Mississippi Workers Compensation: Employer Rules
Mississippi requires workers compensation at five regular employees. Coverage, exclusions, the posted notice, injury deadlines and penalties for employers.
Mississippi Workers Compensation
Five regular employees turns the mandate on, owners who sign an exemption drop out of the count, and the notice on your wall has to name the person who takes injury reports
An owner near Hattiesburg once told me he had four employees, so the workers compensation question did not apply to him. Four was the number on that week's payroll. He also had a weekend counter hand and two summer helpers who came back every year.
Mississippi does not count the way he was counting. The statute says five or more workers employed regularly, and regularly is doing a lot of work in that sentence. The flip side is that Mississippi lets certain owners sign themselves out of the system and then drops them from the headcount entirely, which is a break most states do not give.
For the general mechanics of how this insurance works anywhere in the country, see our guide to workers compensation insurance. This page is Mississippi only, and it sits beside the broader Mississippi HR compliance guide.
Who Has to Carry Coverage
Coverage becomes mandatory at five employees. The Mississippi Workers' Compensation Commission states it without hedging on its workers compensation facts page: all employers with five employees regularly employed are required to provide coverage, and if the employer has fewer than five, coverage is not mandatory but may be provided voluntarily.
The statute underneath that sentence is Miss. Code Ann. section 71-3-5. It reaches every person, firm and private corporation that has in service five or more workmen or operatives regularly in the same business or in or about the same establishment under any contract of hire, express or implied. No revenue test sits below it.
Protection starts immediately for anyone covered. Commission materials say the worker is covered and eligible for benefits as soon as he or she begins employment, with no waiting period and no minimum earnings requirement. There is no probationary window in which a new hire is uninsured.
Counting to Five
The word that decides the count is regularly, not simultaneously. The claims guide published on the Commission's site describes the test as one of the size of the operation and whether five or more employees are regularly used to carry it on, even if all five are not employed at the same time. Headcount on your slowest week is not the answer.
That catches the businesses that swing. A shop with three year-round staff and two seasonal hands is running on five. So is a crew where the fifth position turns over constantly but is always filled. The Commission's claims department FAQ answers the question with a single line, that generally any employer with five or more employees should have insurance, and the claims guide adds that an employer in doubt is encouraged to obtain coverage.
Who Sits Outside the Act
Mississippi excludes several categories outright, and one of them ignores the headcount entirely. Nonprofit charitable, fraternal, cultural and religious corporations and associations are carved out of the definition of covered employer in section 71-3-5, so the five employee threshold never reaches them at all.
| Worker or employer type | Mississippi treatment | What the employer does |
|---|---|---|
| Sole proprietor | Covered unless exempted by written election | The business elects exemption by proper written action of its governing authority, and the owner agrees in writing (section 71-3-5). The exempted owner then leaves the count toward five |
| Partner in a partnership | Covered unless exempted by written election | Same written election, same removal from the headcount |
| Employee owning 15 percent or more of the stock | Covered unless exempted by written election | Same written election. Below fifteen percent there is no election available and the person counts as an ordinary employee |
| Nonprofit charitable, fraternal, cultural or religious organizations | Outside the Act regardless of size | Excluded from the definition of covered employer. Coverage may still be purchased voluntarily |
| Domestic servants | Not included under the chapter | No policy is required for household staff under the Act |
| Farmers and farm labor | Not included under the chapter | The exemption does not apply to the processing of agricultural products when carried on commercially |
| Federal employees | Outside the Act | Covered by the federal compensation program instead of the Mississippi Law |
| Transportation and maritime employment under federal law | Outside the Act | The Act does not apply where a rule of liability is provided by the laws of the United States |
| Independent contractors | Ordinarily excluded from coverage | The Commission notes that special protection is given to employees of subcontractors, so an uninsured sub can pull exposure back onto you |
| Owner operators and their drivers | Covered by the motor carrier unless they prove their own coverage | The owner operator must give the motor carrier a certificate of workers compensation coverage, proof of a self-insured plan, or an occupational accident policy of at least $1,000,000 |
| A pure buyer and seller or vendor and vendee relationship | Not employment under the Act | A carrier is prohibited from charging premium for a person who is a seller or vendor rather than an employee |
| Employers with fewer than five regular employees | Coverage not mandatory | Buying a policy anyway is an assumption of liability under the Act, effective from the date the coverage starts and for as long as it stays in force |
That last row is the one owners miss. Section 71-3-5 says the purchase and acceptance of valid workers compensation insurance by an exempt employer constitutes an assumption of the liability imposed by the chapter without any further act. A four person shop that buys a policy has joined the system on purpose.
