2020 Analysis of Workers' Compensation Laws - 11

Chart I-Type of Law and Insurance Requirements, cont.
SelfInsurance

Jurisdiction

Type of Law

Insurance

Penalties on Failure to Insure

Maine

Compulsory

Required

Individual and
group

Class D crime. Employer liable for civil penalty up to $10,000 or amount equal to 108% of the premium
(calculated using Maine Employers' Mutual Insurance Company's Standard Discounted Standard Premium)
that should have been paid during the period the employer failed to secure coverage, whichever is larger,
payable to the Employment Rehabilitation Fund. Corporate employers and limited liability companies are
subject to revocation or suspension of authority to do business.

Maryland

Compulsory

Required

Individual and
group4

If, after a hearing, an employer is found to be noncompliant, the Commission shall order payment of
penalty not to exceed $10,000. If, after 30 days, the employer is still not in compliance (has failed to
secure insurance as ordered by the Commission), the Commission may order another penalty not to exceed
$10,000.

Massachusetts

Compulsory

Required

Individual and
group

Fine up to $1,500, imprisonment up to one year, or both; employer liable to suit with defenses abrogated.
Civil penalties for failure to insure include stop-work orders, debarment from state and municipal contracts,
and "a $100 per day fine from date the stop-work order is issued up to and including the date a WC policy
is secured and the fine is paid." The fine is increased to $250 per day if the employer appeals the stopwork order and is unsuccessful. See Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 152, §25C (1) & (2).

Michigan

Compulsory

Required

Individual and
group

Fine up to $1,000 per day, imprisonment up to six months, or both; employer liable for damages.

Minnesota

Compulsory

Required

Individual and
group

Fine up to $1,000 per employee per week during which the employer was not in compliance. Employer may
be enjoined from further employment. Intentional noncompliance is a gross misdemeanor. Employer liable
to suit with some defenses abrogated. Additional penalty of $2,000 is assessed if information reported to
obtain business license or permit is false. Uninsured employer is liable for compensation benefit to injured
employee plus 65% of benefit payable to the Special Compensation Fund.

Mississippi

Compulsory

Required

Individual and
group5

Fine up to $1,000, one-year imprisonment, or both; civil penalty up to $10,000. Employer liable to suit with
defenses abrogated.

Missouri

Compulsory

Required

Individual and
group

Any employer who knowingly fails to insure his workers' compensation liability shall be guilty of a Class
A misdemeanor and shall be liable to the state of Missouri for a penalty in an amount up to three times
the annual premium the employer would have paid had such employer been insured, or up to $50,000,
whichever amount is greater. Any person who has previously pleaded guilty to or has been found guilty of
knowingly failing to insure his workers' compensation liability and who then commits this offense again
shall be guilty of a Class E felony, effective 1/1/17.

Montana

Compulsory

Required

Individual and
group6

Employer enjoined from doing business. Double amount of unpaid premiums assessed as penalty (minimum
$200). Employer liable for all benefits paid or to be paid to injured worker. Employer automatically
negligent if no coverage obtained. Penalties payable to Uninsured Employers' Fund. Criminal sanctions
consist of felony employer misconduct charge.

Nebraska

Compulsory

Required

Individual and
group7

Employer liable to suit with defenses abrogated and may be subject to one or more of the following:
enjoinder from doing business until compliance is secured, imprisonment up to one year, or penalty up to
$1,000 for each violation. Each day of continued failure to secure payment of compensation constitutes a
separate violation.

Nevada

Compulsory

Required

Individual and
group

An employer who fails to obtain or maintain coverage is liable to suit by the injured employee or his
or her dependents. If the injured employee elects to be covered by the Uninsured Employers' Claim
Account, the employer is liable for claim costs, administrative fees, interest, attorney's fees and costs,
and administrative fine up to $15,000. The employer's business may be closed, and employer is liable
for penalty equal to the premiums that would have been owed for the period of noninsurance, but not
to exceed six years and interest. A first offense is generally a misdemeanor; however, if an employee
in the course and scope of employment suffers substantial bodily harm or is killed during the period of
noncoverage, it is a Category C felony, punishable by imprisonment between one year and five years and a
fine between $1,000 and $50,000. A second failure to provide or maintain insurance coverage within seven
years after the first offense is a Category C felony.

New
Hampshire

Compulsory

Required

Individual and
group

Class B felony. Penalty of $2,500 plus $100 per employee per day. Employer may be enjoined from doing
business and injured worker may sue for damages.

New Jersey

Elective8

Required

Permitted

Uninsured employers are subject to a disorderly person's offense and, if determined to be knowing, a
crime of the fourth degree. Penalties for such failure can be assessed up to $5,000 for the first 10 days,
with additional assessments of $5,000 for each 10-day period of failure to insure thereafter. In the
event a work-related accident occurs and a formal decision is rendered by a judge of compensation, the
uninsured employer is personally responsible to provide all benefits-medical, temporary, permanent, and
dependency. The employer may also be subject to a $1,000 penalty and an additional assessment of 15%
of the award, up to $5,000.

2020 Analysis of Workers' Compensation Laws | 11

2020 Analysis of Workers' Compensation Laws

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of 2020 Analysis of Workers' Compensation Laws