The MEMIC Group, Maine’s leading provider of workers’ compensation insurance, will pay a $17 million dividend to its members in the coming weeks, with the average employer receiving more than $1,100, the company said Wednesday.

The company said it is issuing the annual dividend, which is based on cost savings from reduced claims, early this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We normally make our annual dividend decision in September and distribute checks in November, but these are not normal times,” said Michael Bourque, MEMIC’s president and CEO, in a news release. “Though MEMIC is not immune to the impact of stock market fluctuations or the drop in payroll-related premiums, we believe that supporting our policyholders was the right thing to do right now. Our board wants to get money into the hands of employers whose collective record of safety has produced a profit for the policy year 2017.”

The insurer calculates dividends based on performance three years earlier.

More than two dozen employers will receive checks greater than $40,000. Checks are expected to be mailed to eligible Maine employers within three weeks, according to Bourque.

“What’s especially nice is that this dividend will end up in the private, public and nonprofit sectors in all sixteen counties,” he said. “Ultimately, that money will become another stimulus for employment when we need it most.”

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