Connecticut Workers Compensation: Employer Rules
Connecticut requires workers compensation from the first employee. Who is exempt, where to buy a policy, the 28 day claim clock, and $50,000 penalties.
Connecticut Workers Compensation
Who has to carry it, which owners are in and which are out, where the policy comes from, and the clocks that decide whether a claim gets handled or gets held against you
A bakery owner in New Haven called me after her husband put his hand through a dough sheeter. She had three people on payroll and a husband who was a partner in the business, and he had never been listed on the policy because, as she put it, owners are not employees.
The first question the carrier asked was whether the partnership had ever filed an election. It had not, and in Connecticut that answer runs the wrong way for a partner. A sole proprietor sits outside coverage until they opt in. A partner sits inside coverage until the partnership signs its way out. Most owners assume those two work the same way.
So this page is the Connecticut rule sheet: the trigger, the exclusions, where the policy comes from, the deadlines, and what the state does to employers who skip it. How the product itself works is covered in our general workers compensation guide. Hiring, wages and leave in this state live in the Connecticut HR compliance guide.
Who Has to Carry Coverage
Every Connecticut employer with at least one employee has to secure compensation. Section 31-275(10) of Chapter 568 of the General Statutes defines an employer as any person, corporation, limited liability company, firm, partnership, voluntary association or joint stock association using the services of one or more employees for pay, and Section 31-284(a) then requires that employer to secure compensation for its employees.
There is no small employer exemption to grow out of. The one employee trigger dates to 1967, when the General Assembly replaced the old two or more threshold in the definition of employer. Part time, seasonal and temporary staff count the same as anyone on a full schedule, and the obligation attaches on the first day of paid service.
What the statute does instead of a headcount test is a definition test. Connecticut decides claims by asking whether the person who got hurt was an employee under Section 31-275(9), and that question is answered by a list of inclusions and exclusions rather than by the size of your payroll.
Who Sits Outside Coverage
Connecticut handles owners and edge cases through elections and definitions, and the default flips depending on how the business is organized. Proprietors start outside coverage, partners start inside it, corporate officers start inside it, and the single member of an LLC may be covered without filing anything at all.
| Worker | How Connecticut treats them |
|---|---|
| Sole proprietor | Outside the definition of employee. May accept the Act by notifying the chairperson in writing on Form 75, and then has to insure that liability like any employer (Section 31-275(10)) |
| Partner in a partnership | Inside by default. Deemed to have accepted the Act and required to insure the liability, unless the partnership elects out in writing signed by every partner, on Form 6B-1 (Section 31-275(10)) |
| Corporate officer | An employee unless that officer elects to be excluded by written notice to the employer and to the administrative law judge, on Form 6B (Section 31-275(9)(B)(v)) |
| Single member of an LLC | May be covered automatically as an employer with no election filed, and may also be an employee of the company when the member performs services and is exposed to the hazards of the business (331 Conn. 289) |
| Family member living in the employer’s house | Not an employee, unless that person’s wages are included in the payroll the premium is based on, in which case coverage applies (Section 31-275(9)(B)(iii)) |
| Domestic or household help in a private dwelling | Not an employee unless regularly employed by the owner or occupier over 26 hours per week. Regularly employed means over 26 hours in the majority of the 52 weeks before the injury (265 Conn. 816) |
| Casual labor | Excluded only when both halves are true: the employment is of a casual nature and it is otherwise than for the purposes of the employer’s trade or business (Section 31-275(9)(B)(ii)) |
| Outworker | A person given articles or material to treat on premises not under the control or management of the person who gave them out (Section 31-275(9)(B)(i)) |
| Nonresident hurt in Connecticut | Not an employee unless the worker spends at least 50 per cent of employment time at a Connecticut facility, or the contract is to be performed primarily here (Section 31-275(9)(B)(vi)) |
| Independent contractor | No exclusion in the statute. Section 31-284(b) gives the employer a defense only where the individual held himself out as an independent contractor and the employer relied on that in good faith |
An election is a filing, not a decision you keep in a drawer. A sole proprietor accepts the Act by notifying the commission chairperson in writing, on Form 75, and from that moment is treated as an employer who has to insure that liability. A partnership elects out on Form 6B-1, in writing and signed by every partner. A corporate officer or LLC member elects out on Form 6B, with written notice to the employer and to the administrative law judge.
