Vermont Workers' Comp Rate Calculator

Workers' comp in Vermont: what's different

Vermont splits oversight between two agencies. The Department of Labor's Workers' Compensation Division handles coverage enforcement and claims, while the Department of Financial Regulation (DFR) Insurance Division oversees insurers and the market. There is no state fund. Employers buy from an authorized private insurer, qualify to self-insure, or join an approved self-insurance group. NCCI files the advisory loss costs and assigned risk rates that DFR reviews.

Who must carry coverage

The Department of Labor calls coverage mandatory for all Vermont employers, with no minimum headcount. Its guidance says you are liable for anyone you employ, including independent contractors and subcontractors. 21 V.S.A. § 601 carves out a short list of exceptions:

• Casual work that is not for the purpose of your trade or business.
• Farm work for an employer whose total payroll is under $10,000 in a calendar year, unless the employer opts in. Buying a policy counts as opting in.
• Work in or around a private home, unless the household opts in the same way.
• Family members living in your house, unless their pay is included in the payroll your premium is based on.
• Licensed real estate brokers and salespeople paid only by commission under a written contract saying they are not employees.

Corporate officers and LLC members. With the Commissioner of Labor's approval, a corporation or LLC may exclude up to four executive officers, managers, or members. The application is Form 29. If every officer or member is excluded and the business has no employees, it does not need a policy.

Hiring a sole proprietor or partnership. An unincorporated contractor's owner falls outside the Act only if six tests are all met. Among them: the owner controls how the work is done, serves the general public, and signs a written contract stating they have no employees and have chosen not to buy coverage.

General contractors. The statute's definition of employer reaches an owner who is virtually the proprietor of a business even when an independent contractor directly employs the workers. DFR Insurance Bulletin No. 197 (December 20, 2017) tells auditors when that does not apply: the contractor is a corporation or LLC registered in Vermont, you contract with the entity rather than the person, and it has four or fewer officers or members, all excluded on approved Form 29s, with no other employees. If the contractor has any other worker who is not excluded and is doing work within the nature of your business, you are that worker's statutory employer and need coverage for them.

Out-of-state work. A worker hired in Vermont is covered under Vermont law for an injury outside the state.

Where coverage comes from

Section 687 lists four ways to secure compensation: insurance from an authorized carrier (including a reciprocal exchange), guarantee insurance, self-insurance approved by the Commissioner of Labor (DFR reviews each application and gives a recommendation), or membership in a nonprofit self-insurance corporation approved by DFR.

Every authorized carrier must offer, on your written request, a policy with a deductible of at least $500 that you reimburse to the insurer.

Who sets rates

Vermont law requires every workers' comp insurer to use the uniform classification system and experience rating plan filed by the advisory organization the DFR Commissioner designates. NCCI describes itself as the licensed advisory organization that files recommended loss costs and assigned risk rates for Vermont. Insurers then file their own rates with DFR at least 30 days before use. DFR posts each carrier's loss cost multiplier in a public report.

DFR posts copies of NCCI's advisory loss costs and assigned risk rates effective April 1, 2026, as a convenience to the public. DFR notes that loss costs and assigned risk rates did not change in 2024. As of October 17, 2026, the last DFR press release we found with an overall figure covers April 1, 2023: voluntary loss costs fell 6.7% and assigned risk rates 6.9%.

On September 18, 2026, NCCI filed a 5.5% decrease in voluntary loss costs and a 6.6% decrease in assigned risk rates for April 1, 2027. That filing was still proposed when we checked.

Experience rating

Your insurer must apply the uniform experience rating plan. State law requires the plan to have reasonable eligibility standards, and it is the only allowed way to adjust a prospective premium for your own loss history. DFR's posted loss cost pages point to the Experience Rating Plan Manual for the current eligibility amount.

If no insurer will write you

NCCI serves as Pool and Plan Administrator of the Vermont Workers Compensation Insurance Plan, the assigned risk market. Plan rates are full rates that include servicing carrier expenses, and a residual market rate cannot take effect until the DFR Commissioner approves it. Roofing (code 5551) ranked second by policy count in the plan's June 30, 2026 report.

