Justin Doucette, a board member of the Nevada Restaurant Association, said the plan ultimately saves members of the Nevada Restaurant Self-Insured Group money because the group focuses more on safety and manages the plan more carefully than a traditional insurance company would. Members of the self-insured group must also be members of the Nevada Restaurant Association.

"The sexy part of it is we have just done really well as a group," Doucette said. "The equivalent is: Imagine if State Farm says, 'We're going to give $1,000 back from your premium because you're such a great driver.' "

Group self-insuring for workers' compensation benefits became legal in Nevada in 1995, but individual companies could self-insure beginning in 1981. The state got out of the workers' compensation insurance business in 2000 but it became privatized in 1999. The Nevada Division of Insurance regulates groups or individual companies who self-insure their workers' compensation benefits.

Companies who self-insure workers' compensation benefits assume all of the risks a traditional insurance firm would assume, but advocates say they're able to reap great savings if they have few claims and continue to ensure their workplaces are safe. The companies who self-insure have the added incentive to ensure their workplaces are safe because they pay in the event of an injury. In the case of group self-insurance all of the companies are held liable if there is a claim.

Guy Fiore, is director of acquisitions and underwriting for CHSI Nevada, the company that manages the fund. He said group self-insuring is tailored specifically for small to medium-sized employers who'd like to reap the same cost savings large companies such as MGM Mirage have been able to since the 1980's in Nevada.

"Mandalay and MGM Mirage are never going to join our groups, they're too large," Fiore said. "(It's) the small employers who want control over their insurance. There's always that niche in between that are sick of the traditional insurance."

Doucette is a former partner in Coyote Cafe, a restaurant that previously operated at the MGM Grand. He said the restaurant joined the self-insured group in 1996. It closed in February 2004, however, Doucette said, earlier this year he and his former partners received a dividend check from the group and they're expecting another one.

He said when the restaurant joined the self-insured group, Coyote Cafe saw immediate savings. He said before joining the group Coyote Cafe paid $60,000 per year in workers' compensation insurance premiums. Doucette said after joining the group, the restaurant's rates fell to $36,000 per year.

"The sales we would have had to create to get the same effect would have been $125,000, before our bottom line would have had an impact," Doucette said. "These dollars are right to profit -- that was huge to us in the restaurant industry."

Fiore said the Nevada Restaurant Self-Insured Group has more than 250 member companies and covers more than 35,000 employees. The fund has been around since 1996.

He said the fund has a lower loss ratio -- that's the ratio of money paid out in claims to the premiums earned -- than traditional insurance firms have when providing workers' compensation insurance in the restaurant industry. He said the loss ratio is 25 percent compared with the 40 percent industry standard.

The group prides itself on its ability to avoid safety hazards, and companies who operate in an unsafe manner can't remain in the group, Fiore said.

"Bad years are going to happen, we're not going to throw someone out for having a bad year," Fiore said. "We want to limit the loss. We're able to control the frequency based on the safe work environment."

Gary Cooper, chief of the Self-Insured Workers' Compensation Section at the Division of Insurance, said companies can definitely save by self-insuring.

"The members of an association have skin in the game," Cooper said. "They pay much more attention to training employees, making sure they're following safety procedures. You may not get that to the same degree in the insurance world."

Charles Knaus, lead actuary for the Division of Insurance, said although companies that self-insure can realize great savings, there are risks to self-insuring.

"What you run is the risk of a big up-front claim. You have to be able to fund a big up-front claim in addition to some of the financial safeguards we require," Knaus said.

In other labor news:

Aon Consulting, a human resources consulting firm, has opened a Las Vegas office at 376 Warm Springs Road. Aon Consulting is a subsidiary of Chicago-based Aon Corp. The company specializes in employee benefits, human resources outsourcing, compensation, communication and management consulting.

The company has 120 offices throughout the world. The firm had 2004 revenue of $1.247 billion, and employees 7,000 professionals.

In legal news:

Anthony Hall has joined Hale Lane as a shareholder and will lead the labor and employment department at the firm. Hall worked formerly for Littler Mendelson. He is experienced in the areas of litigation and he will provide clients with defense and preventative counseling.

Hall will work out of the firm's Reno and Las Vegas offices. Hall earned his juris doctorate from the University of the Pacific-McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento. He is also president-elect of the Federal Bar Association.

Alana Roberts covers courts and labor relations for In Business Las Vegas and its sister publication, the Las Vegas Sun. She can be reached by e-mail at alanar@lasvegassun.com or at (702) 259-4059.