A new audit shows that the N.C. Industrial Commission, despite bringing many businesses into compliance with the state’s workers’ compensation law, still has not identified all the businesses that are not complying.
That has led to financial difficulties for workers injured on the job, says the report from state Auditor Beth Wood’s office.
The audit followed up on a 2013 audit that resulted from a newspaper article estimating that tens of thousands of North Carolina businesses were operating without workers’ compensation coverage.
The report also found that the commission has not completed the investigative process in a timely fashion, making recovery of medical costs and lost wages more difficult for injured workers. In addition, the report found inadequate oversight of the investigation process, increasing the chances that businesses would not comply.
“Auditors estimate that up to 52,000 businesses lacked workers’ compensation coverage as of June 2016,” the report says.
The report recommended that the Industrial Commission should continue obtaining data that would identify businesses that have never carried workers’ compensation insurance. It recommended that the commission set specific performance goals and put accountability measures in effect.
The report notes that in 2013, the state auditor’s office reported that the commission lacked reliable information needed to identify businesses operating without workers’ compensation and had not implemented a system to identify them. The commission reported bringing more than 1,300 businesses into compliance and collecting more than $2.5 million in penalties and fees since April 2014, when new software came online.
In his response to the audit, Industrial Commission Chairman Charlton Allen said the commission has made significant progress since the 2013 audit report. “The commission does not disagree with the audit report’s recommendations and is, in fact, working on all of these objectives,” Allen wrote.