New Mexico Administrative Code › Title 11 - LABOR AND WORKERS' COMPENSATION › Chapter 4 - WORKERS' COMPENSATION › Part 8 - INDIVIDUAL SELF-INSURANCE › Section 11.4.8.8 - INDIVIDUAL SELF-INSURANCE

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 13, July 16, 2024
A. An
				employer seeking to be certified as a self-insurer under the Act shall make
				application on a form prescribed by the director.
B. The director shall notify the chairman of
				the guarantee board of the identity of any applicant for self-insurance within
				15 days of the receipt of the application. The guarantee board shall respond in
				writing to the director within 30 days of receipt of the notification or be
				deemed to have expressed no objection to the applicant's membership in the
				commission. The administration's self-insurance audit staff shall take any
				written objections into account when making its final recommendation to the
				director.
C. The director may
				decline to approve an application for self-insurance if not satisfied that the
				employer will be able to meet all its obligations under the Act and these
				rules.
D. Eligibility: Applicants
				for self-insurance must demonstrate the following base eligibility criteria,
				each of which must be continuously maintained during the period of
				self-insurance to maintain eligibility:
(1) a
				current tangible net worth of at least two million, five hundred thousand
				dollars ($2,500,000);
(2) the
				employer has been in business for a period of not less than three years. This
				requirement may be waived by the director under circumstances where the form of
				business organization has changed within the three year period but the
				management and function of the business entity has substantially stayed the
				same;
(3) a strong trend of
				financial health and financial solvency;
(4) an acceptable risk management
				program;
(5) workers' compensation
				specific excess insurance from an approved excess insurer with retention of two
				hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) or less per occurrence and statutory
				upper limits; an acceptable policy of excess insurance shall provide coverage
				for all provisions of the Act, contain no exclusion of such coverage, and
				include a current New Mexico amendatory endorsement;
(6) an approved security issued in favor of
				the New Mexico self-insurers' guarantee fund;
(7) a bona fide employment relationship
				exists between the employer and the employees which it proposes to self-insure;
				employees who receive wages from or are under the control of any other entity
				with respect to the day to day supervision and assignment of the work may not
				come under an individual self-insurance program; employee leasing companies are
				prohibited from receiving a certificate of self-insurance;
(8) if the employer is a subsidiary, a
				parental guarantee from the subsidiary's upper-most parent in a form acceptable
				to the director; a parent company may self-insure its subsidiaries under one
				certificate in the name of the parent provided the parent meets all eligibility
				criteria and provides parental guarantees for the subsidiaries and guarantees
				by each subsidiary for the other(s); and
(9) any other reasonable criteria deemed
				necessary by the director to guarantee payment of workers' compensation claims
				to injured workers.