Georgia’s workers’ compensation exemption form, the WC-10, lets corporate officers and LLC members opt out of coverage under their business’s workers’ comp policy. You fill out Section A, sign the certification block, and file it with your insurance carrier. Only if the business has no carrier does the form go directly to the State Board of Workers’ Compensation. The exemption has no legal force until that filing actually happens.
Who Can Use the WC-10 to Opt Out
The opt-out right is narrow. Under O.C.G.A. § 34-9-2.1, only corporate officers and members of limited liability companies can reject workers’ compensation coverage through the WC-10.1Justia. Georgia Code 34-9-2.1 – Exemption of Corporate Officers Regular employees cannot use the form to waive coverage, regardless of title or pay.
The statute caps the number of exemptions per entity. A corporation cannot exempt more than five officers, and an LLC cannot exempt more than five members.1Justia. Georgia Code 34-9-2.1 – Exemption of Corporate Officers The person filing must hold an identifiable office or membership position, because the form asks for the specific title (President, Treasurer, Managing Member, and so on) at the time of certification.2Georgia State Board of Workers’ Compensation. Notice of Election or Rejection of Workers’ Compensation Coverage
Sole proprietors and partners are on a different track. They aren’t covered by mandatory workers’ comp to begin with, so there’s nothing to opt out of. If they want coverage, they use Section B of the same form to elect in. Farm labor employers use Section C for a similar opt-in purpose. Those two sections aren’t relevant to the exemption path, but they share the form, which is why the WC-10 has three sections instead of one.
How to Complete Section A
The WC-10 is a one-page fillable PDF available on the State Board of Workers’ Compensation’s Board Forms page.3State Board of Workers’ Compensation. Board Forms For an exemption, you complete only Section A and the certification block at the bottom. Leave Sections B and C blank.
Section A asks for your name, the employer’s business name, and the office you hold. Check the box stating that you elect to reject the provisions of the Georgia Workers’ Compensation Law.2Georgia State Board of Workers’ Compensation. Notice of Election or Rejection of Workers’ Compensation Coverage Section A also contains a separate revocation checkbox for undoing a prior rejection; ignore it unless that’s what you’re doing.
The certification block at the bottom applies to everyone using the form. Print your name, list a business phone number and business address, then sign and date. Your signature certifies that you hold the office stated and that the information is accurate.
Where to Send the Completed Form
Filing routing depends on one question: does your business currently have a workers’ compensation insurance policy?
If yes, send the completed WC-10 to your insurance carrier. Do not send it to the State Board. The form itself states, “Do not send to the Board if there is insurance coverage.”2Georgia State Board of Workers’ Compensation. Notice of Election or Rejection of Workers’ Compensation Coverage The carrier uses the filing to adjust who is covered under the policy and to recalculate the premium.
If the business has no carrier, file the form directly with the State Board of Workers’ Compensation at 270 Peachtree Street, N.W., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-1299.2Georgia State Board of Workers’ Compensation. Notice of Election or Rejection of Workers’ Compensation Coverage This situation typically applies when a corporation or LLC has three to five officers or members, everyone is filing an exemption, and there are no other employees, so no policy exists in the first place. If you’re unsure where the form should go, the SBWC’s call center takes questions at 404-656-3818 or 1-800-533-0682.3State Board of Workers’ Compensation. Board Forms
When the Exemption Takes Effect and How to Reverse It
The rejection has no legal force until the certification is filed with the proper entity, whether that’s your carrier or the Board.1Justia. Georgia Code 34-9-2.1 – Exemption of Corporate Officers Signing the form doesn’t do it. Handing it to your accountant doesn’t do it. It’s the filing that counts, so keep proof of delivery.
Nothing in the Georgia statute sets an expiration date for the filing. Once the exemption is on record, it appears to stay in effect until you actively revoke it.
To reverse the exemption, file a new WC-10 with the revocation box in Section A checked, and enter the date of the original rejection. Send the revocation through the same route: to the carrier if you now have one, or to the Board if you don’t.1Justia. Georgia Code 34-9-2.1 – Exemption of Corporate Officers Like the original, the revocation takes effect on filing, not on signing.
What the Exemption Does and Doesn’t Change for the Business
Filing an exemption removes you from coverage. It does not remove the business’s obligation to carry workers’ compensation insurance. Georgia requires coverage for any business that regularly employs three or more people.4State Board of Workers’ Compensation. Workers’ Compensation Insurance FAQs If the business was already subject to workers’ comp before officers started filing exemptions, it remains subject afterward, regardless of how many WC-10s go in.1Justia. Georgia Code 34-9-2.1 – Exemption of Corporate Officers
There is one narrow exception. If every covered person ends up exempt and no other employees remain, the business does not need to carry coverage until it hires more staff.1Justia. Georgia Code 34-9-2.1 – Exemption of Corporate Officers That typically means a small corporation or LLC where three to five officers or members are the only people involved and each files a WC-10.
Financial Trade-Offs Before You File
Opting out saves premium dollars. It also transfers the full financial risk of any work-related injury back to you personally. Once the exemption is filed, you lose access to the medical benefits, wage replacement, and disability payments the workers’ comp system would otherwise provide. There is no partial opt-out.
The gap can be wider than expected because many private health insurance policies exclude injuries that would otherwise fall under workers’ compensation. If your health insurer classifies an injury as work-related and you’re exempt from workers’ comp, you can end up with no coverage from either source. Whether the exclusion applies depends on the specific policy language and your legal status, so review your health insurance before filing.
On the tax side, workers’ compensation premiums a business pays are generally deductible as ordinary business expenses in the year paid. Removing yourself from the policy shrinks that deduction by your portion of the premium. For officers who rarely perform hands-on work, the premium savings may still come out ahead; for someone actively involved in operations with real injury exposure, the math is less obvious. Run the numbers with your accountant before you sign.