Missouri Workers Compensation Attorney
Roskin & Hoffmann, LLC

Workers Compensation: Construction Industry Rules

If your company erects, demolishes, repairs or alters any structure, you are mostly likely in the construction industry. Missouri normally requires employers with 5 or more employees to carry workers’ compensation insurance. The definition of “employee” includes both full and part-time employees, and includes every person in the service of an employer under any contract of hire, express or implied, oral or written, or under any appointment or election, including executive officers of a corporation. Employers in the construction industry have stricter requirements and are required to carry workers comp insurance with just one or more employees.

A corporation in the construction industry may elect to withdraw from the workers compensation requirements if there are no more than two owners of the corporation who are also the only employees of the corporation.  Sole proprietors and partners are themselves not covered unless they individually elect to purchase workers compensation insurance. If the only people working in the business are either the sole proprietors or the partners, then work comp insurance is not required by law, althought it may be purchased voluntarily. Other than some very limited exceptions, it is a criminal offense for a business to operate without having the necessary workers compensation insurance and it may also expose the employer to civil liability.

Workers Compensation for Subcontractors

The workers compensation statute says that the general contractor is liable for any injuries to the employees of uninsured subcontractors. This may lead to the workers comp insurance carrier for the general contractor charging additional premiums.  For this reason, a general contractor can require subcontractors to carry work comp insurance.

Workers Comp requirement for obtaining City or County Business License

In 1993 the legislature added a requirement for any business that is a “contractor in the construction industry” to show proof of workers compensation coverage when applying for a city or county business license.  Any city or county in Missouri that issues an occupational or business license for a contractor in the construction industry is required to obtain proof of workers compensation coverage or have the completed affidavit of exemption submitted by the contractor.

Contact an Experienced Workers Compensation Lawyer

The St. Louis Workers Compensation Lawyers at Roskin & Hoffmann, LLC have nearly 100 years of combined Work Comp experience, our attorneys wrote the Missouri Practice Series on Workers’ Compensation and we have handled some of the most complex Workers Comp cases throughout Missouri. If you have been injured at work or if you have a questions regarding the workers comp construction industry rules, call our knowledgeable attorneys at (314) 821-9013 or send us a Workers Compensation question. We look forward to helping you. All communications are returned promptly.

Workers Compensation Lawyers at Roskin & Hoffmann, LLC based in St. Louis, Missouri have nearly 100 combined years of work comp experience. Learn about construction industry rules.