DC Workers Compensation: Employer Requirements
Washington, D.C. requires workers compensation from the first employee. Exemptions, where to buy a policy, the 10-day report rule, and $10,000 fines.
Washington, D.C. Workers Compensation
The one employee trigger, who sits outside coverage, where the policy comes from, and the filing deadlines the Office of Workers’ Compensation actually enforces
A six-person studio near Union Market added a Saturday front desk person, twelve hours a week, and treated the job as casual help. Nobody put her on the policy. She slipped on wet tile in the lobby on her fourth weekend, and the owner spent the following month learning what the District means by casual employment.
She was covered. In the District of Columbia, casual work only falls outside the law when it is also outside the usual course of the employer's business, and a receptionist at a design studio is squarely inside it. The mistake cost far more than a year of premium would have.
The District does not run a headcount test at all. One employee triggers the duty, and the Office of Workers' Compensation prints that sentence on the poster it expects on your wall.
This page is the District rule sheet for owners without an HR department: the trigger, the exclusions, where the policy comes from, the filing clock, and what happens to employers who skip it. How the insurance itself works sits in our workers compensation insurance guide, and hiring, pay, and leave in the District sit in the DC HR compliance guide.
Who Has to Carry Coverage
Every employer with one or more employees working in the District has to secure the payment of compensation, which in plain terms means carrying a workers compensation policy or holding approval to self-insure. Section 32-1534 of the DC Code puts that duty on every employer without qualification.
The Notice of Compliance poster says the same thing to owners in one line: you are required to have workers compensation insurance coverage if you have one or more employees. There is no threshold to grow into and no waiting period to run down. The Office of Workers' Compensation employer brochure states that protection begins the first minute an employee starts work in the District.
The DC Municipal Regulations (DCMR) are stricter still: 7 DCMR 214.7 requires a new employer to obtain coverage before hiring any employee, and 7 DCMR 214.6 keeps that duty alive until a self-insurance application is actually approved.
Where the work happens decides which law applies, not where your office sits. The District's workers compensation law (the Act) covers an injury in the District if the employee was working there at the time. It also covers an injury elsewhere when the employment is localized principally in the District, meaning the job is based mainly there. A studio in Shaw whose installer spends most weeks on Virginia job sites needs to look at Virginia coverage too.
Households are employers too. A District homeowner who employs one or more household domestic workers for 240 hours or more in any calendar quarter, in the same year or the previous one, has to carry coverage. The agency brochure translates that into roughly 19 hours a week, which catches a great many part-time nannies and housekeepers.
Who Sits Outside Coverage
The District excludes by definition rather than by election. There is no form that lets an owner buy in or an officer opt out, which is the single biggest difference between the District and the states around it. Either the person fits the Act's definition of an employee, found in Chapter 15 of Title 32 of the DC Code, or the person does not.
| Worker | How the District treats them |
|---|---|
| Sole proprietor working in the business | Not covered. The Office of Workers’ Compensation employer brochure lists sole proprietors, casual workers, and unpaid volunteers as outside coverage, and the Act defines an employee as a person in the service of another |
| Partner or LLC member | The Act carries no election in and no election out for owners. Whether the person is covered turns on the definition of employee, so confirm the treatment with the Office of Workers’ Compensation before leaving anyone off |
| Corporate officer paid for services | No officer exclusion exists in Chapter 15. An officer working under a contract of hire, written or implied, fits the statutory definition of employee |
| Casual employee | Outside coverage only when the employment is both casual and not in the usual course of the employer’s trade, business, occupation, or profession (Section 32-1501(9)(E) and Section 32-1503(a-2)) |
| Household domestic worker | Covered once the household employs 1 or more domestic workers for 240 hours or more in any calendar quarter in the same or the previous year, which the employer brochure describes as roughly 19 hours a week |
| Unpaid volunteer | Not covered, per the Office of Workers’ Compensation employer brochure |
| Licensed real estate salesperson or associated broker | Excluded when substantially all pay comes from commissions, a written contract specifies independent contractor status, and that contract states the person is not an employee for federal income tax purposes (Section 32-1501(9)(F)) |
| Independent contractor | No test and no definition in Chapter 15. The question is whether the person is in the service of another under a contract of hire, decided case by case |
| Agricultural labor | No agricultural exclusion appears anywhere in the Act, unlike most states |
| Federal employee | Outside the District Act. Federal workers are covered by the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act administered by the US Department of Labor |
| District government employee | Outside the private sector Act. The public sector program runs through the Office of Risk Management under Title 1 of the DC Code |
| Congressional office staff and interstate railroad workers | Excluded by Section 32-1501(9)(C) and Section 32-1501(9)(D) |
| Nonresident employee of a nonresident employer | Exempt while temporarily or intermittently working in the District, if the home state policy covers that work (Section 32-1503(a-3)) |
Casual employment is the exclusion owners reach for and the one they misread. Section 32-1501(9)(E) removes a worker from the definition only when the employment is casual and, at the same time, not in the usual course of the trade, business, occupation, or profession of the employer. Both halves have to be true. A weekend server at a restaurant fails the second half however short the shifts are, because serving food is the restaurant's usual business.
