Missouri Workers Compensation: Employer Rules
Missouri requires workers compensation at five employees, or one in construction. Exclusions, where to buy, the WC-106 poster, deadlines and penalties.
Missouri Workers Compensation
Coverage attaches at five employees, at one in construction, and going without it is a criminal offense rather than a paperwork problem
The question that gets Missouri employers in trouble is never about benefits. It is a version of this one, which a founder in St. Louis asked me the week he made an offer to his fifth person: does anything change at five?
It does, and in Missouri going without required coverage is a criminal offense, not a paperwork problem. The state draws its coverage line at a headcount. With four employees, Chapter 287, the state’s workers compensation law, does not require a policy. The day the fifth employee starts, it does. In construction the number is one, which surprises small contractors constantly.
Here is what changes, in the order you will need it: who counts toward five and who is excluded, where to buy the policy, the required poster, the injury reporting deadlines, the penalties, and what to do the day someone gets hurt. Everything here is Missouri only.
When Missouri Coverage Becomes Mandatory
Missouri employers must carry workers compensation insurance once they have five or more employees. Employers in the construction industry must carry it at one or more employees. The Missouri Division of Workers’ Compensation (the Division) defines construction employers plainly: those who erect, demolish, alter or repair improvements.
The count is broader than most owners assume. The Department of Labor and Industrial Relations states on its insurance liability page that the requirement applies regardless of whether the employees are part-time, casual laborers, full-time or family members.
Ownership structure changes the arithmetic. Members of a limited liability company (LLC) and officers of a corporation count toward the number. Sole proprietors and members of a partnership do not. A two-partner shop with four employees sits under the threshold; a two-member LLC with three employees sits over it.
| Your business | Headcount | Coverage required |
|---|---|---|
| Retail store, four employees | 4 | No, but the owner may elect coverage |
| Retail store, five employees including one part-timer | 5 | Yes |
| Restaurant, three full-time and two weekend staff | 5 | Yes, casual and part-time labor counts |
| Two-member LLC with three employees | 5 | Yes, LLC members count toward the number |
| Two-partner firm with four employees | 4 | No, partners do not count toward the number |
| Remodeling contractor with one employee | 1 | Yes, construction attaches at one |
| Sole proprietor with no employees | 0 | No, and the owner is covered only by election |
Sitting under the threshold is not the same as being safe. The Division says it directly: exempt employers that decide not to buy a policy or self-insure remain exposed to civil lawsuits from employees injured at work.
Only coverage brings the damage limits of the workers compensation system. That is why an employer below five may elect into the law by purchasing and accepting a valid policy or endorsement.
Construction carries a second trap. Under RSMo 287.040 (RSMo is the Revised Statutes of Missouri), a general contractor can become liable for injuries to an uninsured subcontractor or that subcontractor’s uninsured workers. That is why carriers charge the general contractor premium for any subcontractor who cannot produce a certificate of insurance.
The Division walks through the subcontractor scenario in its employer FAQ on subcontractor proof of coverage. Collect certificates before the work starts, not at the premium audit after the policy year.
Who Is Excluded From Missouri Coverage
Missouri excludes a defined list of types of employment from Chapter 287 entirely, and it treats owners differently from staff. The exclusions are narrow and specific, so a worker who does not appear on the list is presumed to be inside the system.
The Division publishes the categories on its coverage and injury reporting page. Read the owner rows first, because the choice to elect coverage or opt out is where small businesses lose money and coverage at the same time.
| Category | How Missouri treats it |
|---|---|
| Sole proprietor | Does not count toward the five and is not covered personally unless the owner elects coverage with the insurer |
| Partner in a partnership | Same as a sole proprietor: outside the count, covered only by individual election |
| LLC member | Counts toward the five and is presumed covered unless the member opts out with the insurer |
| Corporate officer | Counts toward the five |
| Family member employees | Counted and covered, including relatives employed by a sole proprietor or partner, unless they opt out |
| Part-time and casual labor | Counted. The threshold applies regardless of full-time, part-time or casual status |
| Farm labor | Employment of farm labor is outside the law |
| Domestic servants in a private home | Outside the law |
| Occasional labor for a private household | Outside the law |
| Qualified real estate agents and direct sellers | Outside the law, as defined in Section 3508 of Title 26 of the United States Code |
| Volunteers of a 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(19) | Outside the law where unpaid and serving on a charitable and voluntary basis |
| Inmates, patients and residents | Certain inmates, patients or residents of the state, a county or a municipality are outside the law |
| Sports officials and contest workers | Adjudicators, sports officials and contest workers for interscholastic or amateur youth programs, when not employed by the event sponsor |
| Railroad, postal and maritime workers | Covered by federal law rather than the Missouri statute |
| Independent contractors | Not an exempt category. RSMo 287.040 can make the hiring business the statutory employer of an uninsured contractor |
Notice what is missing from that list. Missouri does not publish a blanket independent contractor exemption, so calling someone a contractor does not remove them from the count on its own.
