Maryland Workers’ Comp Exemption
We file workers’ compensation exemptions for Maryland 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 Maryland
No small-employer headcount exemption was found for Maryland — an employer with employees generally must carry coverage; the exemptions here run to the individual owner's own coverage status, not to whether the business must cover its workforce.
Who can be excluded in Maryland
Sole proprietors
A sole proprietor operating without a corporate/LLC entity is not an 'employee' of their own unincorporated business in the first place, so no exemption filing applies to them personally — this is a definitional exclusion, not an election. (This specific point is inferred by analogy to the statute's structure — Md. Code, Lab. & Empl. §9-206(b) enumerates only corporate/LLC officer/member categories — and was not read as an explicit standalone statutory sentence, so treat as medium confidence.) They must still cover any employees they hire.
Partners
Same reasoning as sole proprietors: general partners are not employees of the partnership by default, so no state exemption filing applies to them personally. Not independently confirmed as an explicit statutory sentence in the sources reviewed — medium confidence.
LLC members
LLC members who own at least 20% of the LLC's profit interests may file the Workers' Compensation Exclusion Form (IC-16) with the Workers' Compensation Commission under §9-206(b)(5) to be excluded.
Corporate officers
Multiple categories under Md. Code, Lab. & Empl. §9-206(b), each requiring the Exclusion Form (IC-16): Close Corporation officers (§9-206(b)(1)); General Corporation officers (§9-206(b)(2)) — capped at a MAXIMUM OF FIVE officers who may be excluded; Farm Corporation officers (§9-206(b)(3)) — must own at least 20% of capital stock AND the corporation must earn at least 75% of its income from farming; Professional Corporation officers/shareholders (§9-206(b)(4)) — must own at least 20% of stock and perform professional services for the corporation.
How the exemption is filed
True state-filed exclusion: complete the Exclusion Form (IC-16), obtain signatures from all eligible owners/members being excluded, and submit it to the Workers' Compensation Commission (a copy must also go to the company's insurer, and a copy retained). Filings are typically processed within a few weeks per the Commission's own online exclusion-request portal. No fee was found in the sources reviewed, and no confirmed duration/renewal period could be verified — do not publish a fee or an expiration period for Maryland.
- Statute
- Md. Code Ann., Labor & Employment §9-206
- Market
- Competitive — coverage is bought from a private carrier.
Notes and open questions
The Commission's own exclusion-request portal page (comphub.wcc.state.md.us) confirmed the four/five statutory categories, the ownership percentages, and the 5-officer cap for general corporations. The IC-16 PDF itself was fetched but returned mostly unparseable compressed content; its version stamp ('09-2018') was legible, confirming the form's identity and existence, but fee/duration fields inside it were not legible and are NOT claimed here.
Sources
- https://comphub.wcc.state.md.us/Web/Public/Exclusion
- https://www.wcc.state.md.us/pdf/pdf_forms/exclusion.pdf
Source material dated Retrieved 2026-08-30 from the Maryland Workers' Compensation Commission's official site (IC-16 form version stamped 09-2018). Compiled from official Maryland sources as a starting point, not legal advice — rules change, and your situation may turn on facts this page cannot see. Confirm with Maryland Workers' Compensation Commission or ask us and we’ll check it for you.
Workers' comp exemption filing in Maryland
Tell us about your Maryland business and we'll confirm whether you qualify for an exemption.