Does Massachusetts require workers’ compensation insurance?
Yes. Massachusetts requires workers' compensation from the first employee, full- or part-time: M.G.L. c. 152 §25A makes every employer insure its employees, with no head-count or hours floor except for household workers under 16 hours a week. Sole proprietors, partners, and LLC members do not have to cover themselves. A corporate officer who owns at least 25 percent can opt out only by filing Form 153 with the Department of Industrial Accidents.
Updated . Written by Andre Beukers, principal at Redoubt, a commercial insurance agency in Salt Lake City, not a government office.
How many employees before Massachusetts requires workers' comp?
Massachusetts has no minimum head count or hours. M.G.L. c. 152 §25A requires every employer to secure compensation for its employees, and §1(4) makes every person in the service of another under any contract of hire, oral or written, an employee. Coverage is optional only for seasonal, casual, or part-time household workers (under 16 hours a week) and a few listed carve-outs, such as commission-only real estate salespeople.
Two narrower carve-outs matter for small buyers. Someone hired for work outside the usual course of your business is not your employee under §1(4)(g), and an owner living in a house with no more than three apartments is not an employer when hiring people for maintenance or repair on it (§1(5)).
Source: M.G.L. c. 152 §25A, checked .
Which owners, officers, and family members are exempt in Massachusetts?
A sole proprietor or partnership is not its own employee unless it chooses coverage by buying a policy (M.G.L. c. 152 §1(4)). Every corporate officer is an employee, with one exception: an officer or director who owns at least 25 percent of the stock can opt out, but only by giving the Department of Industrial Accidents a written waiver. The statute has no family-member exemption; relatives on the payroll are covered like anyone else.
The DIA's insurance requirements page treats LLC members and LLP partners like sole proprietors: not required to cover themselves, while every employee who is not a member still must be covered. The DIA's quick-start guide for employers caps the corporate officer exemption at four people.
Source: M.G.L. c. 152 §1, checked .
What happens to a Massachusetts employer with no workers' comp?
When the DIA finds an uninsured employer, it serves a stop work order that halts business operations at the workplace or job site the day it is served (M.G.L. c. 152 §25C). The order lifts only once the employer shows coverage and pays $100 for each day out of compliance, or $250 a day if it appeals and loses. A criminal conviction carries a fine up to $1,500, up to a year in jail, or both, and for a corporation the president or treasurer answers for it. The employer is also barred from state and municipally funded contracts for three years.
Under §25C(6), licensing agencies must also withhold a business license or building permit until the applicant shows proof of coverage.
Source: M.G.L. c. 152 §25C, checked .
Who enforces workers' comp in Massachusetts?
The Department of Industrial Accidents (DIA) enforces the requirement. M.G.L. c. 23E §3 assigns it investigating employers without mandatory coverage and enforcing stop work orders, which its Office of Investigations does statewide; the DIA also collects the fines, and its Workers' Compensation Trust Fund may pay injured workers of uninsured employers. It does not sell policies or set rates.
Source: M.G.L. c. 23E §3, checked .
Where do Massachusetts employers buy coverage?
Massachusetts is a private market with no state fund. M.G.L. c. 152 §25A lists the ways to secure coverage: a policy from an insurer, membership in a self-insurance group, or a self-insurer license from the DIA. An employer the voluntary market will not write goes to the Massachusetts Workers' Compensation Assigned Risk Pool, which the WCRIBMA administers for the Commissioner of Insurance under §65C and which must cover any employer entitled in good faith to insurance.
Per the DIA, apply to the pool through the WCRIBMA once two insurers have rejected the business.
Source: WCRIBMA, Residual Market, checked .
Who sets the class codes and rates in Massachusetts?
Massachusetts is not an NCCI state. Its rating organization is the Workers' Compensation Rating and Inspection Bureau of Massachusetts (WCRIBMA), licensed by the Division of Insurance under M.G.L. c. 152 §52C. It files rates, classifications, and rating plans for its member insurers, and issues the experience mods and classification rulings, so a disputed class code is a WCRIBMA question, not an NCCI one. The Commissioner of Insurance reviews each rate filing at a hearing (§53A).
Source: WCRIBMA, About WCRIBMA, checked .
Is there an exemption or waiver form in Massachusetts?
Yes, for corporate officers only. An officer or director who owns at least 25 percent of the corporation files DIA Form 153, the Affidavit of Exemption for Certain Corporate Officers or Directors, with the DIA's Office of Investigations by email, mail, fax, or in person; each eligible officer signs. Under M.G.L. c. 152 §1(4) the exemption applies only once that written waiver reaches the DIA. Sole proprietors, partners, and LLC members have no exemption form to file, since the law does not require them to cover themselves.
There is no statewide waiver certificate for sole proprietors. When a building department or licensing board asks for proof of coverage under §25C(6), ask that office which form it accepts from an owner with no employees.
Source: M.G.L. c. 152 §1, checked .
Sorting out Massachusetts workers' comp for your business
Tell Redoubt what the business does, who works in it, and what the Massachusetts 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.
- Alabama
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The hub, and the Massachusetts pages that go deeper
Massachusetts workers’ comp FAQ
Do I need workers' comp in Massachusetts with one part-time employee?+
Yes. M.G.L. c. 152 §25A applies to every employer, and the DIA says the requirement holds no matter the hours worked or the number of employees. The only hours test is for household workers.
Can a Massachusetts LLC owner skip workers' comp?+
For themselves, yes. The DIA does not require LLC members, LLP partners, or sole proprietors to cover themselves, and they can buy coverage if they want it. The moment the LLC hires someone who is not a member, that person must be on a policy.
Does paying someone on a 1099 keep them off my Massachusetts policy?+
No. The DIA's employer guide says issuing a 1099 does not exclude an employee from coverage; under §1(4), anyone working for you under a contract of hire is an employee unless a listed exception applies. Knowingly misclassifying workers to lower premium brings the same three-year public-contract debarment as going uninsured (§25C(10)).
Does my out-of-state policy cover work in Massachusetts?+
It depends on where Massachusetts appears on the policy. The DIA's requirements page says a policy listing Massachusetts in item 3A satisfies the law; a policy that reaches Massachusetts only through item 3C other-states coverage needs the insurer to file Form 154, Verification of Workers' Compensation Coverage for Out-of-State Employers.