Protecting your employees should be one of the main focuses of your businesses. Workers’ compensation, or workman’s comp, helps protect workers from potentially devastating costs of work-related injuries or illnesses. This coverage also protects employers from potential damages that could lead to extremely high or crippling expenses. Workers’ compensation insurance helps cover medical expenses, lost wages, ongoing care costs, as well as funeral expenses if an employee is hurt, becomes sick, or dies as a result of a work-related accident or illness.
Florida Regulation
Florida law states that workers’ compensation insurance is required when a business has four or more employees, either full- or part-time.
There are special considerations for some employees, including corporate officers:
- Sole proprietors and partners are automatically excluded from workers’ comp law, but they can purchase coverage by filing for election of coverage.
- Construction businesses are required to carry workers’ compensation insurance for every employee, including contractors. They can exempt up to three corporate officers if each can demonstrate ownership of at least 10% of the company. In addition, contractors are responsible for ensuring that their sub-contractor provides coverage for their workers.
- Agricultural businesses with six or more regular employees and/or 12 or more seasonal employees that work for more that 30 days are required to provide coverage.
Do you need workers’ comp for part-time employees?
Unless they fall into one of the three exceptions above, the answer is yes.
Whether or not a self-employed person is required to have workers’ compensation insurance depends on the nature of the work being performed.
Florida requires that even self-employed workers in the construction industry carry workers’ compensation insurance