Where a Missouri Employer Buys the Policy
Missouri is not a monopolistic state, meaning it runs no state fund that employers must buy from. Coverage comes from one of three places: a carrier authorized to write workers compensation in Missouri by the Department of Commerce and Insurance, the residual market, or self-insurance approved by the Division.
Most small employers take the first route and buy through an agent who places the policy with a company the agent represents. Employers who struggle to find coverage in the voluntary market, and those with small premiums under $10,000, are generally insured through the residual market, commonly called the assigned risk pool.
Missouri insurers compete on price, and the Department of Commerce and Insurance runs an online service comparing workers compensation rates across every insurer writing in the state. To use it you need your classification codes, which sort your payroll by the kind of work each person does. That is a second reason to get those codes right at the application stage.
Self-insurance is the third route, and for a small business it is almost never the answer. Employers and groups of employers may apply to the Division to self-insure individually or through a group trust, and the Division’s Insurance Unit acts as underwriter, regulator and auditor of the program.
| Route | Who it fits | What it takes |
|---|---|---|
| Private carrier, voluntary market | Most small employers | An agent, accurate payroll and classification codes, an annual audit |
| Assigned risk pool | Employers who have trouble finding coverage in the voluntary market and those with premium under $10,000 | Placement through the residual market rather than a carrier you choose |
| Individual self-insurance | Large employers able to absorb the full risk | Division approval under 8 CSR 50-3.010, a $250 non-refundable application fee, excess insurance from a carrier rated A- or better, annual reports within 90 days of year end, and Division audits |
| Group trust self-insurance | Groups of employers pooling risk, typically by industry | Division approval and the same regulatory reporting regime |
The requirements above come from the Division’s individual self-insurance page. An employer that fails to file each annual report fully and accurately by its due date can lose its authority to self-insure, which tells you how much administration the route carries.
Posters and What Goes in the New Hire Packet
Missouri requires one workers compensation posting: form WC-106, the Workers’ Compensation Law notice, required by RSMo 287.127. The Division publishes it free in English and Spanish, and it prints across two letter-size sheets meant to be displayed together.
The notice is not decoration. It tells employees three things: that the business operates under the law, that injuries must be reported immediately, and that failing to notify the employer within 30 days may jeopardize compensation. It also carries the name, address and telephone number of the insurer, which is why the poster has to be refreshed when you change carriers.
Failing to post it is prosecutable rather than merely embarrassing. An employer who willfully fails to post the workers compensation notice is guilty of a class A misdemeanor punishable by a fine of $50 to $1,000, imprisonment, or both.
Nothing under the workers compensation chapter has to be handed to an individual new hire in Missouri. The obligation is a posted notice, not a pamphlet. Download WC-106 and the rest of the state set from the department’s mandatory posters page.
The one Missouri notice that does have to be delivered to each employee at the start of employment is LS-112, the domestic and sexual violence leave notice. It applies only to employers with 20 or more employees, under RSMo 285.665.
Missouri Injury Reporting Deadlines
Two employer deadlines matter, and they run at different speeds: five days to your carrier or third-party administrator (TPA), 30 days to the state. The carrier clock starts at the injury or the employee’s report of it, whichever is later. The state clock starts when you learn of the injury. The employee’s own obligation comes before either.
The employee should report immediately and give written notice stating the date, time and place of the injury, the nature of the injury, and the name and address of the person injured. Failing to report within 30 days may jeopardize the employee’s ability to receive benefits.
| Filing | Who files it | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Written notice of injury | Employee to the employer | Immediately. Beyond 30 days the employee may jeopardize benefits |
| Report to the carrier or TPA | Employer | Within 5 days of the injury, or of the date the employee reported it, whichever is later |
| First Report of Injury (FROI) | Employer or its insurer to the Division | Within 30 days after knowledge of the injury, filed electronically |
| Notice of Commencement or Termination of Compensation | Insurer or TPA | Within 30 days of the original notification, and within 10 days after compensation terminates |
| Answer to a Claim for Compensation | Employer side, through counsel | Within 30 days from the date the Division acknowledges receipt of the claim |
| Claim for Compensation | Employee to the Division | 2 years from the injury, death or last payment. 3 years if the First Report was not timely filed |
One exception narrows the Division filing. An injury that requires immediate first aid only, with no further medical treatment and no lost time from work, does not have to be reported to the Division. It still belongs in your own log, because a scrape that turns into an infection two weeks later becomes reportable.
Miss the state filing and you hand the employee an extra year. The employee’s deadline to file a Claim for Compensation, called the limitation period, is two years from the date of injury, death, or last payment. It stretches to three years where the employer or insurer does not file the First Report on time.
An occupational disease gets a later start. For those claims, the clock does not begin until the condition becomes reasonably discoverable.
The FROI is filed through electronic data interchange (EDI). Missouri has mandated EDI Claims Release 1.0 since January 2009, with three filing routes described on the Division’s injury reporting responsibilities page: an authorized EDI vendor, secure file transfer, or a web form aimed at low-volume filers. In practice your carrier files it, and your job is to confirm that it happened.
Penalties for Going Without Coverage in Missouri
Knowingly failing to insure workers compensation liability in Missouri is a class A misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to three times the annual premium the employer would have paid had it been insured, or up to $50,000, whichever amount is greater. A subsequent violation is a class E felony.