The contractor line is the other trap, because the exposure runs both directions. Call a worker a contractor when the control test says otherwise and you have an uninsured employee on a job site. Our explainer on what an independent contractor is walks through the questions that actually decide it.
Where to Buy the Policy
A Mississippi employer buys from a private insurance carrier, and there is no state fund selling policies as an alternative. The Commission describes the duty in exactly two ways: a covered employer secures the payment of benefits by purchasing insurance from an insurance company, or by obtaining Commission approval to self-insure.
A third route exists for employers the voluntary market turns down. Miss. Code Ann. section 71-3-111 provides for a Mississippi Workers' Compensation Assigned Risk Plan for risks that in good faith are entitled to insurance but cannot obtain it, and the Commission directs those applications to the National Council on Compensation Insurance.
| Route | Who it fits | What it takes |
|---|---|---|
| Private carrier, voluntary market | Nearly every small employer | A policy from a carrier licensed in Mississippi, placed through an agent or broker. The carrier files your proof of coverage through the National Council on Compensation Insurance under Commission Rule 1.3 |
| Assigned risk plan | Employers declined in the voluntary market | Application through the plan provided for by Miss. Code Ann. section 71-3-111. The Commission points applicants to the National Council on Compensation Insurance |
| Individual self-insurance | Large employers with audited financials | Application to the Commission, a statement of financial condition audited by an independent CPA, and a hearing on financial position, business plan, safety programs and claim handling (Commission Rule 1.7) |
| Individual self-insurance, after approval | Same | Security set by the Commission and never less than $100,000, an excess insurance policy naming the Individual Self-insurer Guaranty Association as an additional insured, audited financials every year and an actuarial report every three years |
| Group self-insurance | Members of a common trade or business group | A $5,000 nonrefundable filing fee, security of at least $100,000, proof that each member has paid at least 25 percent of its first year estimated premium, and an annual certificate of authority |
| Group self-insurance, to renew | Same | Combined net worth of all members of at least $1,000,000, audited financials six months after fiscal year end, and rates and rating plans approved by the Commission at least 90 days before renewal |
One Mississippi-specific way to work on the premium is worth knowing. The Drug-Free Workplace Workers' Compensation Premium Reduction Act at Miss. Code Ann. section 71-3-201 and following gives a premium discount to employers who run a qualifying program, and the Commission has adopted no forms or procedures for it, so its published guidance tells employers to apply to their insurer directly in whatever form the insurer prescribes. Our drug-free workplace policy template covers what the written program has to contain.
The Notice You Post
Mississippi handles employee notice through a posted form rather than a handout. Commission Rule 1.8 requires every covered employer to keep a Notice of Coverage in a conspicuous place in and about its place of business, on a form measuring at least 8 1/2 inches by 11 inches, with five specific pieces of information on it.
| What the notice must contain | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Name, address and telephone number of the carrier, or a statement that the employer is self-insured | This is the line an injured worker and the Commission look for first |
| Name, address and telephone number of the third party administrator, if any | Names the office actually processing and paying claims on behalf of the carrier or self-insured employer |
| Effective dates of the coverage or of the self-insurance certificate of authority | A posted notice showing expired dates is worse than no notice, because it dates your lapse |
| The name of the person affiliated with the employer to whom employees should report injuries | Section 71-3-35 lets an employee give notice to any superior if no representative has been designated by posters, so this line is what narrows it |
| A fraud warning referencing Miss. Code Ann. section 71-3-69 | A willfully false statement to obtain or wrongfully withhold benefits is a felony, and the notice has to say so |
| The Commission statement on the 2012 amendments, posted adjacent to the notice | Required within ten days of receipt of the statement, alongside the Notice of Coverage required by section 71-3-81 |
The Commission's general and procedural rules carry the exact wording of Rule 1.8, and the Commission's posters page notes that this is the only state workers compensation poster, alongside the job insurance poster from the Department of Employment Security. Everything else on your wall is federal.
Injury Reporting Deadlines
Two clocks run at once, and neither one belongs to the same party. The employee has thirty days under Miss. Code Ann. section 71-3-35 to get actual notice to the employer or to an officer, manager or designated representative. Your own reporting duty starts the moment you have that notice.
