Connecticut Workers' Comp Insurance for General Contractors & Trades (with employees)

Connecticut requires virtually every employer with one or more employees, including part-time workers, to carry workers' compensation insurance or qualify as a self-insurer. There is no minimum payroll or hours threshold that exempts a business once it has hired staff; the requirement is triggered by having an employee, not by business size. See the Connecticut Workers' Compensation Commission's employer guidance.

Common codes for this work include 5606 Construction Executive / Supervisor; 5403 General / Commercial Carpentry; 5645 Residential Carpentry (Detached Homes); 5610 Construction Cleanup / Debris Removal; 5022 Masonry Contractor; 5221 Concrete Flatwork Contractor; 6400 Fence Installation Contractor. Connecticut uses NCCI class codes, so the codes below are the ones carriers typically assign to this work in Connecticut.

Connecticut treats sole proprietors, partners, LLC members, and corporate officers as having discretionary coverage rather than automatic inclusion or exclusion: each must file the appropriate election form (Form 75 for a sole proprietor, Form 6B-1 for a partner, Form 6B for an LLC member or corporate officer) to affirmatively accept or reject coverage for themselves, and that election can later be reversed by filing again. Until an election is filed, these individuals are not automatically covered. Because the election is on record with the Commission, employers should keep copies of whichever forms apply to their ownership structure.

Failing to carry required coverage carries a civil penalty of the greater of $500 per employee or $5,000 (up to a $50,000 cap), plus $100 for each day noncompliance continues after it's identified, also capped at $50,000; unpaid penalties can be doubled if not paid within 90 days. A knowing and willful violation is a Class D felony, and business owners, partners, LLC principals, and corporate officers can be held personally liable. The same Class D felony exposure applies to knowingly misclassifying employees as independent contractors to reduce premiums, and the Labor Commissioner can issue a stop-work order (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 31-288).

Price is driven by payroll in each class code, the Connecticut rates filed for those codes, your claims history (experience modification), and underwriting factors such as the specific trade mix performed in-house versus subcontracted out; total payroll split between supervisory staff and hands-on crew; whether work is residential, light commercial, or larger commercial jobs. We compare carriers so you can see what you qualify for.

Complete one application and we compare up to 10 carriers in minutes, with the option to purchase online. A Live Certificate is included with your coverage, so proof of coverage is always live and shareable by text or email in seconds.

Most general contractors report payroll under several codes at once — one for supervisory staff, and separate codes for any framing, masonry, concrete, or other trade work performed with their own crews rather than subcontracted out.

An uninsured subcontractor's injured worker can potentially pursue the general contractor as a statutory employer, which is why collecting and tracking a current certificate of insurance from every sub before they start work is standard practice on a jobsite.

No. This coverage is written for contractors with W-2 employees on payroll; owner-only certificate ('ghost') policies are not offered.

Yes. Connecticut has no minimum employee-count exemption, so hiring even one part-time worker generally triggers the requirement to carry coverage.

No. LLC members have discretionary coverage and must file Form 6B with the Workers' Compensation Commission to elect to be covered; without that election, they aren't automatically included.