Louisiana
Workers' Comp Exemption
One full-time, part-time, temporary, or seasonal employee generally triggers Louisiana workers’ compensation. A sole proprietor, partner, LLC member owning at least 10%, or a bona fide president, vice president, secretary, or treasurer owning at least 10% can elect not to be personally covered through written agreement with the insurer or group self-insurance fund. Louisiana issues no state exemption certificate. A personal owner non-election does not remove the business’s duty to insure employees, and contractor or subcontractor relationships can create additional exposure.
Entity types analyzed
- Sole proprietor
- LLC member
- Partner
- Corporate officer
Louisiana has a one-employee coverage rule and no state-issued certificate declaring a business exempt. Owner treatment instead comes from the entity’s actual workforce and, for certain owners, a written non-election agreement with the insurer or group self-insurance fund. The statute includes sole proprietors and partners and sets a 10% ownership threshold for qualifying LLC members and specified corporate officers.
One full-time, part-time, temporary, or seasonal employee generally triggers Louisiana workers’ compensation. A sole proprietor, partner, LLC member owning at least 10%, or a bona fide president, vice president, secretary, or treasurer owning at least 10% can elect not to be personally covered through written agreement with the insurer or group self-insurance fund. Louisiana issues no state exemption certificate. A personal owner non-election does not remove the business’s duty to insure employees, and contractor or subcontractor relationships can create additional exposure.
Owner treatment at a glance
Sole proprietorA sole proprietor may enter a written agreement with the insurer or group self-insurance fund electing not to be personally covered. Separately, an individual owner with no employees or other listed workers may not need a policy solely for the owner; Louisiana does not issue a state exemption certificate.
LLC memberAn LLC member owning at least 10% of the membership interest may elect not to be personally covered by written agreement with the insurer or group self-insurance fund. The election is personal and does not remove coverage duties for employees.
PartnerA partner may elect not to be personally covered by written agreement with the insurer or group self-insurance fund. Partnership employees still invoke the one-employee coverage rule unless otherwise exempt.
Corporate officerA bona fide president, vice president, secretary, or treasurer owning at least 10% of the corporation may elect not to be personally covered by written agreement with the insurer or group self-insurance fund. Louisiana also describes narrow owner-only one/two-person corporation scenarios in its employer FAQ.
Louisiana requires coverage with one employee and includes temporary or seasonal workers
Louisiana Workforce Commission’s employer FAQ says workers’ compensation is required even when the business has only one employee. The agency expressly includes full-time, part-time, temporary, and seasonal employees in that starting rule.
That means an owner-only business can change status with a single hire. A short-term helper hired for a busy week can be enough to make ‘I usually work alone’ an unreliable explanation if the person is actually an employee.
Start every Louisiana review with a real worker inventory: employees, borrowed or leased workers, part-time help, unpaid volunteers, and subcontractors. The agency’s no-employee examples are narrow because those additional people can change the result.
Louisiana does not issue a state certificate saying a business is exempt
The LWC FAQ answers this directly: Louisiana does not issue an exemption form declaring that a business is exempt from workers’ compensation. That matters when a general contractor or customer asks for a state exemption certificate that does not exist under Louisiana’s system.
An owner may instead have evidence showing why a policy is not required for an owner-only business, or a written agreement with the insurer showing that a qualifying owner elected not to be personally covered. Those documents answer different questions and should not be renamed to satisfy a customer’s vocabulary.
If a customer requires a certificate of insurance regardless of statutory owner status, that is a contract requirement. The owner may need to obtain coverage or an appropriate policy product rather than trying to manufacture a state certificate Louisiana does not issue.
R.S. 23:1035 gives specified owners a written non-election route
Louisiana R.S. 23:1035 allows a sole proprietor, a partner, a qualifying LLC member, and specified bona fide corporate officers to elect not to be covered through written agreement with the insurer or group self-insurance fund. For an LLC member, the statute requires at least a 10% membership interest. For a corporate officer, it applies to a bona fide president, vice president, secretary, or treasurer owning at least 10% of the corporation’s stock.
The election is binding as described by the statute and applies to the entity’s trades, businesses, or occupations. The owner’s salary or compensation is excluded from the workers’ compensation premium calculation under the statutory provision.