Contractors and Classification
An uninsured subcontractor becomes your claim. Under Section 32-1503(c), when a subcontractor has not secured compensation for its own employees, the contractor above it is liable for that compensation and has to secure it. The regulations repeat the rule in the same words at 7 DCMR 201.4, so there is no softer reading to find there.
The fix is paperwork, done before the work starts. Collect a certificate of insurance from every sub, keep it with the contract, and ask again on jobs that run for months, because a policy canceled for nonpayment gives the agency 30 days of notice and gives you none. Carriers file coverage and termination notices with the Office of Workers' Compensation, so the agency knows about a lapse long before the general contractor does.
Calling the crew contractors settles nothing on a construction site. The District Workplace Fraud Act applies only to the construction services industry, and inside that industry it presumes an employment relationship whenever an individual performs work for pay. The employer can overcome that presumption only by proving the worker is an exempt person or meets a three part independence test.
Workplace Fraud Act penalties for worker misclassification run from $1,000 to $5,000 for each worker. Stop-work orders are available, and a third violation inside two years reaches $20,000 per worker or five years of debarment.
Where You Buy the Policy
The District is a competitive insurance market, not a monopolistic fund jurisdiction, and no government fund sells policies here. Section 32-1534(a) gives an employer exactly two doors. One is to insure with a company authorized to write workers compensation. The other is to furnish proof of financial ability and get written authorization from the agency to pay compensation directly as a self-insurer.
The first door is the usual one. The agency brochure puts it plainly: most District employers secure coverage by purchasing a policy from an insurance company licensed in the District of Columbia. The Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking licenses those carriers and takes their rate filings, and its guidance describes that licensed group as the admitted or standard market.
New businesses and employers with rough loss histories have a backstop. The Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking names the National Council on Compensation Insurance as the District assigned risk pool, the market of last resort for a business that cannot find coverage voluntarily. Under 7 DCMR 214.14, that becomes a duty on the seller: an insurance agency or carrier that will not write the risk voluntarily has to advise the employer about the plan and provide the application form.
Premium is calculated on payroll, so payroll floors matter: a higher wage floor means a bigger payroll to price. The District sets a higher floor than any state. According to the Department of Employment Services, the District minimum wage is $18.40 an hour, effective July 1, 2026, for employers of every size. The highest statewide rate, Washington State's, is $17.13.
What Self-Insurance Actually Takes
Self-insurance is a real option and a poor fit for a small employer. Under 7 DCMR 217, an applicant has to show it can meet all its potential liability, carry adequate excess or catastrophic loss insurance, arrange prompt payment of compensation and medical care, deposit security in the amount and form the agency prescribes, and agree in a signed undertaking to carry out the Act. The brochure warns that applicants may be required to post a substantial bond.
The application itself asks for twelve months of payroll, the average number of covered employees, three years of injury history covering every fatal injury and every injury that caused more than three days of disability, an itemized statement of assets and liabilities, the medical arrangements, the excess insurance terms, and a sworn oath.
Self-insurance authorization runs no longer than twelve months and expires every September 30. You keep buying insurance until the approval lands. FirstHR is an HR platform, not an insurer or a broker, so we do not sell any of this and have no stake in which door you use.
Posting Rules and What the Employee Gets
One notice belongs on the wall: the Notice of Compliance, Form 1 DCWC. Section 32-1536 requires every employer that has secured compensation to keep printed notices posted in a conspicuous place in and about its places of business, stating that compensation has been secured, and to include the name and address of the carrier and the date the policy expires.
The blank form comes from your carrier or from the agency, and it is not a decoration. You sign it, fill in the insurance company and the employer identification number, and post it where employees can see and read it at or near the jobsite.