The exclusion small employers misread most often is casual labor. Section 31-275(9)(B)(ii) excludes a person whose employment is of a casual nature and who is employed otherwise than for the purposes of the employer's trade or business. Both halves have to be true at once.
Subcontractors and Classification
An uninsured subcontractor can become your claim. Section 31-291 makes a principal employer liable for all compensation, to the same extent as if the work had been done without the intervention of the contractor, when the work procured is a part or process in the trade or business of the principal employer and is performed in, on or about premises under its control.
Both conditions have to be met, which is narrower than the equivalent rule in some states, and it is still wide enough to catch an ordinary small contractor who hires a crew for part of its own trade. Collect a certificate of insurance before work starts, and re-collect it on long jobs, because a policy issued in March proves nothing about a site in September.
Calling the crew contractors does not close the question either. Section 31-288(g) makes it a class D felony to knowingly misrepresent employees as independent contractors, or to give a carrier false information about the number of employees, in order to pay a lower premium, and it exposes the employer to a stop work order from the Labor Commissioner. The mechanics of getting classification right sit in our guide to worker misclassification.
Connecticut also enforces coverage at the permit counter. Under Section 31-286b, a local building official has to require proof of workers compensation coverage before issuing a building permit to a general contractor or principal employer, and Section 31-286a blocks state agencies from renewing a business license without evidence of current compliance.
Where You Buy the Policy
Connecticut is a competitive market with no state fund. Section 31-284(b) lists the routes to compliance: file security with the Insurance Commissioner guaranteeing performance of the obligations, insure the full liability with any stock or mutual company or association authorized to take such risks in this state, or combine the two with the Insurance Commissioner's approval. An employer that satisfies the commission chairperson of its solvency and financial ability to pay claims directly can self insure instead.
Employers that cannot buy in the voluntary market use the assigned risk plan. Connecticut statute treats it as a separate rate track, distinguishing assigned risk rates from voluntary pure premium rates, and the General Assembly's Office of Legislative Research has described the plan as administered by a licensed rating organization that assigns applicants to carriers in proportion to each carrier's share of the state market. Confirm the current administrator with the Connecticut Insurance Department before you apply. How premium is calculated and trued up afterward is covered in our guide to the workers compensation premium audit.
What Self-Insurance Actually Takes
Self-insurance is a real option and a poor fit for most small employers. The self-insurance certification regulations require an application to the chairperson on the prescribed form, signed by an officer, partner or proprietor, and an applicant that already has workers compensation insurance in force. An application from an employer that is not currently insured is not even considered.
The evidence bar is a corporate one. Initial applications carry the three preceding fiscal years of independently audited financial reports, and the chairperson weighs working capital, cash flow, long term debt, loss history, the quality of the people who would handle claims, and years in business in the present corporate form. Approval brings a security deposit as a surety bond, irrevocable funded trust, irrevocable letter of credit or cash, plus excess insurance from a carrier permitted to write in Connecticut, unless either is waived.
The certificate then runs for one year and renews annually, and approval goes void if the program is not implemented within six months. FirstHR is an HR platform, not an insurer or a broker, so we do not sell any of this. We get asked which door to walk through, and for a small business the answer is almost always a carrier.
Posting Rules and New Hires
One notice has to be on the wall, and it has to be current. Section 31-284(f) requires every employer subject to the chapter to post a notice of the availability of compensation in a conspicuous place, in type of not less than ten point bold face. The regulations at R.C.S.A. Sections 31-279(b)-1 through 31-279(b)-5 supply the form, repeat the type size, and require the notice to go in a place readily accessible to all employees.
The part employers skip is upkeep. The same regulation requires an insured employer to revise the information on the notice each time a new policy is issued, and a self-insured employer to keep it current. A poster naming a carrier you left two renewals ago is not a posted notice, and willful failure to conform to a provision of the chapter carries a fine of up to $250 for each failure.
Connecticut also gives employers an optional posting that changes a deadline. Under Section 31-294c an employer may post, alongside the other labor law notices, the address where a notice of claim should be sent, and file that address with the commission for publication on its website. Do it and the 28 day response clock starts when notice reaches that address. Skip it and the clock starts wherever the notice happens to land.
Nothing in Chapter 568 has to be handed to a new hire on day one, which surprises people who are used to the wage and leave notices described in the state guide. The document that does have to reach an individual employee on a clock arrives later: if you use an approved provider list, Section 31-294d gives you two business days from the moment the employee reports a work related injury to put that list in their hands.
