If you carry workers comp insurance in Oklahoma, there is a number attached to your business right now.
You may not know what it is.
You may not even know it exists.
But it affects what you pay for workers comp every single year.
It is called your Experience Modification Rate.
Most people just call it the EMR.
And understanding it is one of the most important things you can do as a business owner.
What Is the EMR?
Think of your EMR like a grade.
It is a number that tells insurance companies how your claims history compares to other businesses like yours.
The average is 1.0.
If your number is below 1.0 — say, 0.85 — that means you have had fewer or smaller claims than average. You get a discount on your premium.
If your number is above 1.0 — say, 1.25 — that means your claims history is worse than average. You pay a surcharge on top of your base rate.
That surcharge can be significant.
A business with an EMR of 1.25 pays 25% more than a business doing the same work with an EMR of 1.0.
Same industry. Same size. Very different price tag.
How Is It Calculated?
Your EMR is based on three years of claims history.
Not the current year — the three years before that.
So in 2026, your EMR reflects claims from 2022, 2023, and 2024.
The formula looks at two things for each claim: how many claims you had, and how much they cost.
Lost-time claims — the ones where an employee missed significant work — carry the most weight. They count for their full dollar value in the formula.
Medical-only claims — where the employee was treated and came back to work quickly — are discounted. They count for about 70% of their value.
This is why getting injured employees back to work fast matters so much. Every day a medical-only claim does not cross into lost-time territory is a day that claim costs you less on your EMR.
Why Does It Follow You for Three Years?
Because the formula rolls forward every year.
Each year, the oldest year of data drops off and the newest year gets added.
So if you had a bad claim in 2023, it affects your EMR in 2024, 2025, and 2026. In 2027, it finally drops off.
That is a long time to pay a higher premium for one incident.
The flip side is also true. Three years of clean claims history can drive your EMR well below 1.0 — and keep your premium meaningfully lower than your competitors who have not managed their claims as well.
Can Your EMR Be Wrong?
Yes. And more often than you would think.
Errors in the EMR calculation happen. Old claims get included when they should have been removed. Claim reserves get counted at the wrong value. Classification mistakes affect the formula.
Most business owners never check. They just pay whatever the renewal says.
But a wrong EMR means you are paying a penalty you do not actually owe.
When we review a client’s workers comp policy, one of the first things we do is look at the EMR and make sure the number is right. If we find an error, we can challenge it. A corrected EMR can mean hundreds or thousands of dollars back in your pocket.
How Do You Lower Your EMR?
There is no quick fix. The EMR moves slowly — it reflects real history. But there are concrete things you can do right now that will move the number in the right direction over time.
Report Injuries Immediately
Delays in reporting almost always make claims more expensive. The faster an injury is reported and treatment begins, the less it costs. Less cost means less impact on your EMR.
Get Employees Back to Work as Fast as Safely Possible
Modified duty, light duty, desk work — anything that keeps the claim medical-only instead of crossing into lost-time territory matters. Lost-time claims hit your EMR hard. Medical-only claims hit it much less.
Build a Simple Safety Program
You do not need a complicated manual. You need written safety rules, documented training, and a clear process for reporting near-misses before they become injuries. Safety programs are also one of the few things that can earn you a premium discount on top of your EMR.
Check Your Class Codes
Wrong class codes affect the baseline your EMR is measured against. If your codes are wrong, the whole calculation is off. Fixing them can help your EMR work in your favor instead of against you.
Make Sure Your Subcontractors Have Their Own Coverage
If a subcontractor without workers comp gets hurt on your job site, that claim can end up on your record. Keep certificates of insurance on file for every sub. Every time.
What Does a Good EMR Actually Save You?
Let’s make this real.
Say your base workers comp premium is $20,000 a year.
With an EMR of 1.25, you pay $25,000.
With an EMR of 0.85, you pay $17,000.
That is an $8,000 difference — every single year — for the same coverage.
Over five years, that gap is $40,000.
That is not a rounding error. That is real money that either stays in your business or goes to the insurance company.
And the businesses that understand their EMR are the ones that keep it.
We Review EMRs for Free
When you work with Eagle National, we pull your EMR before every renewal. We check it for errors. We explain what is driving it. And we give you a straight answer about what you can do to bring it down.
Most of our clients have never had an agent do that before.
If you want to know what your EMR is right now — and whether it is right — give us a call. It takes about 15 minutes and it costs you nothing.
👉 Request Your Free Workers Comp Review →