Does Virginia require workers’ compensation insurance?
Yes, once a Virginia business regularly employs more than two people, part-time or full-time. Under Va. Code 65.2-101, corporate officers and LLC managers count as employees, and a contractor adds its subcontractors' employees to the count, even when those subcontractors carry their own policy. Sole proprietors and partners are not covered unless they elect it. Virginia has no waiver or exemption form; the only filing is an officer's Rejection of Coverage, Form 16A.
Updated . Written by Andre Beukers, principal at Redoubt, a commercial insurance agency in Salt Lake City, not a government office.
How many employees before Virginia requires workers' comp?
The Virginia Workers' Compensation Act reaches a business that regularly has three or more employees in the same business in Virginia. Below that, the employer and its workers are outside the Act unless they elect to be covered, under Va. Code 65.2-101. Farm and horticultural employers are covered only with more than three full-time employees, domestic servants and casual employees are excluded, and underground coal mine operators are covered at any size.
The count reaches past your own payroll. The Commission says a contractor that hires subcontractors to do its trade or finish a contract adds the subcontractors' employees to its own, and if the total is more than two, the contractor needs coverage, even if every subcontractor has a policy. Part-time, seasonal, and temporary workers and minors count too.
Source: Va. Code 65.2-101, checked .
Which owners, officers, and family members are exempt in Virginia?
In Virginia, corporate officers and LLC managers are employees, even when they do no regular work and draw no salary, according to the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission. Sole proprietors, the only shareholder of a corporation, the only member of an LLC, and partners are not covered unless the business elects it and tells its insurer (Va. Code 65.2-101). Family members who work in the business count as employees.
The statute does not address members of a multi-member LLC. The Commission generally does not treat members as employees, but a member who works in the business and is paid for that work counts as one. An executive officer who draws no regular salary and has rejected coverage drops out of the three-employee count; an officer paid a regular salary still counts after rejecting.
Source: Virginia WCC, Insurance Information for Employers, checked .
What happens to a Virginia employer with no workers' comp?
An employer that fails to insure when required is assessed a civil penalty of up to $250 for each day without coverage, capped at $50,000, under Va. Code 65.2-805. If an injured worker sues, that employer loses the defenses of the worker's own negligence, a co-worker's negligence, and assumed risk. After 15 days' written notice by certified mail, the Commission can order the business to stop operating until it is insured. Knowingly and intentionally failing to insure is a Class 2 misdemeanor under 65.2-806.
The fine is capped; an uninsured injury is not. The employer stays liable for the injured worker's compensation, or for damages in a lawsuit.
Source: Va. Code 65.2-805, checked .
Who enforces workers' comp in Virginia?
The Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission administers the Act and enforces coverage. Its Insurance Department checks that required employers are insured, takes reports of uninsured employers, reviews officer Rejection of Coverage filings, and oversees professional employer organizations. Questions about rates, class codes, and audits go to the Bureau of Insurance instead.
Source: Virginia WCC, Insurance Department, checked .
Where do Virginia employers buy coverage?
Virginia has no state fund, and the Commission does not sell coverage. An employer insures through a carrier licensed in Virginia, Commission-approved self-insurance, a licensed group self-insurance association, or a professional employer organization registered in Virginia. An employer no voluntary carrier will write can apply to the State Corporation Commission to have the risk assigned to a licensed carrier (Va. Code 65.2-820); NCCI manages that assigned risk market.
Virginia has no reciprocity with other states, according to the Commission. An out-of-state business doing even temporary work in Virginia needs Virginia in Item 3A of its policy; a 3C listing is not enough, and a monopolistic state fund cannot cover Virginia work.
Source: Virginia WCC, Employer FAQs, checked .
Who sets the class codes and rates in Virginia?
Virginia is an NCCI state. The Bureau of Insurance at the State Corporation Commission regulates rates, posts each carrier's loss cost multiplier, and publishes NCCI's Virginia assigned risk rates, which apply under the approved NCCI Basic Manual rules. Premium turns on the class code, the payroll, and the experience modifier.
Source: Virginia SCC Bureau of Insurance, Workers' Compensation, checked .
Is there an exemption or waiver form in Virginia?
No waiver. The Commission does not provide or accept a waiver, exemption, or opt-out form for a sole proprietor or any business below the threshold. The one filing is the Rejection of Coverage, Form 16A: an executive officer or LLC manager signs it with a representative of the business, delivers it to the employer, and files it with the Commission while the business has a current policy. It stays in effect until the officer files Form 17A to revoke it.
Officers usually file to lower premium and give up accident benefits in exchange. Directors, chairmen, and LLC members who are not managers cannot use Form 16A.
Source: Virginia WCC, Rejection of Coverage (Form 16A), checked .
Sorting out Virginia workers' comp for your business
Tell Redoubt what the business does, who works in it, and what the Virginia 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 Virginia pages that go deeper
Virginia workers’ comp FAQ
Do I need workers' comp in Virginia with two employees?+
Usually not by law. Virginia's requirement starts when a business regularly has more than two employees, and part-time workers, family members, corporate officers, and LLC managers all count. A contractor also counts its subcontractors' employees. Two employees plus one corporate officer makes three, and that business needs a policy.
Can a sole proprietor get a workers' comp exemption certificate in Virginia?+
No. The Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission does not issue a waiver or exemption form. A sole proprietor with no employees and no subcontractors is not required to carry coverage and can buy it voluntarily. When a hiring contractor wants proof, a policy is the document Virginia has.
Do out-of-state contractors need Virginia workers' comp?+
Yes, for work in Virginia, even temporary work, once the business meets the threshold. Virginia has no reciprocity. Most out-of-state policies can add Virginia to Item 3A by endorsement; if the carrier is not licensed in Virginia, the business needs a separate Virginia policy.
Can a corporate officer opt out of workers' comp in Virginia?+
Yes. An executive officer or LLC manager can reject coverage for accidents, not occupational disease, by filing Form 16A with the Commission while the business has a current policy. The rejection lowers premium but gives up benefits for a work injury, and Form 17A reverses it.