Florida workers' compensation
A PEO bundles your comp into a leased-employee arrangement you don't control. A direct policy stays in your business name, builds your own experience history, and can be shopped every renewal. Richard Williams Agency is an independent agency — we quote the carriers, not a single program.
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Licensed Florida insurance agent
nearly three decades of experience
Industry experience behind every quote
Independent agency
Not tied to one carrier or one program
Carrier partners
Carrier appointments are being finalized.
Same office, same agent, from quote through renewal and certificates.
Florida sets the requirement by industry, not by business size alone. Construction employers are covered from the very first employee.
| Industry | Coverage required at | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Non-construction | 4 or more employees | Full-time or part-time, counted together. Corporate officers and LLC members count unless properly exempted.Full-time or part-time, counted together. Corporate officers and LLC members count unless properly exempted. |
| Construction | 1 or more employees | Coverage is required from the first employee, including most subcontractors working without their own policy.Coverage is required from the first employee, including most subcontractors working without their own policy. |
| Agriculture | 6 or more regular employees | Or 12 or more seasonal workers employed for more than 30 days in a season.Or 12 or more seasonal workers employed for more than 30 days in a season. |
Florida workers' comp is priced by NCCI class code. These statewide rates are the starting point — your payroll, experience mod, and carrier credits set the final number.
| Class code | Description | Rate per $100 payroll |
|---|---|---|
| 9586 | Barber, Beauty Parlor, Hair Salon | $0.43 |
| 9012 | Property Management — Managers | $0.61 |
| 8015 | Quick Printing / Copy Shop | $0.68 |
| 8008 | Clothing / Apparel Store | $1.05 |
| 9082 | Restaurant NOC | $1.16 |
| 8017 | Retail Store NOC | $1.18 |
| 9083 | Restaurant — Fast Food | $1.20 |
| 8006 | Gas Station with Grocery | $1.54 |
| 9052 | Hotel — All Employees | $1.56 |
| 8380 | Auto Service or Repair Center | $1.67 |
| 7605 | Burglar / Fire Alarm Installation | $2.12 |
| 5478 | Floor Covering Installation | $2.12 |
| 9014 | Janitorial / Cleaning Services | $2.45 |
| 9102 | Lawn Maintenance | $2.53 |
| 5183 | Plumbing NOC | $2.74 |
| 5190 | Electrical Wiring — Within Buildings | $2.97 |
| 5537 | HVAC Installation, Service & Repair | $3.00 |
| 6217 | Excavation | $3.27 |
| 5221 | Concrete — Floors, Driveways, Yards | $3.87 |
| 0042 | Landscape Gardening | $4.14 |
| 5403 | Carpentry NOC | $4.36 |
| 5474 | Painting NOC | $4.48 |
| 5437 | Carpentry — Cabinet / Interior Trim | $4.57 |
| 5102 | Door & Window Installation | $4.78 |
| 5022 | Masonry NOC | $5.22 |
| 5645 | Carpentry — Residential (1-2 Family) | $7.69 |
2026 Florida NCCI statewide rates. Every policy also includes a $160 expense constant. Rates don't vary by county — carrier credits/debits and your experience mod adjust the final premium.
Under a PEO, your employees are co-employed and your comp coverage sits inside the PEO's master policy. You get one bundled invoice, but you don't own the policy, you don't build your own loss history, and leaving usually means starting over with no experience credit of your own.
A direct policy is issued to your business. You keep your own class codes, your own experience modifier, your own certificates, and the ability to re-shop each renewal.
See the full comparisonWorkers' comp pricing is unusually transparent — it is arithmetic, not a black box.
Take your annual payroll for each class code and divide it by 100. Comp is rated per $100 of payroll, not per employee.
Each trade has its own published rate. A roofer and the office bookkeeper at the same company are rated very differently.
Your own claim history adjusts the result up or down. A clean history earns credit; a loss-heavy history costs more.
Full formula: expense constant + (payroll ÷ 100 × class rate × experience modifier), then carrier credits or debits. Because payroll drives the number, an accurate payroll split by trade is the single biggest lever on your premium.
Three common Central Florida claims, and why they add up fast.
Scenario 1
A landscaping crew member in Polk County strains his back lifting a commercial mower onto a trailer at the end of a hot afternoon. He's out of work for physical therapy and light duty for several weeks. Strains and overexertion injuries are among the most common workers' comp claims in landscaping and grounds-keeping work, and they add up fast once medical care and lost wages are combined.
Scenario 2
A framing crew working a new-build in the Davenport/Haines City area has a carpenter fall from a ladder while setting trusses. Falls are one of the most serious and most expensive categories of construction claims, often involving surgery, extended recovery, and a longer return-to-work timeline than a strain or sprain.
Scenario 3
A line cook at an Orlando-area restaurant slips on a wet kitchen floor during a dinner rush and fractures a wrist. Between the ER visit, follow-up care, and time away from the line, a single slip-and-fall claim can cost far more than a year of premiums for a small restaurant.
A captive agent can only offer what one company sells. An independent agent starts with your business — your trades, your payroll split, your claim history — and then looks for the market that fits it.
That independence matters most at renewal, when the question is whether your current rate is still competitive. There is no incentive to defend a single program.
Lake and Hillsborough County pages are on the way.
Answer a few questions about your business and payroll. An independent agent reviews it — no PEO lease, no payroll bundling.