Your employees are your organization’s most valuable asset. Providing a safe workplace is the first job — but when accidents or occupational illnesses happen, workers’ compensation insurance protects both your people and your company’s financial health.
Palomar has helped employers across the Southeast and nationwide navigate workplace safety and commercial liability since 1954.
Whether you operate in a high-hazard industry like construction, transportation, or agribusiness, or you run healthcare facilities, specialty trades, or corporate offices, we build programs that meet statutory requirements while keeping premium costs manageable.
Does your business need coverage?
Workers’ compensation is governed by state law, and requirements vary.
In Alabama, employers with five or more employees are generally required to carry workers’ compensation coverage. Exceptions apply to certain categories, including some agricultural and domestic employment. Requirements differ in other states where you operate.
If you are approaching that headcount, hiring across state lines, or using independent contractors whose classification is uncertain, those are the moments worth a conversation. Misclassification and coverage gaps are far cheaper to fix before a claim than after one.
What workers’ compensation covers
A properly structured policy protects your company against employee injury lawsuits while making sure injured team members get prompt care and financial support.
Medical expense coverage. Emergency care, hospital stays, surgery, physician visits, medication, and physical therapy for work-related injuries and occupational illness.
Disability and lost wage replacement. Partial income replacement while an employee is temporarily or permanently unable to work because of a covered injury.
Vocational rehabilitation. Retraining and skill development for employees who need to move into different job duties after an injury.
Employer’s liability. Protection against legal action and defense costs when an injured worker alleges the injury resulted from employer negligence or unsafe conditions. This is the coverage that responds when a claim moves outside the workers’ compensation system.
Your MOD is the number that follows you
Workplace claims do not just cost you at the time of the claim. They raise your Experience Modification Rate — the MOD, sometimes called the EMR — which is applied as a multiplier to your premium for years afterward.
A MOD of 1.0 is average for your industry. Below 1.0 means you are paying less than a comparable business. Above 1.0 means you are paying more, and you will keep paying more until the loss history rolls off.
Two practical consequences worth knowing. First, a single serious claim can affect your premium across three policy years. Second, in construction and many industrial sectors, general contractors and project owners increasingly set a maximum MOD as a condition of bidding — meaning your loss history can cost you work, not just money.
Cost containment and claims management
We do more than place a policy. We work with your team on the strategies that keep people safe and lower your total cost of risk.
Experience modifier reviews. Auditing loss history and classification codes to confirm the calculation is accurate and find opportunities to bring the number down. Classification errors are more common than most employers expect, and they are correctable.
Safety and loss control programs. Training resources and workplace hazard evaluations, delivered through our risk management team, to prevent accidents rather than process them.
Return-to-work strategies. Light-duty programs and structured return-to-work protocols that shorten claim duration and reduce lost-time claims — the category that drives MOD hardest.
Claims advocacy. Guiding you through reporting, monitoring open claims, and working directly with carriers to prevent inflated or fraudulent payouts. See our claims support.
Request your workers’ comp quote
As an independent agency representing the nation’s premier carriers, Palomar uses deep market relationships to negotiate competitive pricing and broad protection. Whether you are reviewing a renewal or evaluating options for a growing business, our commercial risk team is ready.
Contact Palomar at (800) 489-0105 or email info@palomarins.com to request competitive workers’ comp quotes and schedule a workplace risk evaluation. You can also contact us online.
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