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Who must carry coverage, how the premium is built and audited, what the penalties are for going without, and what to do in the first week after an employee is hurt. Written from the carrier and premium-audit side.

• Who must carry coverageCalifornia requires every employer with one or more employees to carry workers' compensation insurance or be approved to self-insure - including out-of-state employers with workers in California and households that employ domestic workers above a small threshold. What "employee" means, how to secure coverage, and where the line falls.
• Who is exemptThe narrow list of people California excludes from workers' comp coverage - sole proprietors with no employees, corporate officers and directors who own at least 10% and sign a waiver, general partners and LLC managing members who sign a waiver, small household employment, volunteers - and the independent contractor question under the ABC test.
• How your rate is builtWhere a California workers' comp rate comes from - the WCIRB's advisory pure premium rate per class code, the Insurance Commissioner's annual decision, each insurer's own filed rate on top of it, the experience modification and schedule rating - and why two quotes for the same business differ.
• What workers' comp costsHow a California workers' comp premium is built - payroll by class code, a rate per $100, the experience modification, insurer loadings and minimum premium - with the 2026 advisory pure premium rate decision and a cost estimator.
• Premium auditHow a California workers' comp premium is calculated from payroll by classification and then audited after the policy year - what counts as remuneration, overtime and officer payroll rules, how uninsured subcontractors and misclassified workers show up, what the auditor asks for, and what happens if you refuse.
• Penalties for no coverageWhat happens to a California employer caught without workers' comp - the criminal misdemeanor and its minimum fines, the stop order, the per-employee penalty assessments, the Uninsured Employers Benefits Trust Fund's recovery, and the injured worker's right to sue.
• Lapsed coverageA California workers' comp policy that cancels for non-payment or non-renewal leaves the employer uninsured from the cancellation date - the same penalties as never having coverage, no grace for the gap, and personal liability for any injury in it. How a lapse happens, how to close it, and what the DIR does when it finds one.
• Contractors and 1099sHow California decides whether a 1099 worker is an independent contractor or an employee for workers' comp - the ABC test, its statutory exceptions and the Borello fallback - and what an uninsured subcontractor does to a hiring business's premium and liability.
• When an employee is injuredWhat a California employer must do, in order, when an employee is hurt - get treatment, give the DWC-1 claim form within one working day, authorize treatment within one working day of its return, file Form 5020 with the insurer within five days, report serious injuries to Cal/OSHA immediately - plus the standing duties to post the notice and give new hires the pamphlet, and the ban on retaliation.
• Get a quoteWhat a California employer needs ready to get a workers' comp quote, how pay-as-you-go quoting works, what the quote will show, and partner links to carriers that quote small California employers online. This site has no quote form and collects no information.