New Jersey Workers’ Comp Exemption
We file workers’ compensation exemptions for New Jersey 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 New Jersey
New Jersey requires essentially all employers, not covered by federal programs, to maintain workers' compensation coverage (or be approved for self-insurance) as soon as ANY person other than specific excluded owner-categories performs services for the business for financial consideration — there is NO numeric employee-count threshold. Even out-of-state employers may need NJ coverage if an employment contract is entered into in NJ or work is performed in NJ.
Who can be excluded in New Jersey
Sole proprietors
A sole proprietorship must carry coverage as soon as any individual OTHER THAN the principal owner performs services for the business for consideration. The sole proprietor themselves is automatically excluded from mandatory coverage and may elect to be covered, but a single non-owner worker (even one) triggers the mandatory coverage requirement for the business.
Partners
Partnerships must carry coverage as soon as any individual OTHER THAN a partner performs services for the business for consideration. Partners themselves are automatically excluded from mandatory coverage on themselves; the partnership may elect to cover them when purchasing/renewing a policy, but is not required to unless there is at least one non-partner worker.
LLC members
Same treatment as partners: LLC members who actively perform services for their own LLC are automatically excluded from mandatory self-coverage; the LLC may elect to cover them, but is only required to carry a policy once it has at least one worker who is not a member.
Corporate officers
Corporate officers are treated differently from sole proprietors/partners/LLC members and CANNOT exclude themselves. Any corporation operating in New Jersey must maintain workers' compensation coverage as soon as one or more individuals — INCLUDING corporate officers themselves — perform services for the corporation for financial consideration. In practice this means a corporation with even a single compensated officer/employee (including an officer who is also the sole shareholder performing services) must carry coverage, and officers have no opt-out. No cap or officer-count exception was found — the rule is unconditional inclusion for corporations, in contrast to sole proprietorships/partnerships/LLCs.
Construction rules in New Jersey
No New Jersey construction-industry-specific carve-out or heightened threshold was found on the official nj.gov employer-requirements page reviewed; the general 'any one or more individuals performing services' rule applies uniformly, and construction contractors are otherwise subject to the same corporate-officer inclusion / owner-exclusion rules based on entity type.
How the exemption is filed
New Jersey does not run a state-filed exemption certificate program. Exclusion for sole proprietors/partners/LLC members is automatic by statute (no filing needed to be excluded); electing them INTO coverage is done through the insurance policy itself when purchased/renewed, not a separate state filing. Corporate officers have no exclusion mechanism at all — coverage for the corporation (including its officers) is simply mandatory once any compensated individual performs services for it.
- Form
- No state exemption form — see above
- Statute
- N.J.S.A. 34:15-1 et seq. (New Jersey Workers' Compensation Act) — exact subsection numbers for the owner-exclusion/officer-inclusion provisions were not independently pulled from statute text in this session and are left unspecified rather than guessed; the nj.gov employer-requirements page states the substantive rule without citing a specific subsection.
- Market
- Competitive — coverage is bought from a private carrier.
Notes and open questions
This is the state the task flagged as needing special care: New Jersey effectively has NO numeric employee-count threshold — coverage is required as soon as any compensated individual (other than the excluded owner-categories) performs services for the business, and for corporations, officers themselves count and cannot be excluded at all. This was confirmed directly from the official nj.gov Division of Workers' Compensation 'Employer Requirements' page, fetched successfully in this session.
Sources
Source material dated nj.gov page accessed 2026-08-30; page itself undated. Compiled from official New Jersey sources as a starting point, not legal advice — rules change, and your situation may turn on facts this page cannot see. Confirm with New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Division of Workers' Compensation or ask us and we’ll check it for you.
Workers' comp exemption filing in New Jersey
Tell us about your New Jersey business and we'll confirm whether you qualify for an exemption.