Penalties for going uninsured

• Daily penalties. After a hearing, up to $100 a day for the first seven days without coverage, then up to $150 a day.
• Stop-work order. The Commissioner issues an emergency order to stop work until you are insured (work may continue only if stopping it would immediately threaten public safety or health) and posts a notice at the site. Once that order is out, add up to $250 a day, plus up to $250 per employee per day.
• Ignoring the order. A civil penalty of up to $5,000 (up to $10,000 for a repeat), or a criminal fine of up to $10,000 and up to 180 days in jail.
• Personal liability. Officers and majority stockholders of an uninsured corporation, or partners of an uninsured partnership, are personally liable for the injured worker's benefits.
• Lawsuits. The worker may sue instead. You must prove the injury was not caused by your negligence, and you lose the fellow-employee and assumption-of-risk defenses.

Your ongoing obligations

• Post Form 31, the Department's notice to employees, in a conspicuous place at each place of business.
• Report injuries. Any injury causing a day or more off work or needing medical care goes to the Department within 72 hours, Sundays and legal holidays excluded. The Department also tells employers to report to their carrier within 72 hours of notice, using the Employer's First Report of Injury (Form 1). Late or missing reports can cost up to $100 per violation.
• First-aid-only injuries (one treatment, a bill under $750, no more than a day off) still go to the Department. Report them to your carrier or pay the bill within 30 days.
• Don't charge workers. Deducting premium from wages can bring a fine of up to $500.

Worked example: how the calculator estimates premium

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

DFR posts NCCI's advisory loss cost for class 5551 (Roofing, all kinds and drivers) as 7.986 per $100 of payroll, effective April 1, 2026. That is a loss cost, not a rate: it leaves out insurer expenses other than loss adjustment. Carriers apply their own multiplier, so the 1.40 below is illustrative. Payroll and mod are hypothetical.

• Hypothetical roofing payroll: $180,000
• Loss cost (DFR-posted, April 1, 2026): 7.986
• Illustrative loss cost multiplier: 1.40
• Hypothetical experience mod: 0.95

Step by step

1. Payroll in hundreds: $180,000 / 100 = 1,800
2. Rate per $100: 7.986 x 1.40 = 11.1804
3. Premium before the mod: 1,800 x 11.1804 = $20,124.72
4. Apply the mod: $20,124.72 x 0.95 = $19,118.48

For comparison, the April 1, 2026 assigned risk rate for 5551 is 10.861, a full rate with a $1,200 minimum premium.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

• Vermont Department of Labor, Workers' Compensation
• Vermont Department of Labor, Fact Sheet for Employers
• Vermont Department of Labor, Does My Employer Have Workers' Comp Coverage?
• Vermont Department of Labor, Employer's Responsibility for Reporting an Injury
• Vermont Department of Labor, Workers' Compensation Forms
• 21 V.S.A. chapter 9 (Sections 601, 618, 619, 640, 687, 691, 692, 699, 701, 702)
• 8 V.S.A. chapter 128 (Sections 4687, 4688, 4689)
• Vermont DFR, Workers' Compensation
• Vermont DFR, Advisory Loss Costs effective April 1, 2026
• Vermont DFR, Advisory Loss Costs effective April 1, 2025
• Vermont DFR, Assigned Risk Rates effective April 1, 2026
• Vermont DFR, 2026 Loss Cost Multiplier Report
• Vermont DFR, Insurance Bulletin No. 197
• Vermont DFR, press release, January 25, 2023
• NCCI, Summary of the Proposed Vermont Loss Cost and Assigned Risk Rate Filing Effective April 1, 2027
• NCCI, Vermont Residual Market State Activity Report, Second Quarter 2026

Sources accessed 2026-10-17.

This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm details with the Vermont Department of Labor, Workers' Compensation Division.

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