Does Oklahoma require workers’ compensation insurance?
Yes. Oklahoma requires workers' compensation from the first employee: under 85A O.S. 2 and 3, every employer with anyone working under a contract of hire is bound by the Administrative Workers' Compensation Act, with no head-count floor. Sole proprietors, partners, and LLC members or stockholders owning 10% or more are not employees unless they elect coverage, and a business not required to cover anyone can file an Affidavit of Exempt Status with the Workers' Compensation Commission.
Updated . Written by Andre Beukers, principal at Redoubt, a commercial insurance agency in Salt Lake City, not a government office.
How many employees before Oklahoma requires workers' comp?
Oklahoma has no minimum head count. Every employer is bound by the Act, and an employee is anyone, including a minor, working for the employer under a contract of hire or apprenticeship, written or oral. The statute carves out casual work outside the employer's business, licensed real estate agents paid on commission, household workers when the home's payroll for them was under $50,000 the prior year, and some agricultural workers, depending on farm payroll and whether they run motorized machines.
Source: 85A O.S. 2(18), checked .
Which owners, officers, and family members are exempt in Oklahoma?
Sole proprietors, partners, franchisees, LLC members who own at least 10% of the company, and corporate stockholder-employees who own 10% or more are not employees unless they elect to be covered by a policy. A business is also outside the Act when it has five or fewer employees, all related to the owner within the second degree by blood or marriage or living in the owner's household. Owner-operator truck drivers who drive their own rig are excluded too.
These exclusions apply by statute; no filing is needed to be exempt. An owner who wants to be covered elects it on the workers' comp policy.
Source: 85A O.S. 2(18)(b), checked .
What happens to a Oklahoma employer with no workers' comp?
The Commission can serve an uninsured employer a proposed judgment and assess a civil fine of up to $1,000 per day of violation, capped at $50,000 for a first violation, under 85A O.S. 40. Failing to secure coverage is also a misdemeanor carrying a fine of up to $10,000 on conviction. If the employer still has not insured or paid once the judgment is final, the Commission can ask a district court to bar it from employing anyone until it does.
Source: 85A O.S. 40, checked .
Who enforces workers' comp in Oklahoma?
The Oklahoma Workers' Compensation Commission, an executive agency created by 85A O.S. 19, has exclusive responsibility for carrying out the Act. It hears claims through its administrative law judges, assesses the penalties above, receives each insurer's notice of the policies it writes, approves self-insured employers, and takes Affidavits of Exempt Status. The Oklahoma Insurance Department regulates the carriers and the assigned risk plan, not the employers.
Source: 85A O.S. 19, checked .
Where do Oklahoma employers buy coverage?
Oklahoma employers buy from any insurer authorized to write workers' compensation in the state (85A O.S. 38). One of them is CompSource Mutual Insurance Company, successor to the old state fund, CompSource Oklahoma, and now a private domestic mutual regulated by the Insurance Department. An employer declined by two unaffiliated insurers can get coverage through the Insurance Commissioner's assigned risk plan under 36 O.S. 608.2; CompSource Mutual served as the residual market until that plan began, no later than June 1, 2024.
Source: 36 O.S. 608.2, checked .
Who sets the class codes and rates in Oklahoma?
Oklahoma is an NCCI state. NCCI makes the advisory rate filings for Oklahoma and publishes an Oklahoma State Advisory Report on each one. Class codes and experience mods come from NCCI's manuals; each carrier applies its own multiplier on top of NCCI's loss costs.
Source: NCCI, Oklahoma State Advisory Resources, checked .
Is there an exemption or waiver form in Oklahoma?
Yes. Any individual or business entity not required to secure coverage can file an Affidavit of Exempt Status with the Workers' Compensation Commission on the Commission's form, for a nonrefundable fee of up to $50 (85A O.S. 36). It expires two years after filing and can be renewed early. If the business starts needing coverage, it files a Cancellation of Affidavit of Exempt Status. Knowingly false information on the affidavit is a misdemeanor with a fine of up to $1,000.
The affidavit matters most on construction jobs. A prime contractor is liable for an uninsured subcontractor's injured workers unless an intermediate subcontractor carries coverage, but a sub with an unexpired affidavit on file is presumed not to be the prime's employee, and the prime's carrier cannot charge premium on what it pays that sub. The affidavit never covers the sub's own employees.
Source: 85A O.S. 36(D), checked .
Sorting out Oklahoma workers' comp for your business
Tell Redoubt what the business does, who works in it, and what the Oklahoma 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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- West Virginia
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The hub, and the Oklahoma pages that go deeper
Oklahoma workers’ comp FAQ
Do I need workers' comp in Oklahoma with only one employee?+
Yes. Oklahoma has no minimum head count. Anyone working for you under a contract of hire, including a minor or a part-time worker, is an employee under 85A O.S. 2 unless a specific carve-out applies, such as a family business with five or fewer employees all related to the owner.
Is an Oklahoma LLC owner exempt from workers' comp?+
An LLC member who owns at least 10% of the company is not an employee unless they elect coverage on a policy. A member with a smaller stake is not covered by that exclusion. An owner with no employees can file an Affidavit of Exempt Status if a hiring contractor asks for proof.
Is CompSource Mutual Oklahoma's state fund?+
It used to be. CompSource Mutual Insurance Company is the successor to CompSource Oklahoma and is now a private domestic mutual regulated by the Oklahoma Insurance Department, per 36 O.S. 608.2. Employers can buy from it or from any other insurer authorized to write workers' comp in Oklahoma.
How long does an Oklahoma Affidavit of Exempt Status last?+
Two years from the date it is filed with the Workers' Compensation Commission, under 85A O.S. 36. It can be renewed before it expires, and it has to be cancelled if the business takes on workers it must cover.