Utah Workers' Comp Rate Calculator

Workers' comp in Utah: what's different

Utah has no state-run fund. Employers insure with a carrier authorized by the Utah Insurance Department, or they get the Industrial Accidents Division's approval to self-insure. The old state-created Workers' Compensation Fund (WCF) became a mutual insurance corporation on January 1, 2018, and the state is not liable for its debts. Coverage rules and penalties belong to the Labor Commission's Industrial Accidents Division. Rates run through the Insurance Department, where NCCI files advisory loss costs.

Who must carry coverage

One worker is enough. Utah Code 34A-2-103 treats any person that regularly employs one or more workers in the same business as an employer. "Regularly" includes work in the usual course of your trade, even if it lasts only part of the year.

Outside the Act:

• Casual labor that is also outside the usual course of your business.
• Domestic help. A household is an employer only if it employs at least one worker 40 hours a week or more.
• Farm work. Immediate family is excluded. For other farm workers, you are exempt if last year's payroll for them was under $8,000. Between $8,000 and $50,000, you are exempt only if you carry $300,000 of liability insurance and $5,000 of health care coverage for them. At $50,000 or more, you must cover them.
• Commission real estate agents and insurance producers working under written independent contractor contracts.

Owners. Partners and sole proprietors are not covered unless the business elects coverage by written notice to its carrier. The carrier then assumes each owner earns 100% of the state average weekly wage for premium purposes. (Owners who drive for a trucking business with employees are covered automatically.) A corporation may exclude its directors and officers by written notice to its carrier, except officers who drive for a motor carrier. A corporation with no employees except its officers files that notice with the Labor Commission instead, for no more than five people. The Commission says corporations that contract out their work cannot use this exclusion and should apply for a waiver.

Waivers. A sole proprietor, partnership, or LLC with no employees can apply for a Workers' Compensation Coverage Waiver. It costs a $50 nonrefundable fee and runs for one year.

Construction. If you hire a contractor whose work you supervise and that is part of your business, the contractor's workers count as yours. You avoid that by getting and relying on the contractor's certificate of coverage or, if the contractor has no employees besides its owners or officers, its coverage waiver. Section 34A-2-103(8) adds a rule for firms that must hold a Utah construction license: an unincorporated entity (such as an LLC or partnership) is presumed to employ each of its owners and must cover them. It can rebut that with clear and convincing evidence, for example that the owner is an active manager or holds at least 8%.

Out-of-state work. Workers hired or regularly employed in Utah stay covered for injuries in the first six months outside the state, longer if you file notice with the Division. A worker hired elsewhere and temporarily in Utah is exempt if the home-state policy covers the Utah work and the extraterritorial conditions in Section 34A-2-406 are met.

Where coverage comes from

Section 34A-2-201 gives two routes: a policy from an authorized insurer, or Division approval to pay benefits directly. The Commission generally expects five years in business, net worth of at least $10 million, a top-two Dun and Bradstreet rating (5A or 4A), a surety bond or cash deposit, and excess coverage. The certificate is renewed yearly. Paying an injured worker directly without that approval is barred, with penalties of up to $1,000 and then $5,000 per repeat violation.

Who sets rates

Utah law has the insurance commissioner designate one rate service organization to file advisory loss costs and run uniform classification and experience rating plans. NCCI files those loss costs. Each insurer files its own rates at least 30 days before use, built on the loss costs or a percent change to them. If the commissioner believes the loss costs are excessive, inadequate, or unfairly discriminatory, the commissioner can demand more support, require adjustments, or call a hearing.

On August 27, 2025, NCCI filed a 4.5% decrease in voluntary loss costs for February 1, 2026. On August 25, 2026, it filed a further 5.6% decrease for February 1, 2027, which was still a proposal when we checked. As of October 17, 2026, we did not find an Insurance Department approval notice for either filing on its website.

Experience rating

The designated organization's uniform experience rating plan must contain eligibility standards and reward loss prevention. Utah also lets an insurer develop its own experience modifications, based on the uniform plans. We did not find Utah's eligibility threshold on an official public page.

If no insurer will write you

The statute that turned WCF into a mutual also required the commissioner to contract with one carrier, starting no later than January 1, 2021, to write every workers' compensation application it receives. That contract must run at least 10 years. In a September 30, 2022 report to the Legislature, Commissioner Jonathan Pike wrote that his predecessor had defined the residual market and contracted with the Workers Compensation Fund to serve it. We found no later report online as of October 2026.

Penalties for going uninsured

• Division penalty. Once the Division finds you out of compliance, the penalty is the greater of $1,000 or three times the premium you would have paid. That premium uses the residual-market carrier's rate filing, your highest-rated class code, and 150% of the state average weekly wage per worker, for up to 156 weeks.
• Crime. Failing to insure is a class B misdemeanor for the employer and each corporate officer, and each day is a separate offense.
• Shutdown. The Commission can ask a court to stop your business until you are insured.
• Lawsuits. An injured worker can sue you. You lose the fellow-servant, assumption-of-risk, and contributory-negligence defenses, and the injury itself counts as evidence of your negligence.

Your ongoing obligations

• Post notice of your coverage in a conspicuous place. Free English and Spanish notices come from the Labor Commission.
• Report injuries. Send Form 122e, the Employer's First Report of Injury or Illness, to your carrier within 7 days of learning of the injury, and give the worker a copy. Your carrier then has 14 days to report electronically to the Division. First-aid-only cuts and scratches are exempt unless a doctor reports them.
• Keep records of injuries involving treatment, lost or restricted work, or a job transfer. Failing to report or keep records can cost up to $500.
• Proof of coverage. Your carrier files notice of your policy with the Division within 30 days of its start date.

Workers must notify you or the Division within 180 days of an injury or lose the claim.

Worked example: how the calculator estimates premium

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

No Insurance Department or NCCI page we found posts Utah's code 5551 (roofing) loss cost, so the $5.20 below is illustrative, not Utah's filed figure. The multiplier, payroll, and mod are hypothetical.

• Hypothetical roofing payroll: $250,000
• Illustrative loss cost: $5.20
• Illustrative loss cost multiplier: 1.35
• Hypothetical experience mod: 1.08

Step by step

1. Payroll in hundreds: $250,000 / 100 = 2,500
2. Rate per $100: $5.20 x 1.35 = $7.02
3. Premium before the mod: 2,500 x $7.02 = $17,550.00
4. Apply the mod: $17,550.00 x 1.08 = $18,954.00

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

• Utah Labor Commission, Employers' Guide to Workers' Compensation
• Utah Labor Commission, Employers (Corporate Exclusion, Penalties)
• Utah Labor Commission, Workers' Compensation Coverage Waivers
• Utah Labor Commission, Self-Insurance
• Utah Code Title 34A, Chapter 2, Workers' Compensation Act (Sections 34A-2-103, -104, -201, -201.3, -205, -207, -209, -210, -211, -405, -406, -407)
• Utah Code Title 31A, Chapter 19a (Sections 31A-19a-404, -405, -406)
• Utah Code Title 31A, Chapter 22, Part 10 (Sections 31A-22-1001, -1014)
• Utah Insurance Department, Workers' Compensation
• Utah Insurance Commissioner, report under Utah Code 31A-22-1001(4) (September 30, 2022)
• NCCI, Summary of the Proposed Utah Loss Cost Filing Effective February 1, 2026
• NCCI, Summary of the Proposed Utah Loss Cost Filing Effective February 1, 2027
• NCCI, AIS 2026 State of the Line presentation (class 5551, Roofing)

Sources accessed 2026-10-17.

This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm details with the Utah Labor Commission, Industrial Accidents Division.

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