Managing Your EMR as a General Contractor

Your Experience Modification Rate (EMR) is one of your most important business metrics as a Class Code 801 general contractor.

How EMR Works

• Reflects your claims history vs. industry average for GCs
• Calculated annually by SCPIE using three years of data
• Updates occur April-May each year
• Range typically 0.70–1.50+ (1.0 is average)

Public Works Bid Requirements

Many public projects explicitly require:

• EMR at or below 1.0
• Documented safety program
• OSHA 300 log compliance
• Third-party safety audit results

Three-Year Claims Strategy

Because EMR uses three years of claims data:

1. Current year claims impact next year's EMR

2. Year-old claims heavily influence this year's mod

3. Two-year-old claims are phasing out

Example: A claim filed today affects your EMR for three years.

Practical EMR Reduction Tactics

Formal Safety Program:

• OSHA 30-hour training for managers
• Pre-job safety briefings on every project
• Documented hazard assessments
• Near-miss reporting system

Return-to-Work Program:

• Modified duty positions for injured workers
• Reduces total indemnity paid on claims
• Improves EMR significantly over 3 years

Incident Response:

• Prompt medical treatment prevents severity escalation
• Incident investigation within 24 hours
• Root cause analysis and corrective action
• Carrier communication and cooperation

Employee Classification:

• Ensure all workers coded correctly per WCIRB
• Misclassification inflates premiums and distorts EMR
• Review annually with your insurance broker

Monitoring Your EMR

• Request EMR worksheet annually from carrier
• Review payroll classification codes
• Track claims trends
• Project future EMR based on current year claims

Capital & Co analyzes your EMR worksheet and builds strategies to improve your rating year-over-year.