Florida workers comp exemptions belong to the person

A Florida workers comp exemption is easy to misunderstand if you only hear the word “exempt.”

An exemption is issued to an officer of a corporation or a member of an LLC. It is not issued to the whole business. Once the exemption is issued, that person is not treated as an employee of the business for workers comp purposes. That person also may not recover workers comp benefits.

That is a personal status with a real tradeoff. It is not a blanket sticker for every worker on a job. A company may have one exempt owner and still have other coverage duties based on the work, industry, and people on site.

For a contractor, keep the certificate where it can be found. For a homeowner or business hiring someone, check the person and the business name. Ask who will be on site and whether employees or subcontractors are part of the work.

Match the exemption to the person. Match the coverage record to the business. Ask before the job starts.