The Reporting Clock
Three clocks run at once after an injury, and only one of them is yours to control. The employee reports immediately, the employer files the accident report within the week following the accident, and the 28 day clock on the written claim starts whenever that claim is served.
| Who | What they file | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Employee | Reports the injury to the employer or someone representing the employer | Immediately (Section 31-294b) |
| Employer | Hands the employee the approved provider list, if the employer uses one | Within 2 business days of the report (Section 31-294d) |
| Employer or insurer | Files the Employer’s First Report of Occupational Injury or Illness with the commission | Within the week following the date of the accident, for any accident causing incapacity of one day or more (R.C.S.A. Section 31-316-1) |
| Employer | Forwards to the chairperson any notice of claim served on it | Within one week of receiving the notice (Section 31-316) |
| Commission | Sends the injured employee a Form 30C after the first report lands | Within 5 business days (Section 31-294b) |
| Employee | Files the written notice of claim, Form 30C | Within 1 year of the accident, or 3 years from the first symptom of an occupational disease (Section 31-294c) |
| Dependents | File a claim after a work related death | Within 2 years of the accident or first symptom, or 1 year from the date of death, whichever is later (Section 31-294c) |
| Employer or insurer | Files the notice contesting liability, or starts paying | On or before the 28th day after receiving the written notice of claim (Section 31-294c) |
The filing itself is the accident report regulation, which requires a report filed with the commission within the week following the date of the accident for each accident resulting in total or partial incapacity of one day or more, and states plainly that filing it is not an admission of liability. The current form is the Employer's First Report of Occupational Injury or Illness, sent through the commission's first report submission service or by electronic data interchange.
Skipping it does not make a claim go away. Section 31-316(b) lets an administrative law judge increase the employee's award in proportion to the prejudice your failure to file caused. Late notice from the employee is treated more gently: the award can be reduced only to the extent the employer proves prejudice, and the burden of proving that sits with the employer.
Wage benefits have their own arithmetic. Under Section 31-295 there is no incapacity benefit unless the employee is kept from earning full wages for more than three days. If incapacity runs more than three days but less than seven, benefits begin after the first three. If it reaches seven days, benefits run from the date of the injury, and the employee is entitled to full wages for the day of the injury itself, which is not counted as a day of incapacity.
What Going Without Coverage Costs
The headline number is $50,000, and it is not the worst part. An investigator in the State Treasurer's investigations unit issues a citation, an administrative law judge holds a hearing within 30 days, and Section 31-288(c) requires the judge to assess a civil penalty of not less than $500 per employee or $5,000, whichever is less, and not more than $50,000.
| Exposure | What it means |
|---|---|
| Civil penalty for going uninsured | Not less than $500 per employee or $5,000, whichever is less, and not more than $50,000, assessed by an administrative law judge after a hearing held within 30 days of the citation (Section 31-288(c)) |
| $100 for every additional day | Added for each day after the finding of noncompliance that coverage is still missing, capped at $50,000 in the aggregate (Section 31-288(d)) |
| The penalty can double | Penalties are paid to the Second Injury Fund, and failure to pay within 90 days can bring a civil action to double the amount (Section 31-288(e)) |
| Class D felony | Knowing and willful failure to insure is a felony for the owner of a sole proprietorship, a partner, an LLC principal or a corporate officer: up to 5 years and a fine up to $5,000 (Sections 31-288(f), 53a-35a, 53a-41) |
| Felony plus a stop work order | Knowingly calling employees independent contractors, or misstating headcount, to pay a lower premium (Section 31-288(g)) |
| Loss of the exclusive remedy | An employer that does not secure compensation can be sued by the injured employee for damages instead of paying a claim (Section 31-284(b)) |
| Repayment plus double damages | The Second Injury Fund pays the worker, the employer is liable to the state for every dollar of it, and the Attorney General sues for double damages, fees and 18 per cent annual interest if it is not repaid in 90 days (Section 31-355) |
| Injunctions | The Attorney General may enjoin a noncomplying employer from entering into new employment contracts, and a willful violator from conducting business in the state at all (Sections 31-284(e), 31-289b) |
| Licenses and permits | No state department, board or agency may renew a license or permit to operate a business without evidence of current compliance (Section 31-286a) |
| $250 per failure | Willful failure to conform to any other provision of the chapter, which is the hook that reaches a missing poster or an unfiled accident report (Section 31-288(a)) |
Two Connecticut features make this harsher than the fine suggests. Knowing and willful failure to insure is a class D felony, and the statute names the person: the owner of a sole proprietorship, a partner, a principal of a limited liability company, or a corporate officer. A class D felony carries a term of up to five years and a fine of up to $5,000 under the general sentencing statutes.
