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

New Jersey has no minimum employee-count threshold: coverage is required the moment any individual performs services for compensation, whether that pay is cash, product, meals, lodging, or stock. Corporations must insure if even one worker, including a corporate officer, performs services. Partnerships, LLCs, and sole proprietorships must insure if anyone other than the partners, LLC members, or the sole owner performs work for the business. See the NJ Division of Workers' Compensation employer requirements page.

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. New Jersey maintains its own classification system (NJCRIB) rather than NCCI codes. The codes below are NCCI reference codes; your New Jersey classification may carry a different number, and we match it during quoting.

Corporate officers are automatically counted as employees and are covered unless the corporation properly elects to exclude them under the statute. Partners and LLC members are excluded from the coverage trigger by default and generally are not automatically covered under the business's policy. A sole proprietor with no other workers is not required to carry coverage at all, but cannot self-insure informally once even one other worker is hired. Officers, partners, and LLC members who want coverage on themselves, or who need to formally exclude themselves, generally do so through election/exemption forms filed with the carrier or the state, and payroll for included officers may be subject to carrier-applied payroll caps used for rating purposes. Employers should confirm current election paperwork with their carrier since misclassifying an officer as excluded is a frequent audit finding.

Failing to carry required coverage is a disorderly persons offense, and a knowing violation is a fourth-degree crime. Fines run up to $5,000 for the first 10 days of noncompliance and an additional $5,000 for each subsequent 10-day period, plus $1,000 to $5,000 per day for violating a stop-work order. Corporate officers, partners, and LLC members actively engaged in the business can be held personally liable, and these penalties are not dischargeable in bankruptcy (N.J.S.A. 34:15-79).

Price is driven by payroll in each class code, the New Jersey 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. New Jersey has no employee-count threshold, so hiring even one part-time worker who performs services for pay generally triggers the requirement to carry coverage.

Not automatically. LLC members are excluded from the coverage trigger by default, so if an owner wants to be covered, that typically needs to be arranged through the carrier rather than assumed.