Florida workers' comp exemptions explained: who qualifies, the $50 fee, and why they fail

By Adrian Middleton · Tuesday, October 27, 2026

What an exemption is

A Certificate of Election to be Exempt removes one person, a corporate officer or qualifying LLC member, from the definition of employee under Chapter 440. It is a certificate, not a status. If it was never issued, names the wrong company, or expired, the officer is an uninsured employee and every dollar paid to that officer is in the penalty.

Who qualifies

• Corporate officers who perform services for the corporation (s. 440.02(18)(b)1).
• LLC members owning at least 10 percent, who are treated as officers (s. 440.02(11)).
• In construction, no more than three officers of a corporation or of any group of affiliated corporations, each owning at least 10 percent and listed as an officer with the Division of Corporations (s. 440.02(18)(b)2). Entities under common control are affiliated, and shared equipment or income is prima facie evidence of it.
• Outside construction, there is no numeric limit or ownership threshold, but the officer must still be listed on Sunbiz (s. 440.05(10)).

Sole proprietors and partners in construction are employees and cannot exempt out except as officers of an incorporated entity. The fourth construction officer, the 5 percent member, and the "officer" who was never added to the Sunbiz record are the three people I most often found on a worksheet as uninsured payroll.

How to file

Section 440.05(3) requires the Notice of Election to be Exempt to be filed electronically with the Division of Workers' Compensation. The notice lists the applicant's name, date of birth, driver license or Florida ID number, every Chapter 489 license held, the company's Sunbiz registration number, the ownership percentage and the FEIN of each employer. The applicant certifies that any employees of the company are covered and that he or she has completed the Division's online coverage and compliance tutorial.

• Fee: $50 for a construction exemption (s. 440.05(8)).
• Effective date: when issued or 30 days after receipt, whichever is first (s. 440.05(5)). Payroll to the officer before that date is uninsured payroll.
• Validity: two years (s. 440.05(6)).
• Each entity needs its own certificate. A certificate naming Smith Roofing, Inc. does nothing for checks written by Smith Roofing LLC.

A false statement on the notice is a third-degree felony under section 440.05(4) and voids the exemption.

Why exemptions fail during a stop-work order

When I checked an exemption from the truck, these were the failures, in roughly the order I saw them:

1. Expired. Two years went by and the renewal notice went to an old email address.
2. Wrong entity. The officer formed a new LLC and never filed for it.
3. Not on Sunbiz, or the annual report lapsed and the entity was administratively dissolved.
4. Less than 10 percent ownership, or a fourth officer in a construction company.
5. The exempt "subcontractor" brought helpers. The exemption covers him. It does nothing for them, and under section 440.10(1)(b) the contractor paying him is liable for his uninsured workers.

Exemptions do not cover employees

A three-officer roofing company with valid exemptions for all three and one helper on the roof is an uninsured employer for the helper, and the order will be served. Construction coverage is required at one employee (s. 440.02(20)(b)2); exemptions change who counts, not the threshold. See who must carry coverage.

Coercing exemptions

Requiring a worker to form an entity and file an exemption as a condition of employment is a first-degree misdemeanor under section 440.105(2)(a)1. "Every man on my crew is the officer of his own LLC" is a pattern investigators recognize, and the certificates do not survive a field interview in which the "officers" say they are paid by the hour.

Check yours today

Verify every certificate on the Division's proof-of-coverage search: dates, entity name, officer status on Sunbiz, ownership percentage, and the three-officer count. The exemptions page has the detail, and the firm files and calendars exemptions for clients who would rather not learn about the problem from an investigator.