Florida Workers' Comp Requirement Checker
Florida draws the workers' comp line differently for every industry: one employee in construction, four in most other businesses, six in agriculture — and owners sometimes count, sometimes don't, and sometimes can file their way out. Answer the four questions below to see where your business lands.
What Florida requires of you
Answer the four questions above
How Florida draws the line
The thresholds come from Chapter 440 of the Florida Statutes, and the industry you're in decides everything:
- Construction: one employee. Coverage is required from the first person — and owners count as employees, whether they're on the payroll or not. This is why a two-partner handyman operation with no crew still has a workers' comp obligation.
- Non-construction: four employees. The count includes corporate officers and LLC members, but not sole proprietors or partners themselves — and not officers who hold a valid exemption on file with the state.
- Agriculture: six regular employees, or twelve seasonal workers who each put in more than 30 days in a season (capped at 45 days in a calendar year).
Two rules apply across every industry. Contractors are responsible for their subcontractors — if a sub has no coverage and no valid exemption, the sub's injured employees become the hiring contractor's claim. And out-of-state businesses working in Florida need a policy from a Florida-approved carrier with Florida listed on it; a home-state policy alone usually doesn't satisfy the law here.
Exemptions: who can opt out
An exemption removes one specific person from the coverage requirement — it never covers the business, and it never removes an actual employee. The rules differ sharply by industry:
- In construction, only corporate officers or LLC members who own at least 10% of the company can file, a company can carry at most three exempt officers, and each certificate costs $50 and must be renewed every two years. Sole proprietors and partners in construction cannot exempt themselves at all — which is the main reason so many one-man trades operate as LLCs.
- Outside construction, corporate officers and qualifying LLC members can file for free, and sole proprietors and partners aren't required to cover themselves in the first place (they can opt in if they want the protection).
One caution from the claims side: an exempt owner who gets hurt on the job has no workers' comp benefits to draw on — no medical, no lost wages. The $50 saved on the certificate is real money only until the ladder slips.
What happens if you skip it
The state's Division of Workers' Compensation runs active job-site enforcement, and the consequences are built to sting: a stop-work order that shuts the business down on the spot, plus a penalty of twice the premium you should have been paying over the previous two years (minimum $1,000). The stop-work order stays until you get coverage and arrange payment. For a contractor, it also means the GC who hired you now has a compliance problem — which is why uninsured subs stop getting called back.
Related guides and quote pages
Where to go from your result:
- Get covered: our workers' compensation insurance page covers how policies are priced and quoted — Florida rates dropped again in 2026, so this costs less than most owners expect. For the full program around it, see business insurance and general contractor insurance.
- Contractors: our guide to Florida contractor insurance requirements covers the licensing side — what the CILB requires for GL and workers' comp before it issues or renews a license.
- Budgeting: the 2026 Florida business insurance cost guide has real premium ranges for workers' comp and everything else on a commercial account.
Verify before you rely. Exemptions and coverage are public record — anyone can confirm a company's status or an officer's exemption on the state Division of Workers' Compensation database. If you hire subs, checking takes two minutes and can save you a five-figure claim.
Landed on "required" — or close to it?
We'll classify your payroll correctly and quote workers' comp across our commercial carriers. Rates fell again in 2026; if you already have a policy, it's worth a re-check.
This tool is for general education, not legal or insurance advice. It reflects the general rules of Florida Statutes Chapter 440 as of August 2026; special cases (leased employees, casual labor, maritime and federal classes of work) have their own rules, and the statute controls in every case. See our Disclaimers and Editorial Policy.