Pub. 20 2021-2022 Issue 2

N E W J E R S E Y C O A L I T I O N O F A U T O M O T I V E R E T A I L E R S I S S U E 2 | 2 0 2 1 26 new jersey auto retailer Safety Is A Business Imperative BY CHARLES RUSSO Dealerships typically pay 2-4% of payroll for Workers’ Compensation insurance. It is not uncommon that Workers’ Compensation is the dealership’s largest insurance expense and has a significant impact on profitability. Dealerships can minimize this cost by instilling a safety culture in their workforce. NJ CAR has developed the Zero Injury Protection (ZIP) Program exclusively for NJ CAR members. And the evidence is in – safety cultures avoid workplace injuries. Moreover, adopting ZIP can reduce the total cost of employee injuries by up to 44%. ZIP is a comprehensive approach focused on reducing and eliminating work-related injuries and is offered as part of a dealership’s participation in the NJ CAR Workers’ Compensation Program at no cost to the dealership. ZIP is about increasing dealership prof its by lowering costs and improving revenue. Think of the lost revenue and increased expense when a tech is out of work recovering from a workplace injury. Reducing a dealership’s employee injuries will lead to a lower experience mod, higher scheduled credit and dividend. An additional benefit of ZIP is employee morale. Morale improves when employees know that the dealership is promoting their safety. Several dealerships that implemented ZIP have commented on this outcome.