Michigan Form WC-337: Who Qualifies, Filing, and Reversal

Michigan Form WC-337, the Notice of Exclusion, is what a business files with the Workers’ Disability Compensation Agency when every person who would otherwise count as an employee qualifies to opt out of workers’ compensation coverage and wants to do so. Filing it means the business does not need to carry a workers’ compensation policy. It also means no one listed on the form can collect wage-loss or medical benefits through the workers’ compensation system if they are hurt on the job. The exclusion takes effect the day the agency receives the notice.¹

Who Qualifies to Be Listed on the Form

Michigan Compiled Laws Section 418.161 sets the eligibility rules, and the WC-337 only works when every single person on the payroll fits one of them.

A corporate officer who personally owns at least 10% of the stock of a corporation with 10 or fewer stockholders, with the board’s consent.
A manager-member of an LLC with 10 or fewer members who holds at least a 10% ownership interest, approved by majority vote of the members (or by all managers who are also members) unless the operating agreement says otherwise.
Partners in a partnership, and the spouse, child, or parent of any employer.²

If even one worker at the business doesn’t fit one of those categories, or one qualifying person wants to stay covered, the WC-337 route is closed and the business still needs a workers’ compensation policy.

When WC-337 Is the Right Form

Michigan has two exclusion paths, and mixing them up is the most common mistake. If a qualifying officer or LLC member wants to opt out individually while other employees remain covered, that person notifies the insurance carrier in writing and the carrier endorses the policy to remove them. Nothing goes to the state, and the business keeps its policy for everyone else.²

The WC-337 is for the other situation: all employees are being excluded, so no policy exists, and the state itself needs the exclusion on file. Corporations, LLCs, and partnerships that have no non-excluded employees must have a WC-337 on file with the Workers’ Disability Compensation Agency.³

Getting the Form and Filling It Out

The WC-337 is not available for download. You request a copy directly from the Workers’ Disability Compensation Agency.³ Michigan Administrative Code Rule 408.41b lists exactly what the completed form has to contain:

The business’s federal employer identification number. A business operating under an assumed name must list the assumed name and every Michigan location covered by the exclusion.
The name of every partner if the employer is a partnership, or the name of every corporate officer if the employer is a corporation. Officers who are not seeking exclusion still have to be listed.
The employer’s certification that the people signing the exclusion make up all of the employer’s employees and that each one is eligible under the statute.
Each excluded individual’s Social Security number and their personal certification that they are signing voluntarily.
Notarization of the employer’s portion of the form.¹

Before the form goes to the agency, you must give a completed copy to each employee named on it. The rule requires that step; it’s not optional.¹

Where to Send It

Mail the notarized WC-337 to the Workers’ Disability Compensation Agency, P.O. Box 30016, Lansing, MI 48909.⁴ The exclusion is effective on the day the agency receives it.¹ The statute and administrative rules do not list a filing fee. If the business has an existing workers’ compensation policy, tell the carrier so the policy can be canceled or adjusted.

What You Give Up by Filing

Everyone listed on an active WC-337 stops being an employee for purposes of the Workers’ Disability Compensation Act. The most important consequence is losing the exclusive-remedy protection in Section 141. Normally, workers’ compensation is the only route an injured employee has against the employer, with narrow exceptions like intentional torts. While the exclusion is in effect, that bar is gone. An injured owner could sue the business, and the business could be sued, with ordinary civil liability rules governing instead of the workers’ compensation system.²

Private disability or health insurance may cover some workplace injuries, but those policies often exclude injuries that would ordinarily fall under workers’ compensation. Read your personal coverage before assuming there’s a fallback.

Keeping the Exclusion Valid

Keep a copy of the filed WC-337 at the business’s primary location. Workers’ compensation auditors review these records to confirm that anyone left out of premium calculations was lawfully excluded, and if you can’t produce the form during an audit, the carrier can retroactively charge premiums for undocumented individuals.

Watch the ownership math. If a new partner joins, an LLC adds a member, the total stockholder or member count grows past 10, or someone’s ownership stake drops below 10%, eligibility under Section 418.161 can disappear for the affected person. If that person was the only reason the business had no policy, the business now needs workers’ compensation coverage.²

Reversing the Exclusion

An exclusion filed under Section 418.161(5) stays in place until it is revoked by written notice to the director of the agency. The form is WC-338, Notice to Terminate Exclusion, available through the same agency forms page as the WC-337.⁵⁶ File a WC-338 when the business hires a non-owner employee, when an excluded person wants back into the system, or when an ownership change makes one or more individuals ineligible. Once the termination takes effect, the business must obtain a workers’ compensation policy before any previously excluded person counts as a covered employee again.

1
Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity. Administrative Code R 408.41b – Notice of Election to Be Excluded as Employees Under Act
2
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 418.161 – Employee Defined; Exclusion From Coverage
3
Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity. WC-337 – Notice of Exclusion
4
Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity. LEO – Contact Information
5
Legal Information Institute. Michigan Admin Code R 408.41c – Notice of Election to Terminate Exclusion as Employees Under Act
6
Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity. WC-338 – Notice to Terminate Exclusion