Coverage by Trade

Coverages / Workers' compensation

WC · 37 of 37 trades

Workers' compensation

Medical costs and lost wages for employees injured at work, in exchange for which employees give up the right to sue. Required by state law in nearly every state once you have employees; the employee-count threshold and exemptions are set state by state and are not reproduced here.

1234
  1. 1Trades carrying it 37 of 37
  2. 2Highest injury rate 8.5 per 100
  3. 3Lowest of them 1.5 per 100
  4. 4Typical requirer Any trade with employees
Local messengers and local8.5Couriers and express deliv7.9Nursing care facilities6.3Carpet and upholstery clea5.6Warehousing and storage4.8Waste collection4.7Framing4.6Used household and office 4.3Siding3.2General freight trucking3.1Plumbing, heating and air-3Landscaping services3
2024 recordable injury and illness cases per 100 FTE for the trades whose checklist includes workers' compensation (top 12 of 37), bars to scale against the highest rate on this site (8.5). Source: BLS SOII Table 1.

What it is for

Workers' compensation pays an injured employee's medical bills and a share of lost wages without regard to fault, and in return the employee cannot sue the employer for the injury. It is the one coverage on this list that nearly every state requires by statute once a business has employees; the threshold (one employee, three, five), the treatment of owners and officers, and the penalties for going without are set state by state, which is why this site does not print them. The premium is payroll times a class rate, adjusted by an experience modifier built from your own claims, so the BLS injury figures on each trade page are a direct proxy for where the class rate starts.

How it is bought

Trades that carry workers' compensation

Any trade with employees. On this site, 37 of 37 trades list it, from local messengers and local delivery at 8.5 recordable cases per 100 workers to security guards and patrol services at 1.5.

Local messengers and local delivery 8.5Couriers and express delivery services 7.9Nursing care facilities 6.3Carpet and upholstery cleaning services 5.6Warehousing and storage 4.8Waste collection 4.7Framing contractors 4.6Used household and office goods moving 4.3Siding contractors 3.2General freight trucking 3.1Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors 3Landscaping services 3Drywall and insulation contractors 2.9Poured concrete foundation and structure contractors 2.8Structural steel and precast concrete contractors 2.8Glass and glazing contractors 2.7Specialized freight trucking 2.7Limited-service restaurants 2.6Residential building construction 2.5Janitorial services 2.5Roofing contractors 2.4Tile and terrazzo contractors 2.4Motor vehicle towing 2.3Exterminating and pest control services 2.2Full-service restaurants 2.2Flooring contractors 2Masonry contractors 1.9Nonresidential building construction 1.9Automotive repair and maintenance 1.9Child care services 1.9Electrical contractors 1.8Finish carpentry contractors 1.8Fitness and recreational sports centers 1.8Painting and wall covering contractors 1.6Home health care services 1.6Site preparation (excavation) contractors 1.5Security guards and patrol services 1.5

What to ask a broker

Other coverage types

Coverage descriptions are editorial. Legal figures: 49 CFR 387.9 — Schedule of limits, public liability (eCFR). Injury rates: BLS Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, Table 1 (2024), incidence rates per 100 full-time workers. Checked 2026-10-23.