Oregon workers and businesses are in for a fiscal sigh of relief in 2025 as the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services announced another decrease in workers' compensation costs—marking the twelfth consecutive year for such a trend. This is part of a pattern that has seen the pure premium rate drop by an impressive 48 percent from 2016 to 2025. Employers will experience a lightened burden with a proposed average pure premium of 91 cents per $100 of payroll down from 93 cents the previous year.

The drop in costs, which is thanks to an enhancement in loss experience in Oregon, according to the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI), means that individual employers’ costs might fluctuate, seeing greater or leases, or in some cases, increases depending on each's industry, claims experience, and payroll specifics. Improvement in safe work practices and effective control programs are also hailed as contributory factors to the declining costs.

Aside from premiums, Oregon employers also contribute to the Workers’ Benefit Fund assessment, a cents-per-hour worked rate. In a demonstration of stability, the premium rate for this assessment has been maintained at a consistent 2.0 cents per hour worked for 2025, representing the lowest rate since 1996, as per DCBS's statement. This assessment is crucial for funding return-to-work programs and providing benefits to workers and their families in case of permanent disability or death due to workplace injury or disease.

The premium assessment, which funds the aforementioned successful programs, is yet another additional cost that will continue at 9.8 percent into 2025 for the fourth year running. Andrew Stolfi, DCBS director and insurance commissioner, told the department's newsroom, “In light of rising costs everywhere, we are glad to provide employers and workers some relief through our proposed decisions today and the continued strength of our workers’ compensation system.”