California requires every employer with even one employee — W-2 or part-time — to carry Workers’ Compensation insurance. Skip it and the state hits you with criminal misdemeanor charges, $10,000+ fines, plus personal liability for any workplace injury. CoverToday is a Los Angeles-based independent broker who shops multiple specialty Workers’ Comp carriers to find the best class-code rate, in English and Russian.
What Workers’ Comp covers
- Medical bills for workplace injuries (no deductible to the employee).
- Temporary disability payments while the employee recovers — typically 2/3 of wages.
- Permanent disability if the injury results in lasting impairment.
- Death benefits for the employee’s family if the injury is fatal.
- Vocational retraining if the employee can’t return to their old job.
How rates are set
WC rates are based on three things: (1) class code — the type of work your employees do; office work is cheap, roofing is expensive; (2) annual payroll — you pay a rate per $100 of payroll; (3) experience modifier (X-mod) — if your business has had claims, your X-mod goes above 1.0 and your premium increases. Choosing the right broker matters because miscoded jobs (an apprentice in a class code reserved for journeymen) can double your premium overnight.
What it costs in California
California is one of the more expensive WC markets. Office work runs $0.30–$0.80 per $100 of payroll. Restaurants $1.50–$3.00. Construction trades $5–$15+ depending on trade. Roofing can hit $20–$40 per $100 of payroll. A general contractor with $200k of payroll in roofing class codes pays $40k–$80k/year. The right broker can save you 20–40% by placing you with the carrier who underwrites your class code aggressively.
How CoverToday writes Workers’ Comp
- Multi-carrier shopping across specialty WC carriers — each carrier has class codes they want and ones they don’t.
- Class-code review — we audit your job descriptions to make sure each employee is in the right (lowest) defensible class code.
- Pay-as-you-go billing available with several carriers — premium scales with payroll instead of an estimate, smoothing cash flow.
- Bilingual service — EN and RU. Many CA construction and trade businesses have Russian-speaking ownership.
Get a WC quote today
Call or text 310-299-5555. Have your business name + FEIN, list of employees with job descriptions, annual payroll per employee, and any prior X-mod ready. CoverToday Insurance Agency, LLC. CA License #0K77310.