Workers Comp Code 8742 Salespersons Or Collectors - Outside

8742 Outside Sales are employees who perform their duties away from the employers premises. Thanks to something called "Classification By Analogy" there are a lot of employees who can fall under classification code 8742; similar to workers comp code 8810.

Why is workers' compensation code 8742 confusing?

Classification by analogy allows an auditor to classify employees to a best fit when no worker comp class code directly applies. And, code 8742 is probably assigned by analogy more than any other NCCI workers' compensation code. Reporters, claims adjusters, and sports team scouts are but a few professions that fall under 8742. Perhaps the fact that there are so many employees classified as 8742 who are not in Sales or Collections is the reason there is so much confusion over assigning this code. As you can see from the table below 8742 was one of NCCI's 2 most reclassified workers comp class codes in 2020.

8742 Workers Comp Code Most Reclassified 2022.png

2021 Most Misclassified - Workers Comp Class Code 8742

2022 Most Misclassified - Workers Comp Class Code 8742

2023 Most Misclassified - Workers Comp Class Code 8742

8742 Salesperson or Collectors - Outside is definitely another confusing work comp class code along with 8810 workers comp code. We know this by the number of times our phone rings due to a reclassification or dispute involving these work comp class codes.

A key factor in the application of this code is that the job duties almost always must be performed off-site.

And, even if an employee performs 100% of her duties away from the office, she normally must refrain from other activities 100%. So, no supervision of others, no using tools, etc. An auditor will place such an employee in the governing (and more expensive) classification code for the business' operations if any of other duties are performed for any, however small, amount of time.

If a group of your employees that were classified as 8742 have been reclassified, you may not want to just accept these costly rate increases.

As I stated on our 8810 class code web page, you should find those explanations for classifications and reclassifications in the Auditor's Worksheets that the auditor produced following your work comp audit. Even if you have no dispute, it's a good idea to request and review these after your workers comp audit. And, FYI, your broker will not do this for you. Even if a broker is a qualified payroll auditor (none are), your insurance company will not send your broker Auditor's Worksheets following your workers comp audit. They will only send them to you due to the confidential nature of the payroll information. You may then forward on to anyone whose consultation you engage, of course.

Even if the audit was a phone audit or completely performed using software, the auditor will (should) input explanations for those wc class codes applied. You may find those in the miscellaneous notes section.

If you determine that your insurance carrier reclassified employees who whose wc class code you believe should be 8742, you may want to initiate an audit dispute. Please call us to discuss your unique circumstances and potentially help your company, even if the reclassification was up to three years ago!. These issues will impact your work comp program costs (including your Experience Modification Rate!) indefinitely, so, let us know if you feel a reclassification away from 8742 occurred. We WILL help you!

Stuart Cytron • stuart@cytrongroup.com • LinkedIn • (314) 757-8079 t