New Hampshire
Workers' Comp Exemption
Before hiring any employee, a New Hampshire employer generally needs workers' compensation coverage. A corporation or LLC may exclude up to three executive officers or members under RSA 281-A:18-a, but the exclusion is invalid unless Form 6WCex is properly filed through the carrier. If the carrier changes, a new 6WCex must be filed.
Entity types analyzed
- Sole proprietor
- LLC member
- Partner
- Corporate officer
New Hampshire requires coverage before the first employee is hired, but it lets a corporation or LLC exclude up to three executive officers or members through a carrier-filed form. The exclusion only works when the Department of Labor has the right filing on record, which makes document status unusually important.
Before hiring any employee, a New Hampshire employer generally needs workers' compensation coverage. A corporation or LLC may exclude up to three executive officers or members under RSA 281-A:18-a, but the exclusion is invalid unless Form 6WCex is properly filed through the carrier. If the carrier changes, a new 6WCex must be filed.
Owner treatment at a glance
Sole proprietorThe Department's employer guide identifies a sole proprietorship/self-employed person as one of the owner-only business forms that can be outside the requirement to purchase a policy. Hiring an employee changes the analysis because coverage must be in place before the hire.
LLC memberA corporation or LLC may elect to exclude up to three LLC members/executive officers under RSA 281-A:18-a. The exclusion is not valid unless properly filed. Under Lab 300, the carrier files Form 6WCex and a new form is required when the carrier changes.
PartnerCurrent state materials do not provide the same explicit partner exclusion procedure that they provide for sole proprietorships, corporations, and LLCs. A partnership should confirm its owner treatment with the Department/carrier instead of borrowing the sole-proprietor rule.
Corporate officerA corporation may elect to exclude up to three executive officers. The exclusion becomes valid only when Form 6WCex is properly filed through the carrier, and only the officers listed on the form are excluded.
New Hampshire wants the policy in place before—not after—the first hire
The Department of Labor's employer guide says the primary responsibility for coverage rests on employers and that coverage must be obtained before hiring any employee. That timing is more useful for a new business than waiting for a payroll or employee-count milestone after operations begin.
RSA 281-A's employer definition also starts with a person or entity employing one or more people, although executive officers and LLC members/managers receive special treatment in the counting rules.
An owner-only business planning its first hire should therefore solve the coverage question before the worker starts. An owner exclusion does not give the company a grace period for ordinary employees.
The officer/member exclusion is capped at three people
RSA 281-A:18-a allows a corporation or limited liability company to elect to exclude up to three executive officers or members from compulsory coverage. The statute also says no exclusion is valid unless it is properly filed with the commissioner.
The three-person limit is not merely a premium calculation detail. The broader employer-definition provision says executive officers and LLC members/managers in excess of three are counted as employees for determining employer status in the ordinary rule.
A four-owner LLC should therefore not assume that all four working members can be treated like the first three. The owner roster and the actual people named on the filing need to be checked together.
Form 6WCex is a carrier filing, not a certificate the owner self-issues
Lab 300 assigns the filing mechanics to the insurance side. The carrier completes and files the paper Exclusion of Executive Officers or Members form 6WCex with the Department when the exclusion applies.
The rules also require an underlying Notice of Workers Compensation Insurance Coverage, Form 6WC, to already be on file for the same employer. A standalone owner form without the employer's coverage record is not valid.
This design is a good reason to ask the carrier for confirmation that the filing reached the Department. Keeping only a locally signed copy does not prove the statutory filing requirement was completed.
Changing carriers automatically creates a new 6WCex task
New Hampshire's rules specifically say that when the employer changes carriers, the new carrier must complete and file a new 6WCex. The old exclusion should not be treated as portable proof across policies.
Every new filing must list all officers or members the employer wants excluded. The rules warn that failure to complete the form accurately and fully negates the entire form.
Policy renewal and carrier replacement should therefore include an owner-exclusion checkpoint: reconcile the legal officer/member list, decide who remains excluded, and confirm the new filing rather than waiting until a claim exposes the omission.
On an injury date, the Department's file—not the owner's intent—determines the exclusion
Lab 300 says that in the event of an injury, the 6WCex on file with the Department on the date of injury is the determining document for whether the officer or member is excluded.
That rule makes late paperwork particularly risky. An owner and carrier may agree that a person should be excluded, but if the proper filing was not on file when the injury happened, the business cannot rely on intention alone.
A simple internal control is to store the carrier confirmation and the finalized excluded-person list with the policy. Review it immediately after ownership changes, appointment of new officers, or carrier transitions.
An owner exclusion does not solve the subcontractor-coverage problem
The New Hampshire employer guide warns businesses that use subcontractors to confirm those subcontractors have arranged the workers' compensation coverage required for their employees. Otherwise the hiring business may be held liable for compensation owed to the subcontractor's injured employees.
RSA 281-A:18-a protects properly excluded officers/members from being treated as uninsured employees of a subcontractor, but that is a narrow point. It does not convert everyone working for the subcontractor into an excluded owner.
For project files, keep owner-exclusion proof separate from the subcontractor's certificate of insurance. They answer different questions and should not be used interchangeably.
New Hampshire owner checklist
- Put New Hampshire workers' compensation coverage in place before the first ordinary employee is hired.
- Limit a corporation/LLC exclusion to no more than three qualifying officers or members.
- Confirm the carrier actually filed Form 6WCex with the Department.
- File a new 6WCex whenever the workers' compensation carrier changes.
- Make sure every new filing lists every person intended to be excluded.
- Keep subcontractor insurance proof separate from executive-officer/member exclusion records.
Filing reference
Coverage ruleNew Hampshire requires an employer to obtain workers' compensation coverage before hiring any employee. RSA 281-A defines an employer around one or more persons, while executive officers and LLC members/managers are treated specially for the employer-count and exclusion rules.
Construction ruleThe current employer guide does not publish a separate general construction head-count threshold. It does warn that a business using subcontractors can be liable for injuries to a subcontractor's employees when the subcontractor has not arranged required coverage. Owner/officer exclusions therefore should not be treated as proof that every worker on a project is outside the Act.
Form / electionForm 6WCex — Exclusion of Executive Officers or Members (carrier-filed with the Department of Labor)
RenewalA new Form 6WCex must be filed if the employer changes carriers. Every new filing must list all people to be excluded; an incomplete or inaccurate filing can negate the form.
Effective periodThe exclusion is not valid unless Form 6WCex is on file with the Department and the employer's underlying workers' compensation coverage notice is already on file. The exclusion document on file on the injury date controls whether the officer/member is excluded.
Responsible agency
New Hampshire Department of Labor, Workers' Compensation Division
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.