800-929-9213Workers’ Compensation Requirements for Household Employers
Workers’ compensation insurance for household employers provides medical and wage benefits for nannies and other household employees who are hurt or become ill on the job. It can cover a worker’s medical bills and a portion of their lost wages. It also protects you, as a household employer, from liability. Workers’ compensation requirements for household employers vary by state and may depend on the number of hours your employee works and how many workers you employ.
See below for the workers’ compensation requirements in your state.
Need coverage? Call GTM Payroll Services at (800) 929-9213 and we can provide quotes and manage your policy or request a quote for workers’ compensation coverage. Policies for workers’ compensation can be added to a GTM payroll and tax plan or purchased as a standalone policy.
Alabama
Permits household employers to provide voluntary coverage.
Alabama Workers’ Compensation Division
Alaska
Requires coverage for any domestic worker except part-time babysitters, cleaning persons, harvest help, and similar part-time or transient help. The Alaska Workers’ Compensation Act requires each employer having one or more employees to obtain workers’ compensation insurance unless the employer has been approved as a self-insurer.
Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development Division of Workers’ Compensation
Arizona
Permits household employers to provide voluntary coverage. Since January 1974, Arizona law has required all public and private employers with at least one employee to carry workers’ compensation insurance. The law makes coverage optional for domestic servants, working partners, and sole proprietors.
Industrial Commission of Arizona
Arkansas
Permits household employers to provide voluntary coverage. Almost every working Arkansan is protected by the state’s workers’ compensation law. There are a few exceptions. Businesses with two or fewer employees may not be covered. Railroad and maritime workers are covered by federal laws.
The Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Law does not apply to the employment of agricultural farm labor; domestic help; or employment by non-profit, religious, charitable, or relief organizations. Also exempt from the law are personnel covered exclusively by federal law.
Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Commission
California
Required for any domestic worker – including one who cares for and supervises children – employed 52 or more hours, or who earned $100 or more, during 90 calendar days immediately preceding the date of injury or last employment exposing such worker to the hazards of an occupational disease.
The law excludes workers employed by a parent, spouse, or child.
Coverage is normally added to your homeowner’s insurance. If not, you can obtain a policy through the California State Compensation Insurance Fund. The annual premium is based on an employee’s annual salary. The state monitors quarterly tax filings and conducts a year-end audit to make sure the employer paid the correct premium.
California Division of Workers’ Compensation
Colorado
Mandatory for all domestic workers working 40 hours or more in a week, or working 5 days or more in a week.
All public and private employers in Colorado, with limited exceptions, must provide workers’ compensation coverage for their employees if one or more full or part-time persons are employed. A person hired to perform services for pay is presumed by law to be an employee. There are a few exemptions to this definition.
Colorado Division of Workers’ Compensation
Connecticut
Required for any domestic worker employed 26 hours or more per week by one employer.
State of Connecticut Workers’ Compensation Commission
Delaware
Required for any domestic worker who earns $750 or more in any three-month period from a single private home or household.
Employers with one or more employees are required to carry workers’ compensation insurance. Employers may not charge an employee any portion of the premium or expense of carrying workers’ compensation insurance. Workers’ compensation benefits have certain entitlement requirements that must be met in order to receive benefits. The requirements are established by law in Title 19, Delaware Code, and are administered by the Delaware Department of Labor, Division of Industrial Affairs, Office of Workers’ Compensation.
State of Delaware Office of Workers’ Compensation
District of Columbia
Required for domestic workers employed by the same employer for at least 240 hours during a calendar quarter.
You are required to have workers’ compensation insurance coverage if you have one or more employees.
District of Columbia Office of Workers’ Compensation
Florida
Permits household employers to provide voluntary coverage.
However, if you have four or more employees, full-time or part-time, you are required to carry workers’ compensation coverage.
Florida Division of Workers’ Compensation
Georgia
Permits household employers to provide voluntary coverage.
However, every employer employing three or more persons, part-time or full-time, shall provide workers’ compensation insurance coverage.
George State Board of Workers’ Compensation
Hawaii
Required for any worker employed solely for personal, family, or household purposes whose wages are $225 or more during the calendar quarter and during each completed calendar quarter of the preceding 12 month period.
Hawaii Disability Compensation Division
Idaho
Permits household employers to provide voluntary coverage.
Employers with one or more full-time, part-time, seasonal, or occasional employees are required to maintain a workers’ compensation policy unless specifically exempt from the law. Workers’ compensation is required to be in place when the first employee is hired. Employment that may be exempt from required coverage includes household domestic service and employment of family members living in the employer’s household (applies only to sole proprietorships).
Illinois
Any worker employed for a total of 40 or more hours per week for a period of 13 or more weeks during a calendar year by any household or residence.
Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission
Indiana
Permits household employers to provide voluntary coverage.
All Indiana public and private employer-employee relationships (with a few exceptions) are covered by the Worker’s Compensation and Occupational Diseases Acts. It does not matter how many workers are employed in a business; all employees must be covered.
Indiana Workers’ Compensation Board
Iowa
Required for any employee working in or about a private dwelling who is not a regular household member, whose earnings are $1,500 or more during the 12 consecutive months prior to an injury.
Iowa Division of Workers’ Compensation
Kansas
Required for any domestic worker if the employer had a total gross payroll for the preceding year of $20,000 or more for all workers under their employ.
Kansas Department of Labor Workers’ Compensation Division
Kentucky
Required when two or more domestic workers are regularly employed in a private home for 40 or more hours/week.
Kentucky Department of Workers’ Claims
Louisiana
No specific provisions for domestic employers.
Louisiana Workforce Commission
Maine
No specific provisions for domestic employers.
Maine Workers’ Compensation Board
Maryland
Required for any domestic worker whose earnings are $1,000 or more in any calendar quarter from a private household. Domestic servants and their employers jointly may elect for the employee to be covered, even if the individual does not meet the earnings requirement.
Maryland Workers’ Compensation Commission
Massachusetts
Required for domestic workers employed 16 or more hours per week by an employer.
Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation
Michigan
Required for any household domestic worker except those employed for less than 35 hours per week for 13 weeks or longer during the preceding 52 weeks.
Michigan Workers’ Disability Compensation Agency
Minnesota
Required if the household worker earns $1,000 or more during a calendar quarter.
Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Division
Mississippi
All employers with five employees regularly employed are required to provide workers’ compensation insurance coverage. If the employer has less than five employees, workers’ compensation coverage is not mandatory but may be provided voluntarily by the employer. Domestic and farm labor and employees of non-profit fraternal, charitable, religious, or cultural organizations are not covered under the Law unless coverage is provided voluntarily by the employer.
Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission
Missouri
Permits employers to provide voluntary coverage.
Missouri Division of Workers’ Compensation
Montana
Permits employers to provide voluntary coverage.
Montana Department of Labor & Industry
Nebraska
Permits employers to provide voluntary coverage.
Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Court
Nevada
Permits employers to provide voluntary coverage.
Nevada Workers’ Compensation Section
New Hampshire
All household employers in New Hampshire must obtain coverage for any part-time or full-time domestic employee.
New Hampshire Workers’ Compensation Division
New Jersey
All household employers in New Jersey must obtain coverage for any part-time or full-time domestic employee.
New Jersey Division of Workers’ Compensation
New Mexico
Permits employers to provide voluntary coverage.
New Mexico Workers’ Compensation Division
New York
Required for any domestic worker employed (other than those employed on a farm) by the same employer for a minimum of 40 hours per week.
New York Workers’ Compensation Board
North Carolina
Covers domestic service if the employer employs more than ten full-time non-seasonal laborers.
North Carolina Industrial Commission
North Dakota
Workers’ compensation is not mandatory for household domestic workers.
North Dakota Workforce Safety & Insurance
Ohio
Required for any domestic worker who earns $160 or more in any calendar quarter from one employer.
Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation
Oklahoma
Required when any person who is employed as a domestic servant or as a casual worker in and about a private home or household, which private home or household had a gross annual payroll in the preceding calendar year of more than $10,000 for such workers.
Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation Commission
Oregon
Permits employers to provide voluntary coverage.
Oregon Workers’ Compensation Divison
Pennsylvania
Domestic workers are exempt. Voluntary coverage is permitted.
Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Bureau
Rhode Island
Domestic workers are exempt. Voluntary coverage is permitted.
Rhode Island Workers’ Compensation Division
South Carolina
Required for domestic service if an employer employs four or more employees.
South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Commission
South Dakota
Required for any domestic worker employed more than 20 hours in any calendar week for more than six weeks in any 13-week period.
South Dakota Division of Labor & Management
Tennessee
Permits employers to provide voluntary coverage.
Tennessee Bureau of Workers’ Compensation
Texas
Permits employers to provide voluntary coverage.
Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation
Utah
Required for any domestic worker employed for 40 or more hours per week by the same employer.
Vermont
Not required for private households. Voluntary coverage is permitted.
Virginia
Domestic employees are excluded. Voluntary coverage is permitted.
Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission
Washington
Required for two or more domestic workers if regularly employed in a private home for 40 or more hours per week.
Washington State Department of Labor & Industries
West Virginia
Permits employers to provide voluntary coverage
West Virginia Offices of the Insurance Commissioner
Wisconsin
Permits employers to provide voluntary coverage.
Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development
Wyoming
Domestic employees are excluded. Voluntary coverage is permitted.
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