If you’re a corporate officer or LLC member in Maryland who wants out of your company’s workers’ compensation coverage, you file the Maryland workers’ compensation exclusion form (Form IC-16) through the Workers’ Compensation Commission’s CompHub portal. You enter your business and ownership information online, generate a PDF, print and sign it, then upload the signed document back to the portal. Once the Commission processes it, you’re removed from the policy and from the premium calculations tied to it.
Coverage is the default. Under Maryland Code, Labor and Employment § 9-206(a), any corporate officer or LLC member who performs a service for monetary compensation is a covered employee automatically.1Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Labor and Employment 9-206 – Corporate or Limited Liability Company Officer The exclusion form is how you opt out of that default, and only if you fit one of five narrow categories.
Who Can File the Exclusion
Section 9-206(b) lists the only people eligible to file:
- An officer of a close corporation (as defined in Maryland’s Corporations and Associations Article, or under the law of the state where the corporation is incorporated).
- An officer of a standard corporation, with a cap of five officers per corporation who may elect out.
- An officer of a farm corporation who owns at least 20% of the outstanding capital stock, where the corporation earns at least 75% of its income from farm operations.
- An officer of a professional corporation who owns at least 20% of the stock and personally performs a professional service for the corporation.
- An LLC member who owns at least 20% of the outstanding interests in the LLC’s profits.
Farm corporations, professional corporations, and LLCs all share the 20% ownership floor. Close corporations have no percentage requirement, and standard corporations are capped at five exempted officers instead.2Maryland Workers’ Compensation Commission. Exclusion Request Each person who signs the form affirms under penalty of perjury that they meet the stated criteria.
One boundary worth clearing up: partners and sole proprietors don’t use this form. They start outside the workers’ compensation system by default under §§ 9-219 and 9-227 and must affirmatively elect in to get coverage.3Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Labor and Employment 9-219 – Partner4Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Labor and Employment 9-227 – Sole Proprietor If that’s you, CompHub has an Inclusion request, not an Exclusion.
What to Gather Before You Start
You enter most of the form’s content directly into CompHub, so have these ready:
- The business’s legal name exactly as registered with the Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT).
- The SDAT Department ID assigned when the entity was formed or registered.
- The Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN).
- Your insurance carrier’s name, its NCCI number, and the date you notified the carrier about the planned exclusion.
- The correct entity type under § 9-206(b): close corporation, standard corporation, farm corporation, professional corporation, or LLC.
- Your name, email, and title within the company.
Notify your insurance carrier before or at the time you file. That notification date goes on the form, and the carrier uses the confirmed exclusion to adjust premium at the next policy renewal or audit.5Maryland Workers’ Compensation Commission. Exclusion Form IC-16
Filing Through CompHub
Go to the Exclusion Request page at comphub.wcc.state.md.us. Enter the business, ownership, carrier, and requester information, select the correct entity type, and click Save & Generate Document. The portal produces a PDF of the Exclusion Signature Form pre-populated with everything you entered.2Maryland Workers’ Compensation Commission. Exclusion Request
Download and print the PDF. Every officer or member seeking exclusion signs the printed document. You can circulate it however works best to collect signatures. Once everyone has signed, scan the complete document back to PDF and return to CompHub. Choose the “Complete and attach signed Exclusion form” option, enter the request number assigned when you generated the form, and upload the file. Don’t upload until every required signature is on the document; a partially signed form will stall processing.
Send a copy of the signed form to your workers’ compensation carrier as well, as required by § 9-206(c), and keep one for your own records.6Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Labor and Employment 9-206
What Happens After You File
When the Commission processes the request, the individual named on the form is officially exempt from coverage under the Maryland Workers’ Compensation Act for that specific business entity. The Commission issues a confirmation, and the insurance carrier uses it to adjust the policy. If multiple officers or members are excluded at different times, each filing generates its own confirmation tied to the person listed.
The exemption is entity-specific. If you hold a qualifying ownership position in more than one corporation or LLC, you need a separate filing for each. It’s also conditional: it lasts only as long as you meet the statutory criteria. An LLC member whose profit interest drops below 20%, or a general corporation that already has five exempted officers and tries to add a sixth, no longer qualifies, and the person has to be returned to the policy.
Risks of Filing Incorrectly or Losing Eligibility
Every signer affirms the form’s contents under penalty of perjury. Overstating ownership or picking the wrong entity type isn’t a clerical slip, it’s a false statement on a government filing, and the Commission cross-references what you submit against state records.
The more common problem is drifting out of eligibility and not noticing. A share sale that drops an officer below 20%, a restructured operating agreement, a shift in profit allocation, any of these can convert a formerly excluded person back into a covered employee by operation of law. If that person is injured during the gap, the business is facing an uninsured claim. The Uninsured Employers’ Fund can pay the injured worker’s award and then pursue the employer to recover it, and officers or members with general management responsibility can be held personally liable for the full award when they knowingly failed to keep insurance in place.7Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Labor and Employment 9-1003
Treat exclusion status as something to reverify whenever ownership changes. Update your carrier, and either file a new exclusion for the right person or let the existing one lapse so the individual goes back on the policy.