Clerical, Professional & Sales
Class Code 8742: Salespersons or Collectors—Outside — Workers' Comp Insurance
Covers employees whose job is selling or collecting away from the employer's premises — traveling to prospects, customers, or accounts rather than working behind a desk or counter. It's a standard exception code, similar in concept to clerical 8810, because outside sales work carries a different exposure than production or shop work.
- Risk level:
- low
What code 8742 covers
Class 8742 applies to salespersons, sales representatives, and collectors whose duties keep them away from the employer's location, such as visiting client sites, showing products, or collecting payments in the field. Like 8810, it's recognized by NCCI as a standard exception, so outside-sales payroll can often be coded separately from a business's higher-hazard governing classification. The distinction that matters most is whether the employee's work stops at selling and traveling, or whether it extends into delivery, installation, service, or manual handling of the product — those duties push the work toward a different, often higher-hazard, classification. Mileage and travel time are part of the covered exposure; the code is built around driving and client visits as the normal course of the job.
Included operations
- Traveling to prospect and customer locations to sell products or services
- Presenting, demonstrating, or quoting products in the field
- Collecting payments or accounts outside the office
- Incidental clerical work tied to the sales role
Assigned elsewhere
- Inside/counter sales performed at the employer's location — see code 8810
- Delivery, installation, or hands-on servicing of the product sold — coded with the applicable delivery/installation class
- Automobile sales specifically — see code 8748 (Automobile Salespersons)
- Manufacturing, warehouse, or shop duties performed by the same employee
Businesses that typically carry 8742
- Manufacturers' sales representatives
- Wholesale distributors with a traveling sales force
- Business-to-business service sales teams
- Route-based collection agents
- Independent sales reps for a product line
- Consumer goods sales representatives
- Nonprofit and association back offices
- Accounting and bookkeeping firms
Common misclassifications
Code 8810
Sales staff who spend meaningful time at a desk are sometimes lumped entirely into clerical, which can understate driving and field exposure.
Code 8748
Vehicle salespeople specifically fall under their own dedicated automobile-salesperson code rather than the general outside-sales code.
Code 7380
If the same employee also delivers product, that delivery time can shift toward a drivers/delivery classification.
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What drives the cost of code 8742
- Total annual payroll for employees assigned to this classification
- Experience modification factor based on claims history
- State-specific base rates and loss costs filed for this class code
- Claims frequency and severity trends for the business
- Safety programs, training, and workplace controls in place
- Payroll mix across multiple classifications at the same location
What underwriters look for
- Percentage of time employees spend on outside sales, deliveries, or non-desk duties
- Whether any employees perform duties that belong under a different, higher-hazard class code
- Total clerical payroll versus payroll in other classifications at the same location
- Prior claims history and current experience modification factor
State differences
This entry uses standard NCCI class code phraseology, which applies in most NCCI-governed states. Pennsylvania (PCRB), Delaware (DCRB), California (WCIRB), New Jersey (NJCRIB), Michigan, New York (NYCIRB), and Massachusetts maintain their own classification manuals, and code numbers or phraseology can differ there. Our agency confirms the correct classification for your state before quoting.
Where code 8742 fits
Quote class code 8742.
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Class code 8742 questions
Does 8742 cover the driving involved in outside sales?
Yes, travel between client locations is a normal part of the classification and doesn't require a separate driver code on its own.
What if a salesperson also delivers the product?
Regular delivery duties typically move that portion of the work to a delivery or driver classification rather than 8742.
Is this the same code used for car salespeople?
No — automobile salespersons have their own dedicated code, 8748.
Can a business use 8742 even if its main operations are manufacturing or contracting?
Yes, that's the point of the standard exception — a traveling sales team's payroll can often be coded separately from the company's governing classification.
Last reviewed · Reviewed by Provident Financial Group licensed agents