R & R Tree and Landscape, Inc. v. DCBS

In order for payroll records to be "verifiable" under OAR 836-042-0060(1), the records must include a description of the duties performed by the employee without the need for additional explanation or interpretation and must be supported by original entries from other records prepared by the employee or the employee's direct manager or supervisor.

Petitioner employer appealed from a final order resulting from a contested case hearing with the Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS) finding employer's payroll records unverifiable, causing employer to be billed at a higher-risk classification for his employees' work. At the beginning of a new job, employer would create an invoice that described the services to be performed; thereafter, employer kept a daily log of employee hours at each risk classification by taking verbal reports from each crew at the end of the work day and writing down which classification code the hours of work fell into. From these daily logs, employer would create invoices that he used for payroll purposes. Payroll records maintained by employer for purposes of workers compensation premium calculation are "verifiable" under OAR 836-042-0060(4) if they meet the requirements of subsections (a)-(d). The Court held that employer's payroll records were unverifiable because: (1) they did not include a description of the duties performed to enable the insurer to determine the correct risk classification without additional explanation from the invoices, a violation of OAR 836-042-0060(4)(c), and (2) they were not supported by original entries from other records prepared by the employee or the employee's direct manager or supervisor, a violation of OAR 836-042-0060(4)(d). Affirmed.