If your business does construction work in Florida, you need workers compensation from your first employee. If you are outside construction, you generally need it once you have four or more employees, part-time workers counted the same as full-time. Those two numbers answer the question for most businesses. Four things change the answer for a specific one: in construction a sole proprietor is written into the statute's own definition of “employee,” so a one-person crew is usually inside the requirement rather than outside it; corporate officers and LLC members count toward your headcount unless an exemption is on file for them; agriculture has separate thresholds; and an out-of-state employer sending a crew into Florida has to be covered in Florida. On top of all of that, a general contractor, a property manager or a commercial customer can require a policy even where the state would not.
- The requirement lives in Florida Statutes Chapter 440 and is administered by the Florida Division of Workers' Compensation.
- Construction: one or more employees. Non-construction: four or more employees. §440.02(20) draws both lines, and the Division states the same thresholds, in each case “including business owners who are corporate officers or Limited Liability Company (LLC) members.”
- §440.02(18)(c) includes “a sole proprietor who engages in the construction industry and a partner or partnership that is engaged in the construction industry” in the definition of employee.
- The Division states that non-construction sole proprietors and partners are not employees unless they choose to be included on the policy.
- Agriculture: six or more regular employees, and/or twelve or more seasonal workers who work more than 30 days during a season or more than 45 days total in the same calendar year.
- Out-of-state employers must notify their carrier that they are working in Florida, and where there is no insurance must obtain a Florida policy.
- Exemptions are an owner instrument, capped. Under §440.02(18)(b) no more than three officers of a construction corporation or affiliated group may elect exemption, each owning at least 10 percent of the stock. Under §440.05 a construction certificate costs $50, is filed online through the Division's CCIS with a required tutorial, takes up to 30 days to review and is valid for two years.
- An exempt owner injured on the job receives nothing from workers compensation — no wage replacement, no medical.
- §440.107: the Division may issue a stop-work order, and the penalty is two times the premium the employer would have paid over the preceding 12 months, or $1,000, whichever is greater — 24 months where there is a prior violation or understated payroll.
- Florida contractors are required to make certain subcontractors carry the required coverage before work begins on a project.
Who must carry it
The table below is the whole requirement in one view. Find your row first, then read the counting rules underneath it, because the count is where most businesses get the wrong answer.
| Your situation | Coverage required at | What trips people up |
|---|---|---|
| Construction — roofing, framing, concrete, electrical, HVAC, plumbing, demolition, tree work and the other listed trades | One or more employees | Calling the work “service” or “repair” does not move you out of construction. The state's construction-trade list and the work actually performed decide, not the name on the truck. |
| One-person construction business (sole proprietor, no crew) | Generally yes — the statute counts you | §440.02(18)(c) puts a construction sole proprietor inside the definition of employee. There is no sole-proprietor exemption in construction; the exemption route is an officer or LLC-member instrument. |
| Non-construction private employer — retail, office, restaurant, cleaning, most services | Four or more employees | Part-time and temporary workers count. Non-exempt corporate officers and LLC members count. It is a headcount, not a full-time-equivalent calculation. |
| Non-construction sole proprietor or partner | Not an employee unless you elect to be included | Electing in is a choice, and it is sometimes the right one: without it, an owner's own injury is not a workers compensation claim. |
| Agriculture | Six regular employees, and/or twelve seasonal workers over the day thresholds | The seasonal count has two clocks: more than 30 days in a season, or more than 45 days total in the calendar year. |
| Out-of-state employer working in Florida | Whenever Florida work begins | A home-state policy is not automatically good here. Notify the carrier, and get a Florida policy if there is none. |
| Contractor using subcontractors | Before the sub starts work | An uncovered sub's people can become your employees for premium and for claims. Collect the certificate or the exemption first, not after the job. |
How to count, before you decide you are under the line
The threshold is easy. The counting is where a business talks itself into a wrong answer, so run these five checks against your own payroll before you conclude you do not need coverage.
- Industry first, headcount second. If the work is construction, the four-employee number never applies to you, so there is nothing to count down to.
- Count part-time and temporary people. Florida's threshold counts employees, not hours.
- Count yourself and your fellow owners. Corporate officers and LLC members are in the count unless there is an active exemption on file for that named person.
- Count the crew you call subs. In construction, a subcontractor's workers are treated as yours unless that sub carries the required coverage or holds a valid exemption. A 1099 does not settle it.
- Count the Florida work, not the home state. If crews cross into Florida, Florida coverage is the question, whatever the home-state policy says.
An exemption is not coverage
This is the single most expensive misunderstanding in the niche. An exemption takes one eligible owner out of the system. It does not cover a crew, it does not satisfy a contract that asks for a policy, and it does not protect the owner who filed it. Under §440.02(18)(b) no more than three officers of a construction corporation or affiliated group can elect it, each owning at least 10 percent of the stock, so a four-owner construction business always has at least one person who must be covered. Under §440.05 the construction certificate costs $50, is filed online through the Division's CCIS with a required tutorial, can take up to 30 days to review, and lasts two years.
And the part almost nobody is told at filing time: an exempt owner who gets hurt on the job receives nothing from workers compensation. No wage replacement while they are off the job, no medical bills paid. Personal health insurance and personal savings absorb the whole event. An exemption is a premium decision with a real risk attached, not a free pass.
