Massachusetts Workers’ Comp Exemption
We file workers’ compensation exemptions for Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts
WC coverage is mandatory for any employer with one or more employees (M.G.L. c. 152). Sole proprietors, partners, and LLC members with no employees other than themselves are not required to carry coverage at all.
Who can be excluded in Massachusetts
Sole proprietors
Automatically excluded/not required to carry WC if they have no employees. If they hire even one employee, that employee must be covered (the sole proprietor themself still is not automatically covered). A sole proprietor may elect to be treated as an employee for coverage purposes by submitting a written/electronic request directly to the insurance carrier (on letterhead, signed) — this is a carrier-level election, not a state filing.
Partners
Same regime as sole proprietors: not automatically covered; a partner of a legal partnership may elect coverage for themselves as an employee via a request to the carrier (per the 2002 amendment to M.G.L. c. 152 §1(4)).
LLC members
An LLC (or LLP) with no employees other than its members/partners is not required to carry workers' compensation insurance. If the LLC has any employees beyond the member-owners, a policy is required for those employees.
Corporate officers
Corporate officers/directors who own at least 25% of the issued and outstanding shares of the corporation may exempt themselves from mandatory coverage by filing DIA Form 153 (Affidavit of Exemption for Certain Corporate Officers or Directors). Maximum of 4 officers/directors may be named on a single Form 153, and ALL eligible officers/directors owning 25%+ must be named and must sign for the affidavit to be valid. If the corporation employs no one else besides the exempted officers, it may legally operate with no WC policy at all.
How the exemption is filed
Two different regimes depending on role. (1) Corporate officers/directors (25%+ owners): true state filing — Form 153 (Affidavit of Exemption for Certain Corporate Officers or Directors) is submitted to the Department of Industrial Accidents (DIA), Office of Investigations, Lafayette City Center, 2 Avenue de Lafayette, Boston, MA 02111-1750. No fee was found in official sources (not confirmed either way — treat as unverified, do not state 'no fee' as certain). (2) Sole proprietors, partners, and LLC members: no state exemption filing exists — they are excluded by default if they have no other employees, and 'opting in' to coverage is done through a written request to the insurance carrier, not a DIA filing.
- Statute
- M.G.L. c. 152, §1(4)
- Market
- Competitive — coverage is bought from a private carrier.
Notes and open questions
Direct WebFetch of mass.gov pages returned HTTP 403 (bot-blocked) despite retries; the facts above are corroborated by three independent search-engine result summaries that directly quote mass.gov's own page text and its Form 153 PDF content, so confidence is medium-high rather than the 'fetched-and-read' high bar used for other states. Fee amount for Form 153 (if any) could not be verified and is deliberately omitted — do not publish a fee figure for this form. No construction-industry-specific exemption carve-out was found in official sources; Massachusetts' aggressive independent-contractor classification test (separate from WC exemption law) may affect construction subs but that is a different legal question and is out of scope here.
Sources
- https://www.mass.gov/info-details/corporate-officers-and-sole-proprietors
- https://www.mass.gov/how-to/request-an-exemption-from-workers-compensation-coverage
- https://www.mass.gov/doc/form-153-affidavit-of-exemption-for-certain-corporate-officers/download
Source material dated undated (current mass.gov page content as reflected in search index, retrieved 2026-08-30). Compiled from official Massachusetts sources as a starting point, not legal advice — rules change, and your situation may turn on facts this page cannot see. Confirm with Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents (DIA), Office of Investigations or ask us and we’ll check it for you.
Workers' comp exemption filing in Massachusetts
Tell us about your Massachusetts business and we'll confirm whether you qualify for an exemption.