New York Workers' Comp Rate Calculator

Workers' comp in New York: what's different

New York gives employers a public option. The New York State Insurance Fund (NYSIF) sells workers' comp alongside private carriers, and it has to accept any employer that applies. Coverage rules and penalties belong to the Workers' Compensation Board (WCB). Pricing starts with the New York Compensation Insurance Rating Board (NYCIRB), which publishes loss costs by class, and the Department of Financial Services (DFS) approves them.

Who must carry coverage

The Board says virtually all New York employers must cover their employees. The definition is broad: part-time, seasonal, day labor, leased and borrowed workers count, and so do unpaid volunteers and family members working for a for-profit business. How owners are treated depends on the entity:

• Sole proprietors, partnerships, LLCs and LLPs with no employees need no policy. Owners, members and partners are not counted, though they may cover themselves voluntarily.
• Small corporations. A corporation owned by one or two people needs no policy if those people hold all the stock and all the offices and nobody else works for it. A third officer or shareholder brings the requirement back.
• Domestic workers must be covered once one works 40 or more hours a week for the same household.
• Farms need coverage if they have employees. A farmer's spouse and minor children are not counted unless they work under an express contract of hire.
• Out-of-state employers with employees or subcontractors working in New York need a full New York policy, with New York in Item 3A. Item 3C (New York listed on a home-state policy) is accepted only in two cases: employees attending meetings or conferences in New York no more than once a month, or passing through without stopping for deliveries, pick-ups or other work.

Construction has its own test. Under the Construction Industry Fair Play Act, anyone performing services for a contractor is presumed to be an employee unless the contractor proves a three-part test, or a twelve-part test for a separate business entity. The Board warns that carriers often charge general contractors premium for subcontractors who cannot show their own New York coverage.

If your business does not need a policy but is applying for a government permit, license or contract, you file a CE-200 exemption certificate instead.

Where coverage comes from

WCL §50 lists the routes: a policy from NYSIF, a policy from a private stock, mutual or reciprocal insurer licensed in New York, approval from the Board's chair to self-insure (with security posted), or membership in a group self-insurance plan for employers in a related industry. The Board puts the number of private carriers authorized by DFS at more than 200. NYSIF calls itself self-supporting, funded by premiums and investment income, and it competes directly with those carriers.

Who sets rates

New York is a loss cost state. NYCIRB files loss costs for each class with DFS. Those figures are not rates. Each insurer multiplies them by its own DFS-approved loss cost multiplier, and any change to that multiplier has to be filed and approved before use.

On July 15, 2026, DFS approved NYCIRB's request for a 21.9% decrease in the overall loss cost level, effective October 1, 2026. Insurers did not have to refile to use the new values. Because each carrier applies its own multiplier, your premium change can differ from 21.9%.

For construction trades, New York also limits how much of each worker's pay counts. Under Insurance Law §2304, payroll for eligible construction classes is capped per employee per week (the cap is $1,922.25 from July 1, 2026). Work on one- and two-family homes is excluded from the cap.

Experience rating

NYCIRB calculates and issues experience modifications under the New York Experience Rating Plan. The plan is mandatory for eligible risks, and eligibility is broad: any employer with New York exposure during the experience period qualifies. A mod can be produced with less than 12 months of data, and the experience period may not exceed 45 months. Employers with a mod above 1.2 and payroll above $800,000 must also join a safety and loss prevention program under WCL §134 and Code Rule 59.

If no insurer will write you

NYSIF is the backstop. It describes itself as a guaranteed source of coverage for employers who cannot get it elsewhere, and the Board says NYSIF must insure any employer seeking coverage, whatever its industry, safety record or size. The one exception: NYSIF can refuse an employer that still owes it money from an earlier bill or account.

Penalties for going uninsured

• Criminal. Going uninsured with five or fewer employees in a 12-month period is a misdemeanor with a $1,000 to $5,000 fine. With more than five, it is a class E felony and a fine of $5,000 to $50,000. A repeat conviction within five years is a class D felony.
• Civil. The Board can assess up to $2,000 for each 10-day period without coverage, or up to twice the cost of compensation for your payroll during the lapse. The Board notes the penalty may already exceed $12,000 by the time the first notice arrives. For a corporation, the president, secretary and treasurer are liable.
• Stop-work order. The chair can order all business operations to stop until coverage is in place and penalties are paid.
• Uninsured claims. You owe the full benefits awarded to an injured worker, and the worker can also sue you.
• Public work. Civil penalties or a stop-work order bar you from bidding on state public works for one year. A felony conviction brings a five-year bar.

Your ongoing obligations

• Post Form C-105. Display the Notice of Compliance in English and Spanish where workers can see it. Your insurer or agent supplies it. The fine is $500 per violation.
• Report injuries within 10 days. File a report with the Board and your carrier when an accident causes the loss of at least one day beyond the day or shift of the injury, or needs medical treatment beyond ordinary first aid (or more than two first-aid treatments).
• Keep records. Keep the injury record (Form C-2F or the First Report of Injury) for at least 18 years. Keep payroll, classification, employee count and accident records for four years.
• Do not charge workers. Deducting the cost of coverage from wages is a misdemeanor under WCL §31.
• Disability and Paid Family Leave. These are separate mandatory coverages. You must carry both and post Forms DB-120 and PFL-120. NYSIF also writes this coverage.

Worked example: how the calculator estimates premium

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

New York roofing uses two classes. Code 5545 (Roofing, NOC) covers roofs sloped 10 degrees or more, and code 5547 (Roofing, Built-Up) covers flat or low-slope roofs. NYCIRB's loss cost for 5545 is $8.897 per $100 of payroll, effective October 1, 2026, down from $12.024. That is a loss cost, not a rate. The multiplier below is illustrative, and the payroll and mod are hypothetical.

• Hypothetical code 5545 payroll: $300,000 (no employee above the weekly payroll cap)
• Loss cost (effective October 1, 2026): $8.897
• Illustrative loss cost multiplier: 1.30
• Hypothetical experience mod: 0.95

Step by step

1. Rate: $8.897 x 1.30 = $11.566 per $100
2. Payroll in hundreds: $300,000 / 100 = 3,000
3. Manual premium: 3,000 x $11.566 = $34,698.00
4. Apply the mod: $34,698.00 x 0.95 = $32,963.10

A real policy also carries terrorism and catastrophe provisions ($0.029 and $0.003 per $100 of payroll) and the New York State assessment.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

• NYS Workers' Compensation Board, Workers' Compensation Coverage Requirements
• NYS Workers' Compensation Board, Workers' Compensation Insurance
• NYS Workers' Compensation Board, Violations of Workers' Compensation Law
• NYS Workers' Compensation Board, Employers' Rights and Responsibilities
• NYS Workers' Compensation Board, Certificate of Attestation of Exemption (CE-200)
• NYS Workers' Compensation Board, Government Issued Permits, Licenses and Contracts
• NYS Workers' Compensation Board, Out-of-State Employers
• NYS Workers' Compensation Board, Good News for Employers
• NY Workers' Compensation Law §§31, 50, 51, 52, 76, 93, 110, 141-a (NY Senate)
• NYS Department of Financial Services, press release, July 15, 2026
• NYCIRB R.C. Bulletin 2659 (loss costs effective October 1, 2026)
• NYCIRB R.C. Bulletin 2656 (2026 loss cost filing)
• NYCIRB Digital Library, Workers' Compensation and Employers' Liability Manual
• NYCIRB Digital Library, New York Experience Rating Plan
• New York State Insurance Fund, About NYSIF

Sources accessed 2026-10-17.

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

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