Iowa Workers’ Comp Exemption
We file workers’ compensation exemptions for Iowa sole proprietors, LLC members, and corporate officers. Send us your details and we’ll confirm whether you qualify and handle the filing.
When coverage is required in Iowa
Iowa law requires most employers to either carry workers' compensation/employers' liability insurance or qualify as a self-insured employer (Iowa Code chapters 85, 85A, 85B). I did not find an official-source statement of a specific minimum employee-count threshold in the materials reviewed.
Who can be excluded in Iowa
Sole proprietors
Iowa does not consider a sole proprietor to be their own 'employee' by default — they are not required to carry coverage on themselves. A proprietor may instead make an affirmative 'nonelection' of coverage (a distinct, lower-formality process from the corporate-officer 'rejection' described below) if they wish to formally document that they are declining coverage; per the official Iowa DIAL (Division of Workers' Compensation) page, this is done via a written nonelection document attached to the policy if one exists, or filed with the Division if there is no policy. A proprietor may instead elect to carry coverage on themselves.
Partners
Same 'nonelection' regime as sole proprietors — a partner is not automatically an 'employee' of the partnership and may make a nonelection of coverage on the same basis.
LLC members
Same 'nonelection' regime — LLC members and LLC partners may make a nonelection of coverage on the same basis as proprietors/partners.
Corporate officers
Only the president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer of a corporation (other than a family farm corporation) may make a 'rejection of coverage' under Iowa Code §87.22 — and no more than FOUR such officers per corporation may reject coverage; other employees/officers cannot reject. If the corporation has an existing workers' comp policy, the officer signs and attaches a written nonelection document to the policy (no separate filing with the Division required). If the corporation has no policy, the officer files online with the Iowa Division of Workers' Compensation, and the rejection must be witnessed by two disinterested witnesses (people with no formal or informal employer affiliation). A filed rejection of coverage is a public record. Officers may later file a 'Termination of Rejection' to resume coverage.
How the exemption is filed
Iowa runs an automatic-exclusion / voluntary-nonelection-or-rejection regime with no fee disclosed in the sources reviewed. Proprietors/partners/LLC members/LLC partners use the lighter-weight 'nonelection' process (written document, attached to an existing policy or filed if no policy exists). Corporate officers (capped at 4 per corporation, and only the 4 named titles) use the more formal 'rejection of coverage' process, filed online with the Iowa Division of Workers' Compensation (part of the Department of Inspections, Appeals & Licensing) if there is no existing policy, requiring two disinterested witnesses; the filing becomes a public record.
- Form
- Online 'Rejection of Coverage' filing (corporate officers, no formal state form number identified); written nonelection document (proprietors/partners/LLC members, attached to policy or filed with the Division)
- Statute
- Iowa Code §87.22 (exclusion from workers' compensation/employers' liability coverage — corporate officers, proprietors, LLC members, LLC partners, and partners)
- Market
- Competitive — coverage is bought from a private carrier.
Notes and open questions
Iowa's workers'-comp administrative function has moved to the Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing (DIAL) — do not cite 'Iowa Workforce Development' as the current agency; DIAL's own page (dial.iowa.gov) is the current official source, address given there as 6200 Park Avenue, Suite 100, Des Moines, IA 50321 (phone 515-725-4120 or 800-645-4583). I was not able to directly fetch the full text of Iowa Code §87.22 (law.justia.com and legis.iowa.gov both 403'd on this pass) — the officer-cap-of-4 and title restrictions are corroborated by both a web-search synthesis and the section's title as returned by search, but a direct statute-text read is recommended before treating this as fully verified. No fee amount was disclosed in the official DIAL page. No Iowa-specific construction carve-out was found in the sources reviewed.
Sources
- https://dial.iowa.gov/hearings/workers-comp/compliance/reporting/rejection-coverage
- https://dial.iowa.gov/termination-rejection-workers-compensation-or-employers-liability-coverage
- https://law.justia.com/codes/iowa/title-iii/chapter-87/section-87-22/
Source material dated undated (current live Iowa DIAL pages, fetched 2026-08-30). Compiled from official Iowa sources as a starting point, not legal advice — rules change, and your situation may turn on facts this page cannot see. Confirm with Iowa Division of Workers' Compensation, Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing (DIAL) or ask us and we’ll check it for you.
Workers' comp exemption filing in Iowa
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