Nevada
Workers' Comp Exemption
A Nevada employer with one or more non-excluded employees generally needs workers’ compensation coverage. A sole proprietor can elect personal coverage with D-45. Certain corporate officers and LLC managers may reject personal coverage under NRS 616B.624, but the rule depends on pay and ownership. Do not turn D-43 into a universal owner waiver: it is part of the election/rejection framework for excluded persons.
Entity types analyzed
- Sole proprietor
- LLC member
- Partner
- Corporate officer
Nevada does not use one owner-exemption certificate. The first layer is mandatory employer coverage: unless an exclusion applies, one employee is enough to trigger coverage. The second layer is personal owner treatment, which differs for sole proprietors, corporate officers, and LLC managers and is documented through state forms or written notices to the insurer.
A Nevada employer with one or more non-excluded employees generally needs workers’ compensation coverage. A sole proprietor can elect personal coverage with D-45. Certain corporate officers and LLC managers may reject personal coverage under NRS 616B.624, but the rule depends on pay and ownership. Do not turn D-43 into a universal owner waiver: it is part of the election/rejection framework for excluded persons.
Owner treatment at a glance
Sole proprietorNevada treats a sole proprietor as outside ordinary employee coverage unless the proprietor elects personal coverage. Form D-45 is the state form for electing or withdrawing sole-proprietor coverage under NRS 616B.659.
LLC memberNevada's specific rejection rule is written for an LLC manager, not every passive member. An unpaid manager may reject coverage by written notice; a manager who owns the company and receives pay may also reject by filing written notice with the insurer. A non-manager member should not be assumed eligible under the manager rule.
PartnerNevada's statutory definition of sole proprietor includes working partners and members of working associations. Personal coverage can therefore be handled through the sole-proprietor election framework, while employees of the partnership remain a separate coverage obligation.
Corporate officerAn unpaid officer may reject personal coverage by written notice to the corporation and insurer. A paid officer who owns the corporation may also reject personal coverage by written notice to the insurer. Paid officers who do not satisfy the ownership condition should not be treated as automatically excludable.
Nevada’s mandatory rule starts with one employee
Nevada DIR’s employer coverage guidance says that, unless excluded by statute, every employer that has a person working under a contract of hire needs workers’ compensation coverage. The agency’s employer brochure states the practical version of the rule: one or more employees is enough.
That broad starting point is important because owner elections operate at the person level. A corporation can have an officer who properly rejects personal coverage and still need a workers’ compensation policy for the corporation’s other employees. An LLC manager’s rejection does not convert the company into an uninsured business if workers remain within the Act.
The correct order is therefore company coverage first, owner treatment second. Identify who is actually working for the business, determine whether each person is excluded or covered, and then use the appropriate election or rejection document for the owner category.
A sole proprietor uses D-45 to come into coverage—not to get an exemption
Nevada has a specific form titled D-45 Sole Proprietor Coverage. It records a sole proprietor’s election of coverage, withdrawal of elected coverage, and related premium notice. That structure reflects the fact that the proprietor is not simply treated like an ordinary employee by default.
NRS 616A also defines “sole proprietor” broadly enough to include working partners and members of working associations. That means owner-operated partnerships can encounter the same personal-coverage concept even though the business may still have a separate duty to cover its non-owner employees.
Because D-45 is an election-in form, showing a blank or old D-45 does not prove that an owner is exempt from every Nevada workers’ compensation responsibility. The useful record is the current owner election status together with proof that all non-excluded employees are insured.
Corporate officers and LLC managers can reject coverage only under specific pay-and-ownership rules
NRS 616B.624 treats corporate officers and LLC managers differently depending on whether they receive pay. An officer or manager who does not receive pay for services can elect to reject personal coverage by filing written notice with the corporation or company and the insurer.
A paid officer or manager has a narrower route. The statute allows rejection when the person owns the corporation or company and receives pay for the services performed. The rejection becomes effective when the insurer receives the notice. A paid person who does not satisfy the ownership condition should not be treated as excludable merely because that person has an officer or manager title.
The LLC wording is especially important. Nevada names the manager of the LLC; it does not say every passive LLC member may reject coverage under the manager rule. A compliance file should therefore record the person’s management role, ownership, pay status, and the insurer’s receipt of the rejection.
