends on the state.
After receiving prior authorization for telework from your agency and after following existing MMB payroll guidance for telework time reporting, follow the procedures below to obtain workers’ compensation insurance for telework states:
List of current states as of 1/28/2022
AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL GA ID IL, IA, KS, KY, MA, MD, MO, MT, NE, NY, NC, OK, OR, RI, SC, SD, TX, UT, VA WI
States currently not listed on policy: AK, HI, IN, ME, NH, NM, PA
If the employee is hired in the State of Minnesota and is working outside of the State of Minnesota for a period less than 30 days, no action is required. In the rare situation we encounter an issue in which coverage should have been in place, we will work with the agencies to assist in the process.
If you have employees that are working in the states not listed on policy, you need to contact Risk Management and provide the following information:
So that Risk Management can obtain worker's compensation coverage, the Appointing Authority or their designee must contact Jackie Ferguson at jackie.ferguson@state.mn.us to provide the following information for each telework state:
You only need to provide the number of teleworkers and their job duties, along with payroll information once a year. Risk Management will request this update unless it is in one of the states listed above that currently is not listed on the policy at the time of audit. This is typically done several months after expiration, so typically in March or April.
The agency HR Contacts will be billed for the coverage annually, after the policy term when the audit is completed. This typically occurs after three months after expiration.
Please provide Risk Management with an updated list of HR contacts for your agency who are responsible for completing the above tasks.
If an employee reports an injury to you while working from another state, please contact Jim German at jim.germain@state.mn.us or Barie Kline at barie.kline@state.mn.us for guidance on claim reporting.
The states of North Dakota, Ohio, Washington, Wyoming, and Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands require that workers’ compensation coverage be purchased directly from their state fund. They require an application before providing coverage and annual payroll reporting to continue coverage. Access the applicable website(s) below and follow the directions for “Employers.” There will be step-by-step instructions for applying for coverage, submitting payroll reports annually, and making a payment, which is the responsibility of the individual agencies.