Your contract can require more than the statute does
Plenty of Florida businesses are legally under the threshold and still cannot work without a policy. General contractors and project owners routinely require a certificate showing workers compensation and general liability before a subcontractor sets foot on the site, because one gap can shut a project down. Property managers, HOAs, municipalities and vendor portals impose the same condition. The state sets a floor; your customer sets the ceiling. Read the insurance clause before you price the job, not after you have won it.
What it costs to be wrong
If required coverage is missing, the Division can issue a stop-work order that halts the business until compliance is achieved — not at the end of the job, immediately. Under §440.107 the penalty is two times the amount the employer would have paid in premium over the preceding 12-month period, or $1,000, whichever is greater, and a 24-month period is used where there is a prior violation or understated payroll. That is on top of the injury itself: an uninsured employee's medical care and lost wages do not disappear because there was no policy, they simply land on the business directly.
You need it. Now what?
- Describe the operation honestly and get the classification right. The class code follows the work actually performed and is confirmed by the carrier or NCCI — it is a starting point, not a self-service choice. A submission that describes the work accurately gets quoted; one that hides the risky payroll in a cheaper class gets corrected at audit, and the correction costs more than the premium would have.
- Try the voluntary market with clean loss runs. Three to five years of loss history, open reserves reviewed. A business with a clean record and defensible payroll records can still be written directly.
- Consider a PEO master policy when the voluntary market closes. This is the common landing place for hard-to-place Florida trades, because the leasing company's master policy already carries the class and produces the certificate your customers demand.
- Treat the FWCJUA as the last resort. Florida's assigned-risk pool exists so coverage is always available to an employer who cannot place it voluntarily, and eligibility turns on a documented good-faith effort in the voluntary market. It prices in tiers: for rated employers, Tier 1 is a modification below 1.00 with no lost-time claims and medical-only claims at or under 20% of premium; Tier 2 is a modification from 1.00 to 1.10 on the same claim criteria; Tier 3 is everything else. Employee leasing and staffing companies are Tier 3 only, and Tier 1 is closed to new businesses and to anyone with a coverage lapse.
A rising experience modification narrows your voluntary options; no single mod number by itself sends a business to the assigned-risk pool. Work the order above rather than skipping to the end of it.
People Also Ask
Do I need workers comp in Florida if I am the only person in the business?
In construction, usually yes. Florida Statutes 440.02(18)(c) includes a sole proprietor who engages in the construction industry in the definition of employee, so a one-person construction business is generally inside the requirement rather than outside it. Outside construction, a sole proprietor or partner is not an employee unless they elect to be included on the policy.
Do part-time employees count toward the four-employee threshold?
Yes. Florida's non-construction threshold counts employees, not full-time equivalents, so part-time and temporary workers count, and corporate officers or LLC members count as well unless they hold an active exemption.
Do I need workers comp for 1099 subcontractors in Florida?
In Florida construction, a subcontractor's workers are treated as your employees unless that subcontractor carries its own required coverage or holds a valid exemption. A 1099 is a tax document and does not settle the workers compensation question, and uncovered subcontractor payroll can be pulled into your premium audit. Florida contractors are required to make certain subcontractors have the required coverage before work begins.
Can I file an exemption instead of buying a policy?
An exemption only removes one eligible owner from coverage; it never covers a crew. It is filed online through the Division's CCIS, construction applicants pay a $50 fee and complete a required tutorial, no more than three officers of a construction corporation or affiliated group may elect it and each must own at least 10 percent of the stock, review takes up to 30 days, and the certificate is valid for two years. An exempt owner injured on the job receives nothing from workers compensation.
What happens if I do not carry required workers comp in Florida?
The Division of Workers' Compensation can issue a stop-work order that halts the business until compliance is achieved, and Florida Statutes 440.107 sets the penalty at two times the amount the employer would have paid in premium over the preceding 12-month period, or $1,000, whichever is greater, with a 24-month period used where there is a prior violation or understated payroll.
My business is out of state but the job is in Florida. Do I need Florida coverage?
Florida's Division of Workers' Compensation states that out-of-state employers must notify their insurance carrier that they are working in Florida, and where there is no insurance the out-of-state employer is required to obtain a Florida workers compensation insurance policy. Do not assume a home-state policy reaches a Florida job site.
Sources: Florida Division of Workers' Compensation coverage requirements · Florida Statutes 440.02 (definitions of employment and employee, officer exemption limits) · Florida Statutes 440.05 (election to be exempt) · Florida Statutes 440.107 (stop-work orders and penalties) · Florida Statutes Chapter 440 · FWCJUA pricing tiers. This page is general information about Florida law, not legal advice, and classification and pricing must be confirmed by the carrier or NCCI. WorkCompTeam is a referral service, not an insurer and not a licensed agency: qualified requests are routed to its licensed placement partner, Southeast Personnel Leasing, Inc. (SPLI), a Florida PEO, which quotes, binds and issues coverage. Nothing on this page is a quote or a guarantee of coverage.
Related guides
If the answer above was yes, the next questions are usually what it costs and how to get a certificate. See the coverage thresholds in more detail, why a construction sole proprietor cannot exempt out, the three placement routes compared, and what actually drives the price.