Whenever one employer succeeds another employer in the operation of a business, in whole or in part, though acquisition/merger or purchase/sale it's the successor’s responsibility to:

• Notify BWC of the succession;
• Preserve the predecessor (former) employer’s payroll records for five years preceding the date of succession.

The succeeding employer must notify BWC all such changes in business structure to properly calculate the experience rating and to transfer the rights and obligations to the new employer when appropriate.

For successions taking place on or after Sept. 1, 2006, BWC transfers any and all existing and future liabilities or credits of the predecessor (former) employer, and the experience rating when a new employer (successor) wholly succeeds another employer in the operation of a business. If the new employer purchases or acquires only a portion of the business, BWC only transfers that portion of the former employer’s experience to the new employer. A BWC auditor inspects the former employer’s payroll and claims records to allocate payroll and to identify the claims to be transferred to the successor for rate calculation purposes.

If you acquire or purchase a business, complete and submit to BWC the Notification of Business Acquisition/Merger or Purchase/Sale (U-118). If the succeeding employer does not have Ohio workers’ compensation coverage, that employer must submit an Application for Ohio Workers’ Compensation Coverage (U-3) in addition to the Notification of Business Acquisition/Merger or Purchase/Sale (U-118).
Note: For successions taking place prior to Sept. 1, 2006 where all of an operation was taken over by a succeeding employer, the experience transferred to the new employer, but the transfer of the financial rights and obligations were optional. BWC would transfer the account to the new owner if both the former employer and the successor jointly complete and file the Application for Transfer of Workers’ Compensation Account and Premium Obligation to Succeeding Employer (U-9).

• Acquisition – When an existing business is purchased in whole or part by another business. If only a portion of the business is purchased then BWC will conduct an onsite audit to determine proper redistribution of experience rating and premiums. If the entire business is purchased, the purchaser (successor) will assume the experience of the business (predecessor) being purchased.
• Merger - When two or more existing businesses combine to become one entity under one policy number. All the pre-existing experiences of the merged entities will be under the succeeding employer’s policy number.

If you have questions, please call 1-800-OHIOBWC, and follow the options.