A change in pay can undo an officer or manager rejection
Nevada’s statute provides a built-in reset. An officer or manager who rejected coverage can rescind that rejection by filing written notice with the company and insurer, effective when the insurer receives it.
More importantly, an unpaid officer or manager who rejected coverage and later begins receiving pay is generally deemed to have rescinded the rejection, except when the person fits the separate paid-owner rejection rule. That means payroll changes can affect workers’ compensation status even if nobody intentionally files a new form.
This is why an owner-rejection file should be reviewed with payroll records. A rejection that was valid when an officer worked without pay can become stale after salary, wages, or other compensation begins. The insurer record and the current pay arrangement need to tell the same story.
D-43 and D-44 belong to the excluded-person election framework, not a blanket business exemption
Nevada publishes D-43 as the employee’s election to reject coverage and election to waive that rejection for excluded persons under NRS 616B.656. D-44 is the employer-side election of coverage or withdrawal of that election. These forms address a statutory category of employees who are otherwise excluded and whose employer elects to bring them into the system.
That is different from saying D-43 is the standard form for every business owner. A sole proprietor has D-45, while officers and managers have the specific NRS 616B.624 rules. The title and statute printed on the form should control which document is being used.
Keeping those routes separate reduces a common compliance error: presenting one Nevada D-series form as proof that the entire company is exempt. The company’s policy obligation, the owner’s personal status, and any election to cover an otherwise excluded worker are distinct records.
Contract labor can create a separate Nevada exposure even when the owner’s own status is settled
Nevada workers’ compensation law contains principal-contractor and subcontractor rules, and DIR’s employer guidance warns that the employee definition cannot be reduced to the label used in a contract. An owner should not assume that calling every helper a subcontractor preserves an owner-only situation.
For a construction or service business, the owner file should therefore be paired with a worker-classification file. Verify the status of people doing the work, keep certificates or policy information for subcontractors where appropriate, and do not use the owner’s personal rejection as a substitute for that review.
Re-run the Nevada analysis when the first employee is hired, an unpaid officer begins receiving pay, an LLC member becomes or ceases to be manager, the owner elects personal coverage, or a new subcontracting arrangement changes who is performing the work.
Nevada owner checklist
- Apply Nevada’s one-employee rule before evaluating an owner’s personal election.
- Use D-45 for sole-proprietor coverage election/withdrawal; do not use it as a business-wide exemption.
- For corporate officers and LLC managers, document pay status, ownership, role, and insurer receipt of the rejection.
- Review an unpaid-person rejection when the owner or manager begins receiving pay.
- Use D-43/D-44 only for the excluded-person election framework they actually implement.
- Recheck subcontractors and worker classification separately from the owner’s personal coverage status.
Filing reference
Coverage ruleUnless an employment or worker is excluded by statute, a Nevada employer with one or more employees must provide workers' compensation coverage.
Construction ruleThe cited Nevada materials do not establish a separate numeric construction threshold. Construction can create additional principal-contractor and subcontractor exposure, so a one-person or owner-operated contractor should not assume an owner election automatically answers the coverage status of subcontracted labor.
Form / electionD-45 — Sole Proprietor Coverage; D-43 — Employee's Election to Reject Coverage / Waive Rejection for excluded persons; owner/officer rejection also follows NRS 616B.624
RenewalThe cited statutes/forms do not impose one universal annual renewal cycle. Rejections and elections remain dependent on the facts and notices described in the statute; for officers/managers, beginning to receive pay can rescind an unpaid-person rejection except where the owner-paid rejection rule applies.
Effective periodOfficer/manager rejection under NRS 616B.624 is effective when the insurer receives the required notice. A rescission is likewise effective on receipt. D-45 provides the election/withdrawal record for sole-proprietor coverage.
Responsible agency
Nevada Department of Business and Industry, Division of Industrial Relations, Workers' Compensation Section
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.
- Nevada DIR — Employer Coverage Requirements
- Nevada DIR — Employer Resources
- Nevada DIR — Workers' Compensation Forms and Worksheets
- Nevada DIR — D-43 Election to Reject / Waive Rejection
- Nevada DIR — D-45 Sole Proprietor Coverage
- Nevada Revised Statutes — Chapter 616B (NRS 616B.624, .656, .659)
- Nevada Revised Statutes — Chapter 616A