Maine Workers' Comp Rate Calculator

Workers' comp in Maine: what's different

Maine does not run a state fund. Its backstop is an insurer the legislature created by statute, Maine Employers' Mutual Insurance Company (MEMIC). Employers can buy from MEMIC or any other licensed carrier, or self-insure. The Workers' Compensation Board enforces coverage and handles injury reports and claims. The Bureau of Insurance, under the Superintendent of Insurance, approves rates. NCCI files advisory loss costs for the state.

Who must carry coverage

Title 39-A puts every private employer under the Act, including an independent contractor who hires and pays employees. There is no minimum headcount, so one employee is enough. If you misclassify workers as independent contractors, the law treats you as uninsured for those workers even if you hold a policy.

Exceptions that matter for small businesses:

• Domestic workers. Employers of people engaged in domestic service do not have to insure them.
• Farms and aquaculture. Seasonal or casual farm laborers are exempt if you carry at least $25,000 of employer's liability insurance and $5,000 of medical payments coverage. Other farm crews qualify only with 6 or fewer laborers (or 240 combined weekly hours at most) and higher liability limits.
• Owners. Sole proprietors, partners, and LLC members are not covered unless they choose to be named on a policy. The Bureau of Insurance treats LLCs and LLPs like partnerships.
• Corporate officers. Executive officers of a for-profit corporation count as employees. An officer who owns at least 20% of the voting stock can file a written waiver with the Board, and the Board must approve it. Nonprofit officers are covered only if the corporation includes them.
• Commissioned real estate agents who have signed an independent contractor agreement are not employees.

Construction gets a stricter test. Since January 1, 2010, anyone doing construction work on a site for a hiring agent is presumed to be that agent's employee. The exceptions are a person who meets the statute's independent contractor test, and a person hired to run equipment over 7,000 pounds that the person owns and operates. A worker can file an Independent Contractor Statement (Form WCB-267) with the Board. It lasts one year and creates a rebuttable presumption, not a final ruling.

An out-of-state employer can skip Maine coverage for a visiting worker only when every condition in 39-A §113 is met. Among them: the worker is not a Maine resident or Maine hire, the employer has no permanent place of business here, and the work in Maine lasts no more than 5 consecutive days, 10 days in any 30, and 30 days in any 360.

Where coverage comes from

You can meet the requirement three ways. You can buy a policy from a licensed insurer, including MEMIC. You can self-insure on your own, or join a group self-insurer. The Superintendent of Insurance reviews self-insurance applications and sets the security you must post.

MEMIC is a mutual insurer. By statute it is not a state agency and gets no General Fund support or state guarantee.

Who sets rates

NCCI is the advisory rating organization for Maine. Its loss costs cover losses and loss adjustment expense, but not commissions, overhead, taxes, or profit. Each insurer files loss cost multipliers for the Superintendent's approval and multiplies the loss costs by them to get its rates. Experience rating, schedule rating, and premium discounts also affect the bill.

The last approval we found took effect April 1, 2025. Superintendent Bob Carey approved an average 9.6% cut in loss costs for new and renewing policies, ranging from 6.5% to 10.7% by industry group. NCCI then filed a further 4.8% decrease on January 16, 2026, for April 1, 2026. We did not find a Bureau decision on that filing. MEMIC's rate schedule on the Bureau's site is dated April 1, 2026.

Experience rating

Maine sets parts of its plan by statute. A uniform experience rating plan is the only allowed way to adjust your premium for past claims. It must weigh your three most recent years at 40%, 35%, and 25%, newest first (60% and 40% if only two years exist). NCCI files the plan. Its guide says NCCI computes mods in the states that use its plan.

If you are too small to be experience rated, your insurer must apply a merit rating instead. With no lost-time claims (or a loss ratio under 1.0) in the last three years you get an 8% credit. One claim that pushes the loss ratio over 1.0 means no change. Two or more such claims bring an 8% debit. Your insurer must tell you about the adjustment and why.

If no insurer will write you

MEMIC must offer coverage to any eligible employer that cannot get it, or chooses not to buy it, in the voluntary market, unless the employer is authorized to self-insure. The Bureau of Insurance, in the state's 2026 annual report, calls MEMIC the insurer of last resort. MEMIC must turn you down if you owe undisputed premium to a past carrier or the old residual market, or if you ignore its reasonable safety requirements.

MEMIC replaced the Maine Workers' Compensation Residual Market Pool, which insured hard-to-place employers from 1988 through 1992. The Bureau set September 15, 2026 as the deadline for claims against that pool.

