Many landscapers in Florida approach us to ask how they should properly file workers’ compensation exemptions for their owners and officers. They also want to know what this means and how it will effect their business. These are great questions and the majority of our landscaping clients make the decision to exclude their owners and some officers from workers’ compensation coverage.

An individual that is an officer of a corporation can elect to be exempt from workers’ compensation coverage. This will exclude the officer from recovering workers’ compensation benefits, but by doing so, the individual may remove their payroll from the total payroll that is used to compute the premium. Many employers choose to be exempt on their workers’ compensation policies to save money on their premium. If the individual meets the requirements below, then they can file for exemption using the following forms:

Non-construction industry corporate officer:

• - The corporation must be registered with the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations.
• - The applicant must be listed as an officer of the corporation in the records of the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations.
• - There is no limit to the number of corporate officers eligible for exemption
• - There is no application fee

Construction industry corporate officer:

• - The corporation must be registered with the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations.
• - The applicant must be listed as an officer of the corporation in the records of the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations.
• - The applicant must own at least 10 percent of the stock of the corporation as evidenced by a stock certificate or in the case of an LLC a notarized statement attesting to the minimum 10 percent ownership.
• - The applicant must list all certified or registered licenses issued to you.
• - A $50.00 application fee is required.
• - No more than three officers of a corporation (including LLC) or of any group of affiliated corporations (including LLCs) may elect to be exempt.

For landscaping businesses, you will need to file the exemption as a non-construction corporate officer unless you install landscapes and use the 0042 class code for your workers’ compensation insurance. If that is the case, your business is classified as construction and you will need to pay the 50 dollar application fee with your exemption.

Here are the exemption forms:

Online Exemption Form

Download the Exemption Form

Download the Exemption Form Instructions

Download the Form to Revoke an Exemption

The Agent Articles section of BearWiseLandscapers.com allows our insurance agents to provide practical information for landscapers. These agents can also obtain quotes and establish a custom insurance program for your landscaping business through our access to a variety of insurance carriers. This agent article is filed under 4 Workers' Compensation, and you can follow comments to it through the RSS 2.0 feed. Feel free to leave your own response below: