Withdrawal of certification—Grounds—Delay.
(1) Certification of a self-insurer shall be withdrawn by the director upon one or more of the following grounds:
(a) The employer no longer meets the requirements of a self-insurer; or
(b) The self-insurer's deposit is insufficient; or
(c) The self-insurer intentionally or repeatedly induces employees to fail to report injuries, induces claimants to treat injuries in the course of employment as off-the-job injuries, persuades claimants to accept less than the compensation due, or unreasonably makes it necessary for claimants to resort to proceedings against the employer to obtain compensation; or
(d) The self-insurer habitually fails to comply with rules and regulations of the director regarding reports or other requirements necessary to carry out the purposes of this title; or
(e) The self-insurer habitually engages in a practice of arbitrarily or unreasonably refusing employment to applicants for employment or discharging employees because of nondisabling bodily conditions; or
(f) The self-insurer fails to pay an insolvency assessment under the procedures established pursuant to RCW 51.14.077; or
(g)(i) For a self-insured municipal employer, the self-insurer has been found to have violated the self-insurer's duty of good faith and fair dealing three times within a three-year period.
(ii) For purposes of determining whether there have been three violations within a three-year period, the director must use the date of the department's order. Any subsequent order of the department, board of industrial insurance appeals, or courts affirming a violation occurred relates back to the date of the department's order.
(iii) Errors or delays that are inadvertent or minor are not considered violations of good faith and fair dealing for purposes of this subsection (1)(g).
(2) The director may delay withdrawing the certification of the self-insured municipal employer while the employer has an enforceable contract with a licensed third-party administrator that may not be legally terminated. However, the self-insured municipal employer may not renew or extend the contract.
(3) For the purposes of this section, "municipal" has the same meaning as defined in RCW 51.14.180.
NOTES:
Application—Effective date—2023 c 293: See notes following RCW 51.14.180.
Intent—1986 c 57: See note following RCW 51.14.077.