The second is repayment. When an uninsured employer cannot pay an award, the Second Injury Fund pays the injured worker, and Section 31-355 makes the employer liable to the state for every dollar of it. If the money is not repaid or a payment plan is not agreed within 90 days, the Attorney General sues for all amounts paid plus double damages, reasonable attorney fees and costs, with 18 per cent annual interest running from the original payment.
Enforcement also arrives through your paperwork rather than through a padlock on the door. State agencies cannot renew a license or permit to operate a business without evidence of current compliance, building officials have to see proof before issuing a permit, and the Attorney General can seek an injunction barring a noncomplying employer from hiring anyone else or, for a willful violator, from doing business in Connecticut at all.
What to Do the Day Someone Gets Hurt
Run the same sequence every time, and write down the times. Most Connecticut disputes turn on when the employer learned about the injury and on what happened between the written claim and day 28, and both facts are usually established by what a supervisor wrote in the first hour.
The step small employers skip is the third one. A supervisor hears about a sore shoulder on a Tuesday, nobody writes it down, and two months later the argument is about whether notice ever happened. Keeping incident records, notices and acknowledgments in one system instead of in somebody's memory is the kind of quiet recurring task FirstHR was built to hold for teams without a dedicated HR person. Forms, the first report submission service and the current notice to employees all live on the Workers Compensation Commission site.
One boundary worth naming: none of this changes what you owe on the wage side. Benefit rates are calculated from average weekly earnings, so the hourly floor in the Connecticut minimum wage rules feeds the comp math for hourly staff without either set of rules overriding the other.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a Connecticut business need workers compensation with only one employee?
Yes. The statute defines an employer as anyone using the services of one or more employees for pay, and requires that employer to secure compensation. Part time, seasonal and temporary staff count. The tests that look like thresholds, such as the 26 hour rule for household help in a private dwelling, decide whether one particular worker is an employee. They are not small business exemptions.
Can the owner stay off the policy?
It depends on the entity, and the defaults differ. A sole proprietor is out unless they file Form 75 to accept the Act. A partner is in unless the partnership files Form 6B-1, signed by every partner. A corporate officer is in unless the officer files Form 6B with the employer and the administrative law judge. The single member of an LLC may be covered automatically as an employer with no election on file.
How fast does the employer have to report an injury?
Within the week following the date of the accident, for any accident causing total or partial incapacity of one day or more. The current filing is the Employer's First Report of Occupational Injury or Illness. Any written notice of claim served on the employer goes to the chairperson within one week of receipt. Failing to file can increase the employee's award in proportion to the prejudice it caused.
What is the 28 day rule?
Once a written notice of claim reaches the employer, it has until the 28th day to file a notice contesting liability or to commence payment. An employer that does neither is conclusively presumed to have accepted compensability. An employer that commences payment by day 28 keeps the right to contest for one year from receipt of the notice. Posting a claim notice address moves the start of the clock to that address.
Where does the policy come from?
From any stock or mutual company or association authorized to write workers compensation in Connecticut, or through approved self-insurance. There is no state fund here, so a small employer shops this the way it shops other business coverage, and the assigned risk plan exists for employers the voluntary market turns down. FirstHR does not sell insurance and has no stake in which door you use.
Which notice has to be posted?
The Notice to Employees, in type of not less than ten point bold face, in a place readily accessible to all employees. It has to carry current insurer information and be revised every time a new policy is issued. Nothing in the workers compensation chapter has to be handed to a new hire, though an approved provider list has to reach an injured employee within two business days of their report.
What happens to an employer with no coverage?
A citation, a hearing within 30 days, and a civil penalty of not less than $500 per employee or $5,000, whichever is less, up to $50,000, plus $100 for each further day of noncompliance. Willful failure is a class D felony for the owner, partner, LLC principal or corporate officer. If the Second Injury Fund ends up paying the worker, the employer owes the state that amount plus double damages, fees and 18 per cent interest.