§ 27-14-207 — Employer registration required; person acquiring trade of another employer; transfer of experience and assignment of rates; out of state employers

(a) Any employer subject to this act shall not commence
business or engage in work in this state without applying for
coverage under this act and receiving a statement of coverage
from the division.
(b) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section,
a person acquiring the trade, organization, business or
substantially all of the assets of an employer subject to this
act shall assume the previous employer's account, experience
rating and premium rate as assigned by the division, provided
the previous employer is not participating in the premium
deductible program under W.S. 27-14-201(t). If the previous
employer is participating in the premium deductible program, the
acquiring person shall assume the previous employer's account,
experience rating and premium rate as determined without premium
deductible program eligibility. The acquiring person shall
assume the premium rate which is in effect at the time of the
acquisition based on the existing account's classification,
experience rating and any surcharge which may apply, as
determined without premium deductible program eligibility.
(c) A person acquiring the trade, organization, business
or substantially all of the assets of any employer subject to
this act whose owners or shareholders have not held an ownership
interest in the employer being acquired within one (1) year
previous to the date of acquisition shall assume the previous
employer's account number, experience rating and premium rate as
assigned by the division, provided the previous employer is not
participating in the premium deductible program under W.S.
27-14-201(t). If the previous employer is participating in the
premium deductible program, the acquiring person shall assume
the previous employer's account, experience rating and premium
rate as determined without premium deductible program
eligibility.
(d) The transfer of some or all of an employer's workforce
to another person shall be considered a transfer of trade or
business when, as a result of the transfer, the transferring
employer no longer performs trade or business with respect to
the transferred workforce, and the trade or business is
performed by the person to whom the workforce is transferred.
(e) If an employer transfers all or a portion of its trade
or business to another employer and, at the time of the
transfer, there is substantially common ownership, management or
control of the two (2) employers, then the workers' compensation
experience attributable to the transferred trade or business
shall be transferred to the employer to whom the business is
transferred. The rates of both employers shall be recalculated
and made effective the first day of the calendar quarter
immediately following the date of the transfer of trade or
business.
(f) If, following a transfer of experience under this
section, the department determines that a substantial purpose of
the transfer of the trade or business was to obtain a reduced
premium liability, then the accounts of the employers involved
shall be combined into a single account.
(g) If a person is not an employer under this section at
the time the person acquires the trade or business of an
employer, the workers' compensation experience of the acquired
employer shall not be transferred to the person if the
department finds that the person acquired the trade or business
of the employer solely or primarily for the purpose of obtaining
a lower premium rate. Instead, the person shall be assigned the
applicable industry base rate in effect at the time of the
acquisition. In determining whether the trade or business was
acquired solely or primarily for the purpose of obtaining a
lower premium rate, the department shall use objective factors
which may include the cost of acquiring the business, whether
the person continued the business enterprise of the acquired
business, how long the business enterprise was continued, or
whether a substantial number of new employees were hired for
performance of duties unrelated to the business activity
conducted prior to acquisition.
(h) Where an employer has not had prior operations in
Wyoming and has not had prior worker's compensation insurance
coverage in Wyoming, and moves or expands operations from
another state into Wyoming, and begins operations that are the
same or similar to operations outside of Wyoming, the division
shall assign the employer experience modification rate as
calculated per the current experience modification rating
formula in place at the time. The division shall assign such
experience modification to the partial year ending June 30 after
the start of coverage in Wyoming and to the first full policy
year subsequent to the start of coverage in Wyoming.
(j) The division by rule and regulation shall establish
procedures to identify the transfer or acquisition of a
business, or the movement of an out of state operation to
Wyoming, for purposes of this section and W.S. 27-14-806. The
division may require by regulation an out of state employer to
submit any information necessary for the purpose of determining
an experience modification rate under subsection (h) of this
section.