The regulations also set what the notice has to contain: that an injured employee may be entitled to lost wages and medical payment, that the employee must notify the employer, that the employee must file a claim, and the current address and telephone number of the agency.
Nothing under the workers compensation law has to be handed to a new hire on day one. Two things are owed later, and both get missed. First, keep Form 7 DCWC available and give it to an employee who reports an injury. Second, when your own injury report goes to the agency, send the employee a statement of rights and obligations at the same time, by certified mail, return receipt requested. Blank forms and the current poster are on the Office of Workers' Compensation forms page.
The Reporting Clock
The employer deadline is 10 days, and it is the one with a penalty attached. Section 32-1532(a) requires the employer to send a report to the agency within 10 days from the date of the injury or death, or from the date the employer has knowledge of a disease. Agency materials phrase the same duty as 10 working days from the date of knowledge, which means counting 10 calendar days from the injury keeps you inside both readings.
| Who | What they file | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Employee | Reports the injury to the employer and files written notice on Form 7 DCWC with the Office of Workers’ Compensation | Within 30 days of the injury, or of becoming aware of the link to the job (Section 32-1513) |
| Employer | Files the Employer’s First Report of Injury or Occupational Disease, Form 8 DCWC, with a copy to the insurer | Within 10 days of the injury or death, and the agency states 10 working days from knowledge (Section 32-1532(a) and 7 DCMR 203.1) |
| Employer | Sends the employee the statement of rights and obligations by certified mail, return receipt requested | At the same time the report goes to the agency (Section 32-1532(a)) |
| Employer | Reports any disability of more than 3 days that was not previously reported | No later than 10 working days after knowledge, per the posted Notice of Compliance |
| Employer or carrier | Pays the first installment of compensation, or files Form 11 DCWC to controvert the claim | On or before the 14th day after the employer has knowledge of the injury (Section 32-1515(b) and (d)) |
| Employer or carrier | Files the notice of final payment | Within 16 days after the final payment, or a $100 civil penalty applies (Section 32-1515(g)) |
| Employee | Files the claim application, Form 7A DCWC | Within 1 year of the injury or of the last payment of benefits (Section 32-1514(a)) |
| Carrier | Files the Notice of Workers’ Compensation Coverage with the agency | No later than 10 working days after the binder date in the region (7 DCMR 215.1) |
Two rows in that table decide most disputes. Late notice from an employee is often forgiven: the agency may excuse it where the employer or carrier already knew about the injury and was not prejudiced by the delay, or where there was a satisfactory reason it could not be given. Late reporting by the employer is not forgiven the same way, and each failure carries a civil penalty of up to $1,000.
The quieter consequence sits in Section 32-1532(f). When the employer or carrier had notice of an injury and no report was filed, the one-year limit on the employee's claim does not begin to run. Skipping the filing does not close the file. It holds the file open indefinitely, which is the opposite of what the owner who skips it assumes.
What Going Without Coverage Costs
The fine is $1,000 to $10,000. Section 32-1539(a) sets that range for any employer required to secure compensation that fails to secure it, 7 DCMR 214.16 repeats it as an agency assessment, and the employer brochure prints the ceiling in capital letters. The text of that section then goes past the company.
| Exposure | What it means |
|---|---|
| Civil fine of $1,000 to $10,000 | Assessed against an employer required to secure compensation that fails to do so (Section 32-1539(a) and 7 DCMR 214.16) |
| Personal liability for corporate officers | The president, secretary, and treasurer are each severally liable for the fine and jointly and severally liable with the company for any benefit that accrues while it is uninsured |
| Loss of the exclusive remedy | The injured worker may elect to sue for damages instead of claiming benefits, and the employer may not plead the fellow servant rule, assumption of risk, or contributory negligence (Section 32-1504(b)) |
| Criminal exposure | Hiding, selling, or encumbering property after an injury to avoid paying compensation is a misdemeanor carrying a fine of $1,000 to $10,000, up to 1 year of imprisonment, or both (Section 32-1539(b)) |
| Up to $1,000 per missing report | Any employer that fails or refuses to send a required report faces a civil penalty for each failure (Section 32-1532(e)) |
| An open claim clock | When the employer had notice and filed no report, the 1-year limit on the employee’s claim does not start running at all (Section 32-1532(f)) |
| $100 to $1,000 for retaliation | Discharging or discriminating against an employee for claiming compensation also requires reinstatement and back pay, the employer alone pays, and any policy clause covering it is void (Section 32-1542) |
| Referral for prosecution | The Director assigns 5 full-time equivalents to employer compliance enforcement and refers cases to the Office of the Attorney General, reporting to the Council twice a year (Section 32-1542.04) |
Personal liability is the part that surprises owners. Where the uninsured employer is a corporation, the president, the secretary, and the treasurer are each severally liable for the fine.
