Workers’ Compensation Insurance Requirements in Florida
Florida does not have one threshold. It has three, and which one applies depends on your industry. A landscaper with two helpers and a bakery with two cashiers are in very different positions, because Florida treats construction far more strictly than other work. Getting the category wrong is the most common way small Florida businesses end up with a stop-work order.
Find your threshold
Chapter 440 of the Florida Statutes defines who counts as an employer through the definition of “employment” in § 440.02:
| Type of business | Coverage required when you have… |
|---|---|
| Construction industry | 1 or more employees |
| Most other private businesses | 4 or more employees |
| Agriculture (bona fide farms) | 6 or more regular employees, or 12 or more seasonal workers at one time if the seasonal work lasts more than 30 days (or more than 45 days in a calendar year) |
Part-time employees count toward the total. So do corporate officers and LLC members who own at least 10%, unless they have filed an exemption (more on that below).
What counts as “construction”?
Florida’s Division of Workers’ Compensation defines construction by classification codes, and the list is broader than many owners expect. It covers new building, but also remodeling, repairs, demolition and a long list of trades. If your crew does work on buildings, assume you are in construction until an agent confirms otherwise. A homeowner who hires people to build on their own property, not intended for sale or lease within a year, is not treated as their employer.
Who the law leaves out
Section 440.02 excludes several kinds of work from “employment,” including:
- domestic servants in private homes;
- agricultural labor on small farms, within the limits in the table above;
- professional athletes, such as boxers, wrestlers and team sport players;
- people performing court-ordered community service.
Officer and LLC member exemptions
Florida lets business owners exclude themselves, but only by filing, and the rules differ by industry.
- Outside construction: any corporate officer may elect to be exempt by filing a notice with the Department of Financial Services under § 440.05.
- In construction: no more than three officers of a corporation, or of a group of affiliated companies, may be exempt. Each must own at least 10% of the stock and be listed as an officer with the Division of Corporations.
- LLCs: the law treats a member who owns at least 10% of an LLC as a corporate officer, so the same exemption rules apply.
An exemption covers only the owner. The moment a construction company hires one employee, that employee must be covered. Exemptions also expire and must be renewed, so put the date on your calendar.
What happens if you are not covered
Florida’s enforcement is fast. Under § 440.107:
- Stop-work order. If the Department finds an employer without required coverage, or one that fails to produce requested business records within 21 days, it treats that as an immediate danger to public welfare and issues a stop-work order within 72 hours. All business operations must stop, at every worksite in the state where you are out of compliance. The order is published on the Division’s website and stays there for at least five years.
- Penalty. You are assessed twice the premium you would have paid on your payroll for the uninsured periods in the previous 12 months, or $1,000, whichever is greater. The look-back grows to 24 months for employers who understated or hid payroll, or who were penalized before.
- Getting back to work. The order is lifted once you have coverage and have paid the penalty. The Department may grant a conditional release if you buy coverage, pay $1,000 down and sign a payment plan for the rest. First-time violators can get a credit for the initial premium payment on their new policy.
An example
A small drywall company has two employees and an owner who assumed that, like a retail store, it didn’t need coverage until it had four people. An investigator visits a job site, checks the records and finds eight months without coverage on a $90,000 annual payroll. If the approved rate for its class were $8 per $100 of payroll, eight months of premium would be about $4,800, so the penalty would be about $9,600 (twice that amount), and the crew cannot work until a policy is in place. The rate in this example is only an illustration, since real rates depend on the class code and carrier, but the arithmetic is the one the statute uses.
How to check coverage or an exemption
The Division of Workers’ Compensation offers an online coverage and exemption lookup on its website. General contractors in Florida should check every subcontractor there and also collect a certificate of insurance, because a general contractor can be responsible for an uninsured sub’s workers.
Related guides
- Workers’ Comp Insurance for Construction Companies
- Sole Proprietors and Workers’ Comp
- Penalties for Not Carrying Workers’ Comp Insurance by State
- Workers’ Comp Requirements by State: 50-State Comparison Table
Sources
- Florida Statutes § 440.02: definitions of employer, employment and officer exemptions
- Florida Statutes § 440.107: compliance, stop-work orders and penalties
- Florida Statutes § 440.05: election of exemption
- Florida Division of Workers’ Compensation
Last checked against the sources above on October 2, 2026. General information only, not legal or insurance advice. Confirm your classification with a licensed agent or the Division of Workers’ Compensation.