The claims guide on the Commission's site tells employers to complete a First Report of Injury, Form B-3, and file it with the carrier or third party administrator immediately upon receiving notice of an injury, whenever the injury requires a loss of more than the shift on which it occurred. The carrier then files with the Commission, and Mississippi accepts those filings only through electronic data interchange.
| Step | Who acts | Deadline | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Give notice of the injury | Employee | Within 30 days of the occurrence, to the employer or an officer, manager or designated representative | Miss. Code Ann. section 71-3-35(1). No form |
| Send the First Report of Injury to the carrier | Employer | Immediately upon notice, when the injury costs more than the shift on which it happened | Form B-3, under Commission Rule 2.1 and the claims guide on the Commission’s site |
| File the First Report with the Commission after lost time | Carrier or self-insurer | Within 10 days after the five day waiting period has been satisfied | Miss. Code Ann. section 71-3-67, filed by electronic data interchange |
| File after a permanent or disfiguring injury with no lost time | Carrier or self-insurer | Within 10 days after knowing, or reasonably being expected to know, that permanent disability or serious head or facial disfigurement will result | Miss. Code Ann. section 71-3-67 |
| File after a death | Employer if self-insured, otherwise the carrier | Within 10 days after the fatal termination of the injury | Miss. Code Ann. section 71-3-67 |
| Pay the first installment of compensation | Employer or carrier | Due on the 14th day after the employer has notice of the injury or death, then every 14 days | Miss. Code Ann. section 71-3-37(2) |
| Controvert the claim | Employer or carrier | On or before the 14th day after knowledge of the alleged injury or death | Miss. Code Ann. section 71-3-37(4), Form B-52 |
| Notify the Commission that payment began or was suspended | Employer or carrier | Immediately on making the first payment and on any suspension | Miss. Code Ann. section 71-3-37(3), Form B-18 |
| Notify the Commission of final payment | Employer or carrier | Within 30 days after the final payment of compensation | Miss. Code Ann. section 71-3-37(7), Form B-31 |
| File a claim when nothing has been paid | Employee | Within two years of the date of injury or death | Miss. Code Ann. section 71-3-35(1), Form B-5,11 |
| Report a fatality or hospitalization to OSHA | Employer | 8 hours for a fatality, 24 hours for an in-patient hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye | Federal rule, on its own clock |
The OSHA row is the one small employers fold into the rest. It is a different agency, a different report and a different deadline, and filing a B-3 with your carrier does nothing to satisfy it. Those federal duties are covered in our guide to OSHA requirements for employers.
Penalties for Going Without
The exposure here is criminal, civil and in court rather than the stop-work order some states use. Miss. Code Ann. section 71-3-83 carries a misdemeanor charge and a Commission civil penalty, and a third statute removes the protection that makes workers compensation worth having in the first place.
That last statute is section 71-3-9, and it is the expensive one. An employee injured in the course and scope of employment for an uninsured employer may sue in tort instead of proceeding under the Act, and in that suit the employer may not plead that the injury was caused by a fellow servant, that the employee assumed the risk, or that the employee was contributorily negligent.
| Violation | Exposure |
|---|---|
| Failing to secure the payment of compensation when required | Misdemeanor. Fine of not more than $1,000, imprisonment for not more than one year, or both (section 71-3-83(1)) |
| The same failure, on the civil side | A Commission civil penalty set case by case, not to exceed $10,000, deposited into the Administrative Expense Fund and collectible by civil suit (section 71-3-83(4)) |
| Being an officer of an uninsured corporation | The president, secretary and treasurer are severally liable to the fine or imprisonment, and severally personally liable jointly with the corporation for any compensation accruing while it was uninsured |
| Moving, hiding or disposing of property after an employee is injured | A separate misdemeanor for an uninsured employer, with the same fine and imprisonment exposure (section 71-3-83(2)) |
| An injury while uninsured | The employee may sue in tort, and the fellow servant, assumption of risk and contributory negligence defenses are gone (section 71-3-9) |
| Failing to report an injury on time | Up to $100 may be added to the award, in the discretion of an administrative judge or the Commission (section 71-3-67) |
| Paying an installment late | 10 percent added to an installment unpaid 14 days after it is due, and 20 percent on an installment payable under an award (section 71-3-37(5) and (6)) |
| Letting coverage lapse after a cancellation notice | Failure to furnish proof of coverage by the thirtieth day is a violation carrying the section 71-3-83 penalties (Commission Rule 1.5) |
| A false or misleading statement to obtain or withhold benefits | Felony. Fine of up to $5,000 or double the value of the fraud, whichever is greater, imprisonment up to three years, or both (section 71-3-69) |
Enforcement is not passive either. The Commission has told employers, carriers and self-insurers in writing that it monitors compliance with the reporting duties in sections 71-3-67 and 71-3-37 electronically, and that non-compliance may draw the penalties in those sections plus additional penalties, fees or expenses under section 71-3-59.
What to Do When Someone Gets Hurt
The first step is medical, not administrative. Commission Rule 1.9 puts the duty on the employer to select competent physicians, hospitals and other treatment and to immediately furnish those services, including all emergency services.
The failure mode I see in small companies is not bad faith, it is memory. Nobody writes down who was told, on what date, or which doctor was offered. FirstHR keeps the incident record, the acknowledgement and the employee file in one place, so the dates a Mississippi claim turns on are not living in a supervisor's text messages.
