Workers' Compensation Insurance in California — Mandatory Coverage Every Employer Needs

May 5
2 min read

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.