Those three officers are also jointly and severally liable with the corporation for any compensation or benefit that accrues to a worker injured while the company had no coverage, so the full amount can be collected from any one of them. A serious back injury does not stop at the balance sheet of a company that cannot pay it.
Neither the fine nor the officer liability is the exposure that ends small companies. That one is Section 32-1504(b). An employer that fails to secure compensation loses the exclusive remedy, the rule that normally limits an injured worker to benefits instead of a lawsuit, so the injured worker may elect to sue for damages at law.
That lawsuit strips the uninsured employer of three defenses it would otherwise have. It may not plead that a fellow servant (a coworker) caused the injury, that the employee assumed the risk, or that the employee was contributorily negligent, meaning partly at fault. The statute that normally caps your downside stops applying at the moment you need it most.
What to Do the Day Someone Gets Hurt
Run the same eight steps every time, starting with medical care, and write down the times. Most District disputes turn on when the employer first knew, and that fact is usually settled by whatever a supervisor wrote in the first hour.
The step small employers skip is the second one. A supervisor hears about a sore shoulder on a Tuesday, nobody writes it down, and eight weeks later the argument is about whether notice ever happened. Keeping incident records, notices, and acknowledgments in one system instead of in the memory of whoever heard about the injury is the sort of quiet recurring task FirstHR was built to hold for teams with no dedicated HR person.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a Washington, D.C. business need workers compensation with one employee?
Yes. The District sets no headcount threshold. The required Notice of Compliance poster tells employers they must carry coverage with one or more employees, and Section 32-1534 puts the duty on every employer. The regulations require a new employer to obtain coverage before hiring anyone, so there is no grace period. The Act's definition of an employee carries no hours minimum outside domestic service, so part-time, seasonal, and temporary staff count the same as full-time staff.
Can the owner stay off the policy?
A sole proprietor is outside coverage, and there is no election form either way. The agency brochure names sole proprietors, casual workers, and unpaid volunteers as the workers who are not covered. Corporate officers are the trap: Chapter 15 has no officer exclusion, and an officer paid for services is working under a contract of hire. Partners and LLC members are not addressed by name, so confirm the treatment with the agency before leaving an owner off.
How fast does the employer have to report an injury?
Within 10 days of the injury, on Form 8 DCWC, filed with the Office of Workers' Compensation with a copy to the insurer. Agency materials state it as 10 working days from knowledge, so counting 10 calendar days from the injury satisfies both. The statement of rights and obligations goes to the employee by certified mail at the same time. Each missing report carries a civil penalty of up to $1,000, and failing to file also stops the employee's one-year claim limit from starting.
What happens to an employer with no coverage?
A civil fine of $1,000 to $10,000, and personal exposure beyond that. Where the employer is a corporation, the president, secretary, and treasurer are severally liable for the fine and jointly and severally liable with the company for any benefit that accrues while it is uninsured. The injured worker may also elect to sue for damages instead of claiming benefits, and the employer cannot plead the fellow servant rule, assumption of risk, or contributory negligence in that suit.
Where does the policy come from?
From a private insurance company licensed in the District, or from self-insurance authorized by the agency. There is no state fund here. The Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking licenses the admitted market carriers and names the National Council on Compensation Insurance as the assigned risk pool for employers who cannot get voluntary coverage. FirstHR does not sell insurance and has no stake in which door you use.
Which notice has to be posted?
The Notice of Compliance, Form 1 DCWC, posted conspicuously at each worksite, carrying the name and address of your carrier and the expiration date of the policy. The blank comes from the carrier or the agency and you fill in the employer details before posting it. Nothing has to be handed to a new hire, but Form 7 DCWC must be available for any employee who reports an injury.
Am I liable for a subcontractor's injured worker?
Yes, unless the subcontractor secured coverage. Section 32-1503(c) makes the contractor liable for and responsible for securing compensation for a subcontractor's employees when the sub has not done it. Collect certificates before work starts and again on long jobs. Construction employers also face the Workplace Fraud Act, which presumes employment for paid work in that industry and penalizes misclassification at $1,000 to $5,000 per worker.