REFERENCE · 40 TERMS
EXEMPTION
GLOSSARY
Workers' compensation uses the same words for different things from one state to the next. Each entry below explains the concept in plain language, flags where the rule is state-specific, and links to an official or authoritative source. Definitions are research context, not legal or insurance advice.
A
- Additional insuredA person or organization added to certain liability coverages by endorsement; the concept does not automatically extend to workers' compensation coverage.
- Agricultural/farm labor exclusionA state-law rule that may exclude some agricultural labor from mandatory workers' compensation, often subject to payroll, day-count, family, or other limits.
- Assigned risk pool / residual marketA mechanism that makes workers' compensation insurance available to employers that cannot obtain coverage in the voluntary market.
C
- Casual employmentIrregular or occasional work that some state workers' compensation statutes exclude only when additional statutory conditions are met.
- CE-200 (New York)New York's purpose-specific certificate used to attest to a government entity that an applicant is not required to carry specified workers' compensation-related coverage.
- Certificate holderThe person or organization identified to receive or rely on a certificate of insurance; being listed does not by itself create policy coverage.
- Certificate of electionA state-issued or state-recognized document confirming an approved owner or officer election when the jurisdiction uses a filing-based exclusion process.
- Certificate of insurance (COI)A document summarizing insurance information for a policy; it is evidence of reported coverage, not the policy itself and not an exemption filing.
- Civil penalty (uninsured employer)A monetary sanction a state may impose when an employer fails to secure workers' compensation coverage required by law.
- Class codeA workers' compensation classification identifier used to group business operations or job exposures for rating and reporting.
- Competitive state fundA state-created workers' compensation insurer that operates in a market where employers may also have private-carrier options.
- Construction vs non-construction classificationA state-law distinction that can change workers' compensation coverage thresholds, owner-exemption eligibility, fees, limits, or filing rules.
- Corporate officerA person holding a corporate office whose workers' compensation status depends on state law, ownership, duties, and any required exclusion or election filing.
D
E
- Election of non-coverageA formal choice, where state law permits it, by an otherwise covered or coverable owner/officer to reject workers' compensation coverage for themselves.
- ExclusionA statutory or approved status under which a specified person or category is outside mandatory workers' compensation coverage.
- Executive officerA corporate officeholder defined by state workers' compensation law; some states permit a qualifying executive officer to reject or seek exclusion from coverage.
- ExemptionA workers' compensation status that removes an otherwise covered owner, officer, member, worker, or employment category from a statutory coverage requirement when state law allows it.
- Experience modification factor (e-mod)A rating factor that compares an eligible employer's loss experience with expected loss experience for similarly classified employers.
G
- General partnerA partner with general management and liability status under partnership law; workers' compensation treatment of the partner personally is state-specific.
- Ghost policyAn informal label for a minimum-premium workers' compensation policy that may show coverage exists while excluding the owner and carrying little or no covered payroll at inception.
- Going-and-coming ruleA workers' compensation doctrine that generally treats an ordinary commute to or from a fixed workplace as outside the course of employment, subject to state-specific exceptions.
I
L
- Light-duty / return-to-workWork offered after an injury that fits medically supported restrictions, often using modified tasks, hours, equipment, or duties.
- Limited partnerA partner whose partnership-law role is limited; workers' compensation owner treatment must be checked under the specific state's statute and the partner's actual work.
M
- Managing memberAn LLC member who also holds management authority; some states use management status and control to determine whether that owner is excluded from workers' compensation.
- MisclassificationTreating a worker or job as the wrong legal or rating category, such as labeling an employee an independent contractor to avoid required workers' compensation.
- Monopolistic state fundA workers' compensation system in which the state fund is the exclusive insurance source for most employers, apart from approved self-insurance where allowed.
- Multi-member LLCA limited liability company with two or more members; workers' compensation treatment of working members depends on state law, management structure, ownership, and industry.
N
O
P
- Payroll auditA review of actual payroll, operations, worker status, and classifications used to determine final workers' compensation premium after estimated exposure is reconciled.
- Prime contractor / general contractor liabilityPotential workers' compensation responsibility imposed on an upstream contractor for workers of certain subcontractors under a state's statutory-employer or contractor rules.
S
- Single-member LLCAn LLC with one member; the member's workers' compensation status is determined by state owner rules and can differ sharply between jurisdictions and industries.
- Sole proprietorAn individual who owns an unincorporated business alone; many states treat the owner differently from employees for workers' compensation, often with optional coverage.
- Sole remedy / exclusive remedy doctrineThe principle that workers' compensation benefits are generally the covered employee's exclusive remedy against an insured employer for a work-related injury, subject to statutory exceptions.
- Statutory employeeA worker treated as an employee for workers' compensation because a statute extends responsibility beyond the worker's immediate common-law employer.
- Stop-work orderAn enforcement order requiring an employer to stop using employee labor or stop specified work until a workers' compensation compliance problem is corrected.
- Subcontractor statutory employer ruleA state rule that can make an owner or contractor responsible for workers' compensation benefits owed to workers of a subcontractor performing covered work.