What the Policy Pays
Mississippi caps weekly benefits by statute and the Commission republishes the figure every year. Miss. Code Ann. section 71-3-13 sets compensation at no more than two-thirds of the average weekly wage for the state, with a floor of $25.00 per week outside partial dependency and partial disability cases.
| Benefit | Amount | How it works |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly maximum | $654.63 for injuries on or after January 1, 2026 | The worker receives the lesser of two-thirds of his own average weekly wage or this cap |
| Weekly minimum | $25.00 | Applies only in death or total disability cases, not in partial dependency or partial disability claims |
| Total recovery cap | $294,583.50 for injuries on or after January 1, 2026 | 450 weeks times the weekly maximum, exclusive of medical payments under section 71-3-15 |
| Waiting period | No compensation except medical for the first five days | If the disability runs 14 days or more, compensation is allowed from the date of disability |
| Payment interval | First installment due on the 14th day after the employer has notice | Then every 14 days until concluded, unless the Commission sets a different period |
| Death benefits | $1,000 immediate lump sum to the surviving spouse, funeral expenses up to $5,000 | Plus 35 percent of the deceased worker’s average wages to a surviving spouse and 10 percent for each child, capped in total at two-thirds |
| Medical benefits | Whatever the nature of the injury or the process of recovery requires | No deductible falls on the employee, and no provider may bill the employee above what the carrier paid |
| Travel to treatment | $0.725 per mile from January 1, 2026 | Paid at the rate authorized for state travel under Commission Rule 1.14 |
Those figures are what the premium is buying, and premium is calculated on payroll and class codes rather than headcount, which is why a year-end audit can move the number after the fact. If that process is new to you, our guide to the workers compensation audit explains what the carrier checks. Payroll totals feed it, and Mississippi pay rules sit in our Mississippi minimum wage page.
The current weekly maximum and the mileage rate both come from the Commission's maximum benefit and mileage rate chart, which is the page to check each January rather than trusting a number copied into a handbook two years ago.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many employees before Mississippi requires workers compensation?
Five. The Commission states that all employers with five employees regularly employed must provide coverage, and that below five it is voluntary. Miss. Code Ann. section 71-3-5 reaches every person, firm and private corporation with five or more workmen or operatives regularly in the same business under any contract of hire. Coverage then starts on a worker's first day, with no waiting period.
Do part-time and seasonal workers count toward the five?
Usually. The statutory word is regularly, and the claims guide published on the Commission's site frames the test as the size of the operation and whether five or more workers are regularly used to carry it on, even when all five are not employed at the same time. Three full-timers plus two seasonal hands who come back every year is a five person operation.
Can a Mississippi business owner opt out of coverage?
Yes, in three defined cases. A sole proprietor, a partner, or an employee owning fifteen percent or more of the corporate stock may be exempted by proper written action of the business if that person also agrees in writing. Anyone exempted that way is excluded from the count toward the five employee threshold, which is the opposite of how most states handle it.
Does Mississippi have a state workers compensation fund?
No. The Commission describes only two ways to secure the payment of benefits: buy a policy from an insurance company, or obtain Commission approval to self-insure. Employers the voluntary market declines use the assigned risk plan under Miss. Code Ann. section 71-3-111, and the Commission directs those applications to the National Council on Compensation Insurance.
What are the penalties for not carrying coverage?
A misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000, up to one year in jail, or both, plus a Commission civil penalty of up to $10,000 set case by case. In a corporation the president, secretary and treasurer are personally on the hook, jointly with the company, for compensation accruing while it was uninsured. The injured worker can also sue in tort with the usual defenses stripped away.
How fast does a work injury have to be reported?
The employee should give actual notice within 30 days, to the employer or a designated representative. You complete Form B-3 and send it to your carrier immediately whenever the injury costs more than the shift it happened on. The carrier files with the Commission by electronic data interchange within 10 days after the five day waiting period is satisfied.
What has to be posted at a Mississippi workplace?
A Notice of Coverage at least 8 1/2 by 11 inches, in a conspicuous place, showing the carrier or self-insured status, the third party administrator, the effective coverage dates, the person who takes injury reports, and a fraud warning under section 71-3-69. The Commission's written statement on the 2012 amendments goes up adjacent to it.
Who picks the treating doctor?
The employee, after the employer has furnished care. Rule 1.9 requires the employer to select competent providers and furnish services immediately, including emergency care. The employee may then accept those services or choose one physician of his own, plus one referral within a specialty. Anything beyond that needs advance approval from the employer or carrier.
Injury paperwork is one piece of a larger state picture that also covers E-Verify, new hire reporting and posting duties. When you are done here, the rest sits in the Mississippi compliance hub.