For Arizona brewery workers comp, many breweries are LLCs run by their brewers, and Arizona typically treats a working member who owns less than 50% as an employee for workers comp. A member holding 50% or more is added only by a written election that the carrier chooses to accept through an endorsement, so the application should name every owner who works the brew deck or the bar.
Brewing and pouring need no contractor license, so for an Arizona brewery the ownership rules and the statutory employer rule do the work a license class does for a builder. Ownership share sets each working owner's starting point. Supervision or control over outside crews decides whether their workers may count as yours.
| Rule | What It Means for a Brewery | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Working member or shareholder under 50% | Counted as an employee while working in the brewery, whether brewing, packaging or pouring. | Arizona Revised Statutes 23-901 |
| Member or shareholder at 50% or more | On the policy only if the carrier agrees in writing by endorsement, at its discretion. | Arizona Revised Statutes 23-901 |
| Working partners and sole proprietors | Included the same way, by a written election the carrier accepts. | Arizona Revised Statutes 23-901 |
| Employee rejection | Valid only when made in writing before an injury, and silent on owners. | Arizona Revised Statutes 23-906 |
| Contracted crews doing brewery work | A canning or cellar crew working under your supervision or control, on work that is part of your business, may be treated as your employees. | Arizona Revised Statutes 23-902 |
Arizona's statute refers to working shareholders rather than officers, so a title in the operating agreement doesn't settle anyone's status. Settle who is on the policy with the carrier at binding, not after a claim. A contractor building out a new taproom is typically working in its own trade rather than yours; its side is on the Arizona new construction workers comp page. Arizona's wider rules are collected on Arizona workers comp for contractors and restaurants.
Arizona classifies brewery payroll in the NCCI system. No official public source we could find publishes an Arizona class list, so Arizona codes stay off this site. How the carrier treats taproom wages next to brewing payroll depends on what the taproom staff actually do. California's brewery and tavern titles don't transfer, and the workers comp classification codes page says who publishes each state's list.
Bring Last Year's Declarations
A current Arizona policy lists the classifications in use today. We don't suggest or confirm codes; the carrier decides from duties.
Illustrative scenario
Illustrative only. A Flagstaff brewery LLC has three members: two brewers who each own less than 50% and an investor who never works there. Once a month a mobile canning company brings its line and two operators, and the head brewer sets the schedule and checks every run. Under Arizona's owner rule the two working brewers count as employees; the investor isn't a working member. Because canning is part of the brewery's business and the brewery directs it, the operators may be treated as its employees unless the canning company shows its own coverage. In Nevada the owner test has no ownership percentage, so the same three members would be sorted differently.
Forgetting the Canning Crew's Coverage
Breweries often pay a mobile canner by invoice and forget it until the audit. If the canner can't show workers comp for the days it worked, the auditor may treat its operators as your employees. Arizona then requires written audit findings before premium is charged on them, so ask for those findings in writing.
This policy is about brewery staff hurt on the job. A taproom guest who falls, an over-service claim, a spoiled batch on a store shelf or a crash in the delivery van typically belongs to general liability, liquor liability, product liability or commercial auto. The brewery workers compensation hub compares all three states, and Nevada taproom workers comp shows how the next state counts tips and caps each employee's payroll.
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A co-owner who works in the brewery and owns less than 50% is treated as an employee, so their pay typically belongs on the policy. A co-owner at 50% or more needs a written election plus the carrier's acceptance, made by endorsement. A member who never works in the brewery isn't a working member. Confirm each owner's status with the carrier.
It can. When packaging is part of your business and you keep supervision or control over the run, the canning company's operators may be treated as your employees. A certificate showing the canner's own coverage for each canning date is the simplest answer at audit.
Not necessarily. Arizona uses NCCI classifications, and the carrier decides from what each person actually does. Staff who both brew and pour are the hardest to place, so keep their hours by task. This site doesn't publish Arizona codes.
Arizona lets an employee reject coverage by written notice, but only before an injury. Brewhouse work carries burn, chemical and lifting exposure, so ask the carrier what a rejection would mean after an injury before anyone signs, and keep the notice on file.
The 0.2% decrease NCCI proposed for January 1, 2027 is an average across classifications and still needs state action. A brewery's own premium follows its taproom and brewhouse payroll, its owners on the policy and its claims, so the change may be larger, smaller or absent for you.
6 official sources, every one checked
Reviewed by David Gleason, Principal, on .
Next Level Experience. Insurance Done Right.
Arizona brewery workers comp, from working members to the canning crew.
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