Getting workers' comp coverage in New York

Start by counting who is actually on your crew

The count that matters is everyone working under your supervision, direction and control. Part-time, full-time, temporary, seasonal, casual day labor, leased, borrowed and unpaid workers all count, including volunteers and family members.

That list is the Workers' Compensation Board's own, and it is why the purchase starts here. The who-needs page walks the full test. Get it wrong and the policy you buy covers the wrong payroll.

The structure question comes with it. A sole proprietor, partner or LLC member is not an employee, so the law does not force you onto your own policy. The owner-exemptions page covers the corporate exception and the construction catch, which changes the answer for trades.

The Workers' Compensation Board counts part-time, full-time, temporary, seasonal, casual day labor, leased, borrowed and unpaid workers, including volunteers and family members, as employees. — New York State Workers' Compensation Board, retrieved 2026-09-29

Pick the route that fits a small crew

Three routes exist: a private insurance carrier, the New York State Insurance Fund, or self-insurance. A small crew will realistically use the first two.

The Board counts more than 200 private carriers authorized by the state Department of Financial Services. They specialize, and they compete, so prices differ.

The State Insurance Fund is the public carrier and the fallback. NYSIF must provide insurance to any employer seeking coverage, whatever the business type, safety record or size. The one exception is money already owed to NYSIF from a previous bill or account.

Self-insurance needs an adequate security deposit and Board qualification, which is not a small-crew route. The Board publishes all three routes on one page, worth reading before you choose.

Policies can be bought through a private carrier, the State Insurance Fund, or self-insurance, and more than 200 private carriers are authorized in New York. — New York State Workers' Compensation Board, retrieved 2026-09-29

NYSIF must provide insurance to any employer seeking coverage, whatever the business type, safety record or size, unless NYSIF is already owed money. — New York State Workers' Compensation Board, retrieved 2026-09-29

Quote early, and mind the classification

The Board's own advice is to start getting quotes several months before you need the policy, from a variety of carriers. Small-crew premiums are thin margins for carriers, so shopping matters.

Each quote rests on a classification code assigned to your line of business, not to each job within it. The New York Compensation Insurance Rating Board sets loss costs for more than 600 classifications, and each carrier applies its own multiplier.

Never shop by misclassifying. The Board says an underwriter using the wrong class lowers the initial rate, the year-end audit catches it, and you are charged retroactively. Penalties and felony prosecution can follow.

If your payroll swings with the season, say so when quoting. The cost breakdown covers pay-as-you-go billing, which charges premium as payroll actually runs.

more than 600 classificationsThe New York Compensation Insurance Rating Board designates classification codes for each type of industry, and annually determines loss costs for each of more than 600 existing classifications. — New York State Insurance Fund, retrieved 2026-09-29

The Workers' Compensation Board warns that misclassifying employees to get a lower rate will be caught at audit and charged retroactively, with penalties and possible felony prosecution. — New York State Workers' Compensation Board, retrieved 2026-09-29

Buy it, then get the paperwork right

Once the policy is bound, the insurer electronically notifies the Board using your Federal Employer Identification Number. The FEIN is the Board's primary identifier for your business, so the FEIN on the policy must be the correct legal one.

Keep that clean when anything changes. The Board asks you to tell your carrier the FEIN when obtaining or modifying coverage, changing your legal entity type, or adding new legal entities.

When a permit office, licensing agency or general contractor asks for proof, you request a Certificate of Workers' Compensation Insurance, form C-105.2, from your carrier or agent. The Board cannot issue insurance certificates directly to you, and NYSIF uses its own version, form U-26.3. The proof guide covers which paper goes where.

When an employer obtains a policy, the insurer electronically notifies the Board using the employer's FEIN, the Board's primary identification for the business. — New York State Workers' Compensation Board, retrieved 2026-09-29

Insured businesses request the C-105.2 certificate from their carrier or agent; NYSIF policyholders get the fund's own U-26.3 version instead. — New York State Workers' Compensation Board, retrieved 2026-09-29

Post the notice, and keep it posted

Employers must post notice of coverage in their places of business, under Section 51 of the law. The certificate your carrier sends is not just for filing cabinets.

For a mobile crew, the place of business is wherever the crew works from, so the truck cab, the shop wall and the trailer office all count. A missing notice is a small thing that reads as a missing policy.

While you are posting things, put the renewal date somewhere you will see it. Coverage that lapses even between carriers accrues penalties measured in ten-day periods, and the Board's monitoring arm notices.

Employers must post notice of workers' compensation coverage in their place or places of business, under Section 51 of the Workers' Compensation Law. — New York State Workers' Compensation Board, retrieved 2026-09-29

Report payroll honestly through the year

The policy year ends with a payroll audit, and the audit compares estimated payroll against what you actually paid. Records you cannot produce become estimates you will not like.

If an employer fails to keep accurate payroll records, the Board Chair may impose a penalty of $1,000 for each 10-day period of non-compliance. Falsified records are a misdemeanor carrying a fine between $5,000 and $10,000, on top of everything else.

Falsifying records within ten years of a prior criminal penalty under the section makes it a class E felony, fined between $10,000 and $25,000. The honest route is cheaper by any arithmetic.

If you use subcontractors, collect their coverage certificates from the first day of work, or their payroll lands on yours. The subcontractors page explains that audit in full.

$1,000 per 10-day periodAn employer who fails to keep accurate payroll records can be assessed a penalty of $1,000 for each 10-day period of non-compliance, imposed by the Board Chair. — New York State Workers' Compensation Board, retrieved 2026-09-29

$5,000 to $10,000Falsifying records is a misdemeanor fined $5,000 to $10,000, and a repeat within ten years is a class E felony fined $10,000 to $25,000. — New York State Workers' Compensation Board, retrieved 2026-09-29

What happens if you skip all of this

The state does not treat a missing policy as a paperwork gap. Coverage missing for ten or more consecutive days can draw a penalty up to $2,000 for each 10-day period without coverage, and the Board's own guidance says a first penalty notice may already exceed $12,000.

The criminal side is worse. Failing to secure coverage for five or fewer employees within a twelve-month period is a misdemeanor fined $1,000 to $5,000. For more than five employees it is a class E felony, fined $5,000 to $50,000, in addition to the civil penalty.

A stop-work order can also issue, which requires the immediate stop of all business activities. The who-needs page helps you work out whether you are in scope at all before any of this becomes your problem.

$2,000 per 10-day periodCoverage missing for 10 or more consecutive days can draw up to $2,000 for each 10-day period, and a first notice may exceed $12,000. — New York State Workers' Compensation Board, retrieved 2026-09-29

$1,000 to $50,000Failing to cover five or fewer employees in a 12-month period is a misdemeanor fined $1,000 to $5,000, and more than five is a class E felony fined $5,000 to $50,000. — New York State Workers' Compensation Board, retrieved 2026-09-29

Questions