This is a personal owner election. It does not say the corporation, LLC, partnership, or proprietorship can leave ordinary employees uninsured. Keep the written insurer agreement with ownership and officer records showing why the person qualified when the election was made.
The no-employee examples depend on keeping the business truly owner-only
LWC gives practical examples of businesses that may not need a policy when there are no employees. The examples include an individual owner in a non-corporate business with no employees or other listed workers, an owner-only partnership, and a narrow one or two-person corporation where the owners hold all shares and offices and no other people are working for the company.
The agency’s examples are deliberately fact-heavy: leased employees, borrowed employees, part-time help, unpaid volunteers including family, and subcontractors are called out because they can break the simple owner-only picture. For a two-person corporation, the FAQ also describes ownership and office-holding conditions.
Do not turn these examples into a permanent registration status. The first added worker or subcontractor can require a fresh analysis even if the entity and tax ID are unchanged.
An owner non-election does not erase principal or subcontractor workers’ compensation exposure
Louisiana’s workers’ compensation statutes use a principal concept for work that is part of the principal’s trade, business, or occupation or work the principal contracted to perform. The statutory framework can create workers’ compensation consequences in contractor and subcontractor relationships even when an individual contractor is a sole proprietor who elected not to be personally covered.
LWC therefore advises employers to examine subcontractors and independent contractors rather than assuming a 1099 label solves coverage. Louisiana’s independent-contractor definition is also specific and can treat manual-labor circumstances differently from what a tax form suggests.
For a contractor file, keep the owner non-election agreement separate from certificates or proof covering employees and subcontractor labor. A general contractor asking for insurance is often addressing chain-of-contract risk, not disputing the owner’s 10% election.
The first worker, ownership percentage, officer title, and carrier agreement are the Louisiana reset points
A qualifying LLC member or corporate officer can lose the factual basis for the R.S. 23:1035 owner election if ownership drops below the 10% threshold or the corporate role no longer matches the offices named by the statute. A sole proprietor who incorporates also moves into a different owner category.
The first employee is an even clearer reset because Louisiana begins with one employee. Contractor use should be reviewed as well, particularly where the work can bring the principal or subcontractor provisions into play.
Finally, verify the written non-election with the current insurer or group self-insurance fund after a carrier change. Louisiana’s system is based on that written agreement, not on a permanent certificate issued by the state.
Louisiana owner checklist
- Apply Louisiana's one-employee rule to full-time, part-time, temporary, and seasonal employees.
- Do not search for a Louisiana state exemption certificate; LWC says it does not issue one.
- For a personal owner non-election, verify the exact R.S. 23:1035 category and the 10% threshold for qualifying LLC members or officers.
- Keep the written insurer or group-fund agreement separate from proof of company employee coverage.
- Recheck owner-only status before using LWC's no-employee examples if there are volunteers, borrowed or leased workers, or subcontractors.
- Re-run the analysis after the first hire, ownership or title change, entity conversion, subcontractor change, or carrier change.
Filing reference
Coverage ruleLouisiana requires workers' compensation when an employer has even one employee, including full-time, part-time, temporary, or seasonal employees, unless a specific statutory exception applies.
Construction ruleThe cited Louisiana sources do not establish a different construction head-count trigger. Construction and other contracting work instead raises principal/subcontractor exposure where uninsured contractor labor falls within Louisiana's statutory framework.
Form / electionWritten owner non-election agreement with the insurer or group self-insurance fund under La. R.S. 23:1035; Louisiana does not issue a state certificate declaring the business exempt
RenewalThe cited statute describes the election as binding and applicable across the entity's trades/businesses but does not publish a universal annual state renewal cycle. Keep the insurer agreement current and revisit it when carrier, ownership, entity, or workforce facts change.
Effective periodThe owner non-election is created by written agreement with the insurer/group fund rather than by a certificate from the state. The business's obligation to insure employees remains separate and starts with one employee.
Responsible agency
Louisiana Workforce Commission, Office of Workers' Compensation Administration
Official source library
These are the state-agency, statutory, or state-board materials used for this guide. The page was last source-checked on 2026-08-26.