Does Idaho require workers’ compensation insurance?
Yes. Idaho requires workers' compensation from the first employee: the Idaho Industrial Commission says any employer with one or more full-time, part-time, seasonal, or occasional employees must carry a policy, in place before the first hire. Sole proprietors, partners, LLC members, and corporate officers who own at least 10% and sit on the board are exempt under Idaho Code 72-212. Idaho has no waiver form; exempt owners are simply outside the law.
Updated . Written by Andre Beukers, principal at Redoubt, a commercial insurance agency in Salt Lake City, not a government office.
How many employees before Idaho requires workers' comp?
Idaho has no minimum head count. The Industrial Commission says an employer with even one full-time, part-time, seasonal, or occasional employee must keep a policy in force unless the employment is specifically exempt, and the policy has to start before the first employee does. Idaho Code 72-203 applies the law to all private employment, farm labor contracting included, unless 72-212 exempts it.
Source: Idaho Industrial Commission, Employer FAQs, checked .
Which owners, officers, and family members are exempt in Idaho?
Under Idaho Code 72-212, the owner of a sole proprietorship, the working members of a partnership or LLC, and a corporate officer who owns at least 10% of the voting stock (and is a director, if the corporation has a board) are outside the law unless they elect coverage. Family members living in the owner's household are exempt when the business is a sole proprietorship or a single-member LLC taxed as one. Household domestic service, casual employment, outworkers, and commission-only real estate agents are exempt too.
An officer who owns less than 10%, or who is not a director of a corporation that has a board, is an employee under Idaho Code 72-204 and belongs on the policy. An exempt owner who wants coverage elects it in writing with the insurer under Idaho Code 72-213.
Source: Idaho Code 72-212, checked .
What happens to a Idaho employer with no workers' comp?
Going without coverage is a misdemeanor under Idaho Code 72-319, for the employer and for each corporate officer, LLC member, or manager who had authority to buy the policy and did not. The Industrial Commission can sue for $2 per employee per day or $25 per day, whichever is greater, for up to three years, plus $500 for a second failure and $1,000 for a third within three years, and can ask a district court to shut the business down until it is insured.
The injured worker can still claim benefits. Under Idaho Code 72-210 the uninsured employer owes the full compensation plus an extra 10% and the worker's attorney fees, and 72-319 makes the officers and LLC managers who skipped the policy personally liable for it alongside the company.
Source: Idaho Code 72-319, checked .
Who enforces workers' comp in Idaho?
The Idaho Industrial Commission's Employer Compliance Department enforces the insurance requirement, keeps the proof-of-coverage records carriers report, and runs the public lookup that shows which insurer covered an employer on a given date. It decides case by case whether contract labor counts as employees, using Idaho's right-to-control test. The Idaho Department of Insurance authorizes the carriers; employer compliance sits with the Commission.
Source: Idaho Industrial Commission, Employer Compliance, checked .
Where do Idaho employers buy coverage?
Idaho has a competitive state fund. An employer can buy from any of the more than 300 private insurers authorized to write workers' compensation in Idaho, or from the Idaho State Insurance Fund, which the Industrial Commission describes as a quasi-governmental entity, not a state agency. An employer that neither private carriers nor the fund will write applies to the assigned risk pool NCCI administers, and a large employer can self-insure with Commission approval.
Public employers must insure with the State Insurance Fund unless it refuses the risk (Idaho Code 72-301); private employers choose between the fund and private carriers.
Source: Idaho Industrial Commission, Employer FAQs, checked .
Who sets the class codes and rates in Idaho?
Idaho is an NCCI state. The Industrial Commission says every insurer authorized to write workers' compensation in Idaho must follow the rates set by the National Council on Compensation Insurance, and carriers report Idaho policies to the Commission through NCCI. Class codes, experience mods, and the rating plan come from NCCI.
Source: Idaho Industrial Commission, Employer Information, checked .
Is there an exemption or waiver form in Idaho?
No general waiver exists. The Industrial Commission says waivers are specifically prohibited under Idaho's law, and exempt owners and officers file nothing: they are simply outside the Act. The one exemption filing is Form IC53, Election for Exemption, which a family member of a sole proprietor who does not live in the owner's household files with the Commission.
Without a certificate of exemption, an owner-only business asked for proof of workers' comp can point to the 72-212 exemption or buy a policy. A hiring contractor is liable for an uninsured subcontractor's employees under Idaho Code 72-216, which is why many insist on a certificate of insurance either way.
Source: Idaho Industrial Commission, Employer Information, checked .
Sorting out Idaho workers' comp for your business
Tell Redoubt what the business does, who works in it, and what the Idaho requirement in front of you says. We will say whether a policy, a waiver, or an exclusion fits.
This is general insurance information, not legal advice or a coverage determination. Statutes, agency instructions, policy forms, and the facts of the business control.
Workers’ comp requirements in every state
Each state page gives the employee threshold, the owner and officer exemptions, the penalty for going without, the rating bureau, the market, the enforcing agency, and the exemption filing, each with its statute or agency source.
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The hub, and the Idaho pages that go deeper
Idaho workers’ comp FAQ
Do I need workers' comp in Idaho for one part-time employee?+
Yes. The Idaho Industrial Commission counts full-time, part-time, seasonal, and occasional employees alike, and the policy has to be in force before that first employee starts. The narrow exceptions are in Idaho Code 72-212, such as household domestic service and casual work unrelated to the business.
Can an Idaho LLC owner skip workers' comp?+
A working member of an LLC is exempt under Idaho Code 72-212 and does not have to cover themselves. Anyone the LLC hires is an employee and needs a policy. A member who wants coverage can elect it in writing with the insurer.
Does Idaho have a workers' comp waiver or certificate of exemption?+
No. The Industrial Commission says waivers are prohibited, and Idaho Code 72-318 voids any agreement by an employee to waive compensation. Exempt owners simply are not required to insure themselves; the only filing is Form IC53 for certain family members of a sole proprietor.
Am I responsible for my subcontractors' workers' comp in Idaho?+
You can be. Under Idaho Code 72-216 an employer is liable for the employees of an uninsured contractor or subcontractor working under it, and the Commission uses a right-to-control test to decide whether a 1099 worker is really an employee. Collect a certificate of insurance from every sub.
Does a remote employee working from home in Idaho need Idaho coverage?+
Yes. The Industrial Commission says an out-of-state employer's employee working from home in Idaho must be covered by a policy endorsed for Idaho, whether full-time, part-time, seasonal, or occasional.