Penalties for going uninsured

• Civil penalty. The Board can charge up to $10,000 or 108% of the premium you should have paid (priced at MEMIC's standard discounted rates), whichever is larger.
• Crime. A knowing violation is a Class D crime, punishable by less than one year in jail and a fine up to $2,000. Prior cancellation, a written warning from the Board, or a past violation can each make it "knowing."
• Business status. After a knowing violation, an unpaid penalty, or operating uninsured after a penalty, a corporation or LLC can be administratively dissolved, and a state-issued license can be suspended or revoked.
• Personal liability. The agent with primary responsibility for buying coverage can be punished.
• Lawsuits. An injured worker can sue you instead of claiming benefits. You cannot argue that the worker was negligent, that a co-worker caused the injury, or that the worker assumed the risk.

Your ongoing obligations

• Report lost-time injuries. When an injury costs a worker a day's work, file the Employer's First Report of Occupational Injury or Disease (WCB-1) with the Board within 7 days after you learn of it.
• Medical-only injuries. Complete a WCB-1 within 7 days after you learn of any injury that needed a health care provider. Send copies to the worker and your insurer within 24 hours. It goes to the Board only if the injury later costs a day's work.
• Wage statement. Report the worker's average weekly wage within 30 days after you learn of a claim.
• File on time. A late or missing form can draw a penalty of up to $100 per violation, and your insurer can bill you for one you caused.
• Coverage records. Your insurer files notice of your policy with the Board, and must give the Board and you 30 days' notice before canceling. The Board offers an online coverage check.

Worked example: how the calculator estimates premium

Premium = (payroll / 100) x rate per $100 x experience mod

The Bureau of Insurance posts one insurer's rate schedule you can use. MEMIC's Standard tier rate for NCCI class 5551 (roofing) is 7.086 per $100 of payroll, effective April 1, 2026. This is one insurer's filed manual rate. It is not a statewide rate and not an NCCI loss cost, and it already includes MEMIC's expense load. The Bureau says Standard rates reflect what most MEMIC policyholders pay. MEMIC's other tiers for 5551 run from 5.134 to 7.765.

• Annual roofing payroll (hypothetical): $250,000
• Rate per $100 (MEMIC Standard, class 5551): $7.086
• Experience mod (hypothetical): 0.90

The arithmetic

1. Divide payroll by 100: $250,000 / 100 = 2,500
2. Multiply by the rate: 2,500 x $7.086 = $17,715.00
3. Multiply by the mod: $17,715.00 x 0.90 = $15,943.50

A real MEMIC bill also reflects items the calculator leaves out: a $295 expense constant, a premium discount on standard premium over $5,000, and a 2.75% Workers' Compensation Board assessment surcharge. Other carriers use their own approved rates.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

• 39-A M.R.S. §102, Definitions
• 39-A M.R.S. §103, Common-law defenses lost
• 39-A M.R.S. §105-A, Construction contractors
• 39-A M.R.S. §113, Exemption for nonresident employees
• 39-A M.R.S. §151, Workers' Compensation Board
• 39-A M.R.S. §303, Reports to board
• 39-A M.R.S. §324, Compensation payments; penalty
• 39-A M.R.S. §360, Penalties
• 39-A M.R.S. §401, Liability of employer
• 39-A M.R.S. §403, Insurance and self-insurance
• 24-A M.R.S. §2382-C, Filing of rates
• 24-A M.R.S. §2382-D, Experience rating plan; merit rating plan
• 24-A M.R.S. §3702, MEMIC definitions (residual market mechanism)
• 24-A M.R.S. §3703, MEMIC establishment
• 24-A M.R.S. §3705, MEMIC nonstate agency
• 24-A M.R.S. §3711, MEMIC operation
• 17-A M.R.S. §1604, Imprisonment
• 17-A M.R.S. §1704, Fines
• Annual Report on the Status of the Maine Workers' Compensation System (February 2026)
• Maine Workers' Compensation Board Rules, 90-351 CMR
• Maine WCB, Independent Contractors
• Maine WCB, Insurance Coverage Verification
• Maine WCB, Abuse Investigation Unit
• Maine Bureau of Insurance, 9.6% loss cost decrease (March 26, 2025)
• Maine Bureau of Insurance, Opting Out (executive officers)
• Maine Bureau of Insurance, Current MEMIC Rates
• Maine Bureau of Insurance, Residual Market Pool claim deadline
• NCCI, Proposed Maine loss cost filing effective April 1, 2026
• NCCI, ABCs of Experience Rating
• NCCI, Arkansas residual market activity report (class 5551 title)

Sources accessed 2026-10-17.

This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm details with the Maine Workers' Compensation Board.

Reviewer: Sam Newland, CFP, Founder of Benefitra. Last updated October 17, 2026. How the calculator works. Editorial policy.