District of Columbia Workers' Compensation Insurance

The District of Columbia requires workers' compensation coverage from any employer with one or more employees, with no minimum headcount exemption. Households that employ domestic workers must carry coverage once those workers are engaged for 240 hours or more in any calendar quarter. Independent contractors and sole proprietors with no employees are not required to carry coverage on themselves. See the DC Office of Workers' Compensation's employer FAQs.

The District expects a genuine independent-contractor relationship to be documented, and a business that misclassifies a worker as a 1099 contractor can be treated as that worker's statutory employer if they're injured on the job. Collecting a current certificate of insurance from subcontractors before work begins is standard practice in DC.

Injured workers receive necessary medical treatment, generally reimbursed at 113% of Medicare's rates. Wage-loss compensation is paid at 66 2/3% (two-thirds) of the worker's average weekly wage, subject to a maximum compensation rate that the District updates periodically with a cost-of-living supplemental allowance. Permanent disability and death benefits are calculated separately under DC's workers' compensation law.

The District's small-business economy includes contractors and trades, restaurants and hospitality serving its dense downtown and neighborhood corridors, salons and personal-care businesses, and professional, government-contracting, and nonprofit services firms, all of which typically carry coverage once they have staff.