The fine is rarely the worst part. An uninsured employer is liable for the injured worker’s medical care and expenses directly, and the worker may elect to bring an action for personal injury in circuit court instead of filing a workers compensation claim. That is the system’s trade, seen from the losing side: no policy, no limits, and a jury instead of an administrative law judge.
Enforcement is criminal, not administrative. Any person may file a complaint with the Fraud and Noncompliance Unit, and its investigations are confidential and criminal in nature. The director may refer a case to the Missouri Attorney General for prosecution, and fines collected are paid to the Workers’ Compensation Fund. The department sets out each category on its fraud and noncompliance page.
| Violation | Classification | Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| Knowingly failing to insure | Class A misdemeanor. Subsequent violation is a class E felony | Up to three times the annual premium or up to $50,000, whichever is greater |
| Willfully failing to post the notice | Class A misdemeanor | Fine of $50 to $1,000, imprisonment, or both |
| Misrepresenting a job classification to lower a premium | Class A misdemeanor. Subsequent violation is a class E felony | Prosecuted as employer fraud |
| False statement to discourage or deny a claim | Class A misdemeanor. Subsequent violation is a class D felony | Fine of up to $10,000 |
| Knowingly failing to report an injury to the Division on time | Referred to the Fraud and Noncompliance Unit | May be subject to fine or imprisonment or both |
There is a public backstop that does not help the employer. The Second Injury Fund pays the medical bills of injured workers when the employer fails to insure, and pays burial expenses and death benefits to survivors where an uninsured employer is involved. The bill does not disappear; it moves to a fund that other Missouri employers finance through the surcharge on their own premiums.
What a Missouri Employer Does When Someone Is Hurt
When someone is hurt, work through the seven steps below in order, and do the first three the same day: medical care, the written notice, and the report to your carrier. Missouri gives the employer the right to choose the treating physician, and that right only helps if you use it before the employee has gone somewhere else.
OSHA recordkeeping is also easy to get wrong by over-recording: treating every workers comp claim as an automatic entry on the log.
One more habit is worth building. Your premium is rated on payroll by classification code and audited after the policy year, so the cleanest way to avoid a nasty audit bill is to keep job assignments and payroll records accurate as they change.
If the part that keeps slipping is the employee file itself, who works where, under what job title, with which documents signed and when, that is exactly the record FirstHR was built to hold. FirstHR is an onboarding and HR platform, not an insurer or a broker, and it does not sell coverage. It keeps the file straight so the facts you hand your carrier are the right ones.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many employees before workers compensation is required in Missouri?
Five. A Missouri employer with five or more employees must insure its obligations with a carrier authorized by the Department of Commerce and Insurance, or qualify with the Division to self-insure. Construction employers who erect, demolish, alter or repair improvements need coverage at one or more employees. An employer under the threshold may elect into the law by buying and accepting a valid policy or endorsement, and staying out leaves the business exposed to ordinary civil suits from injured workers.
Do part-time, casual and family employees count toward the five?
Yes, all three. The Division applies the requirement to all employers regardless of whether the employees are part-time, casual laborers, full-time or family members. Members of an LLC and officers of a corporation also count toward the number, while sole proprietors and members of a partnership do not. That is why a two-member LLC with three employees is covered and a two-partner firm with four employees is not.
Does Missouri have a state workers compensation fund?
No, and Missouri is not a monopolistic state. Employers buy from private carriers authorized to write in Missouri, usually through an agent. Those who struggle to find coverage in the voluntary market, and those with premiums under $10,000, are generally insured through the residual market known as the assigned risk pool. Self-insurance, individually or through a group trust, is the third route and requires Division approval.
What poster does Missouri require, and does anything go to a new hire?
Form WC-106, required by RSMo 287.127 and published free by the Division in English and Spanish. It prints across two letter-size sheets displayed together. An employer who willfully skips it commits a class A misdemeanor, with a fine of $50 to $1,000, imprisonment, or both. Missouri does not require a workers compensation pamphlet for individual new hires under Chapter 287.
How fast must a Missouri employer report a work injury?
Within five days to your carrier or third-party administrator, counted from the injury or from the date the employee reported it, whichever is later. The employer or its insurer then files the First Report of Injury with the Division within 30 days after knowledge of the injury. An injury requiring immediate first aid only, with no further treatment and no lost time, is excepted from the Division filing.
What happens if a Missouri employer has no coverage?
Knowingly failing to insure is a class A misdemeanor with a fine of up to three times the annual premium the employer would have paid, or up to $50,000, whichever is greater. A subsequent violation is a class E felony. The uninsured employer is also liable directly for medical care and expenses, and the injured worker may elect to sue for personal injury in circuit court.
Who chooses the doctor for a Missouri work injury?
The employer does, directly or through the insurer acting on its behalf. Missouri gives the employer the right to choose the healthcare provider or treating physician, and the authorized physician directs care on independent medical judgment. An employee who wants a different doctor may choose one, but pays for that care personally. Naming your clinic in the injury procedure before anyone is hurt is what makes that right worth having.