Does Ohio require workers’ compensation insurance?
Yes. Ohio requires workers' compensation from the first employee: under Ohio Revised Code 4123.01, any business with one or more employees regularly in the same business is an employer, part-time workers included. Coverage comes only from the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC) or BWC-approved self-insurance; private insurers cannot write it. Sole proprietors, partners, and one-owner corporations with no employees are not covered unless they elect it.
Updated . Written by Andre Beukers, principal at Redoubt, a commercial insurance agency in Salt Lake City, not a government office.
How many employees before Ohio requires workers' comp?
Ohio treats a business as an employer from its first employee. Ohio Revised Code 4123.01 covers every person, firm, or private corporation with one or more employees regularly in the same business under any contract of hire, oral or written, including minors. Household and casual workers count once they earn $160 or more in cash in a calendar quarter from a single household or employer.
BWC says coverage is due from the date an employer first hires in Ohio, and it expects an application from independent contractors and subcontractors who have employees. On a construction contract, a worker is the hiring party's employee when at least ten of the twenty control factors in 4123.01(A)(1)(c) apply, and a private employer is liable for a subcontractor's unpaid premium on the payroll for work under the contract (4123.35).
Source: Ohio Revised Code 4123.01, checked .
Which owners, officers, and family members are exempt in Ohio?
Ohio covers owners only by choice. A sole proprietor, a partner, an individual incorporated as a one-owner corporation with no employees, and the officers of a family farm corporation are not employees unless the business elects to include them (Ohio Revised Code 4123.01). BWC says an LLC owner follows the LLC's tax treatment: coverage is optional when the LLC files as a sole proprietorship or partnership. Officers of other corporations are employees, and 4123.01 has no general exclusion for family members on the payroll.
To add an owner, file BWC's Application for or Request to Cancel Elective Coverage (U-3S); BWC says elective coverage starts the date it receives the U-3S and the required premium installment. BWC is plain about the other choice: an owner who does not elect and is hurt at work gets no BWC benefits.
Source: Ohio BWC, Elective coverage, checked .
What happens to a Ohio employer with no workers' comp?
Ohio calls an employer without BWC coverage a noncomplying employer. BWC can bill premium for the period the business should have been covered and turn an unpaid assessment into a court judgment (Ohio Revised Code 4123.37). It pays an injured worker's claim and then recovers the cost from the employer (4123.75). The worker can also sue the employer directly, and the employer loses the fellow-servant, assumption-of-risk, and contributory-negligence defenses (4123.77).
Failing to secure or maintain coverage with intent to defraud BWC is workers' compensation fraud under Ohio Revised Code 2913.48: a first-degree misdemeanor, or a felony once the unpaid premium reaches $1,000. A lapse counts too: BWC says a missed installment lapses coverage, and an employee hurt during a lapse leaves the employer owing the claim costs for the life of the claim.
Source: Ohio Revised Code 4123.75, checked .
Who enforces workers' comp in Ohio?
The Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation runs the state insurance fund: it writes the policy, sets rates, collects premium, pays claims, and bills noncomplying employers. Under Ohio Revised Code 4123.37 the administrator decides how long a business should have been covered; the employer can contest that at a BWC hearing, then in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas.
Source: Ohio Revised Code 4123.37, checked .
Where do Ohio employers buy coverage?
Only from BWC. Ohio is one of four monopolistic states: BWC describes itself as the exclusive provider of workers' compensation insurance in Ohio, and Ohio Revised Code 4123.82 voids any private contract that insures an employer against Ohio compensation liability. The one alternative is self-insurance, a privilege BWC grants under 4123.35 to employers with the financial strength and administrative ability to pay claims directly.
Private insurers keep two narrow roles under 4123.82: excess coverage for self-insured employers, and other-states coverage for an Ohio employer whose workers also work outside Ohio.
Source: Ohio BWC, Agency overview, checked .
Who sets the class codes and rates in Ohio?
Ohio has no separate rating bureau; BWC sets the rates. Ohio Revised Code 4123.29 has the administrator classify businesses using the categories NCCI establishes and fix a premium rate for each class. BWC assigns one basic NCCI classification that describes the whole business, plus standard exceptions such as 8810 clerical office employees, and adjusts each class rate every year.
Source: Ohio Revised Code 4123.29, checked .
Is there an exemption or waiver form in Ohio?
Not for owners. BWC's coverage pages list no waiver or exemption certificate for an owner with no employees; that owner is not required to carry coverage and has nothing to file. The forms run the other way: the U-3S to elect coverage for an owner, and the U-3E, a religious exemption under Ohio Revised Code 4123.15 for an employer and employees in a sect, in existence since 1950, whose tenets oppose insurance benefits.
Source: Ohio BWC, Religious exemptions, checked .
Sorting out Ohio BWC coverage for your business
Ohio workers' comp comes from BWC, not from a private carrier. Tell Redoubt what the business does, who works in it, and where they work. We will walk through what BWC will ask for, whether owner elective coverage or other-states coverage fits, and the rest of the insurance a contract or certificate request usually asks for.
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
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
The hub, and the Ohio pages that go deeper
Ohio workers’ comp FAQ
Do I need workers' comp in Ohio with one part-time employee?+
Yes. Ohio Revised Code 4123.01 makes any business with one or more employees an employer, and BWC's application page lists employers with one or more full or part-time employees. Coverage is due from the date you first hire in Ohio.
Can I buy Ohio workers' comp from a private insurance company?+
No. Ohio Revised Code 4123.82 voids private contracts that insure an employer against Ohio compensation liability, so coverage comes from BWC or, for large employers that qualify, BWC-approved self-insurance. Private insurers can still write other-states coverage for your workers outside Ohio.
I'm a sole proprietor with no employees. What do I show a general contractor who asks for workers' comp?+
Ohio does not require you to cover yourself, and BWC has no waiver certificate for that. If the contractor insists on proof, you can elect coverage for yourself with the U-3S and BWC issues written proof of coverage. Contractors ask because Ohio Revised Code 4123.35 makes them liable for a subcontractor's unpaid premium.
Can a corporate officer opt out of Ohio workers' comp?+
Usually not. Ohio Revised Code 4123.01 leaves out only officers of a family farm corporation, an individual incorporated as a one-owner corporation, and volunteer officers of a nonprofit. Officers of any other corporation are employees and are reported under BWC's corporate officer payroll rules.