California classifies workers comp through the WCIRB, while Arizona and Nevada use NCCI classifications, and a code from one state never carries to another. The states also split on who may opt out, how owners are treated, who answers for a subcontractor's workers and what counts as payroll. Nevada calls it industrial insurance and limits how much of each employee's pay counts.
| Topic | California | Arizona | Nevada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name in state law | Workers comp. | Workers comp. | Industrial insurance, under Nevada Revised Statutes chapters 616A to 616D. |
| Classification system | WCIRB classifications, with wage-split pairs for some construction trades. | NCCI classifications, determined by the carrier. | NCCI classifications; the Division of Insurance lists code numbers without descriptions. |
| Contractor exemption | No-employee exemption ends for the remaining license classes on January 1, 2028; C-8, C-20, C-22, C-39 and C-61/D-49 already must carry. | A sole proprietor may waive as an independent contractor, signed by the sole proprietor and the hiring employer's carrier. | Not verified here; ask the carrier or the state. |
| Owners | Officers or directors with at least 10% may waive, or 1% under a family test; general partners and managing members may waive. | Working members or shareholders under 50% are employees; at or above it, only by carrier endorsement. | Unpaid officers or managers may reject in writing; a paid owner-officer may reject by notice to the insurer; no percentage set. |
| Statutory or principal employer | A worker doing licensed work without a license of their own is presumed an employee (Labor Code 2750.5). | Subs and their employees count as the original employer's employees where it keeps supervision or control and the work is part of its trade (Arizona Revised Statutes 23-902). | Subs, independent contractors and their employees are deemed employees of the principal contractor (Nevada Revised Statutes 616A.210). |
| Per-employee payroll limit | Doesn't use Nevada's limit; covered owners are reported from $66,300 to $171,600 a year. | Not verified here; ask the carrier. | $98,433.60 on policies from October 1, 2026 to December 31, 2026; $102,452.16 from January 1, 2027. |
| Tips | Left out of payroll. | Not verified here; ask the carrier. | Tips of $20 or more a month are reported and counted at the wage rate. |
| Staff meals | Left out unless the class wording or a wage reduction says otherwise. | Not verified here; ask the carrier. | Valued at the employer's cost. |
| Latest rate action | Adopted average advisory pure premium rate of $1.65 per $100 of payroll from September 1, 2026. | Proposed decrease of 0.2% for January 1, 2027; no state decision found. | Approved advisory loss costs up 8.6% from March 1, 2027. |
Each row comes from the statute, regulation or official filing listed under sources. Where a cell says not verified, this site hasn't confirmed the rule from an official source, and the carrier is the place to ask.
California runs its own system. The WCIRB publishes the classifications, and for some construction trades it splits one kind of work into two classifications by hourly wage. Every published California classification by trade is on the California workers comp classifications by trade page.
Arizona and Nevada use NCCI classifications. This site doesn't publish Arizona codes, and Nevada's Division of Insurance lists code numbers with loss costs but no descriptions, so Nevada codes aren't published here either. In all three states, classification depends on actual duties and the carrier's determination. A crew's California codes don't carry to an Arizona or Nevada policy, even for the same work; see workers comp class codes for contractors and restaurants for how each state handles it.
California's contractor exemption is a filing with the license board. A licensee with no employees can file it today in most classes, but Business and Professions Code 7125 ends it for the remaining classes on January 1, 2028, though a CSLB report favors a narrower exemption, so lawmakers may yet revise the date.
Arizona's version works through the hiring employer's policy. Under Arizona Revised Statutes 23-961, a sole proprietor may waive coverage as an independent contractor, and both the sole proprietor and the employer's carrier sign and date the waiver. Separately, an Arizona employee may reject coverage in writing before an injury under Arizona Revised Statutes 23-906; that section doesn't address officers or owners. This site hasn't verified a Nevada contractor exemption, so ask the carrier or the state before relying on one.
California uses ownership tests for officers and directors and names general partners and managing members as able to waive; the California officer exclusion workers comp guide walks through each test. Arizona flips the question at 50%: below it, a working member or shareholder is an employee, and at or above it, they come onto the policy only if the carrier accepts that by endorsement. Nevada sets no percentage and lets officers and managers reject coverage by notice.
These are the rules, not advice to step off a policy. Whatever the state, confirm an owner's choice and what it gives up with the carrier.
All three states can put a sub's workers on your payroll, but each gets there differently. California presumes that someone doing licensed work for you without a license of their own is your employee. Arizona makes a sub and its crew yours when you hold the right to supervise or control them and their work belongs to your own line of business; a signed independent contractor agreement helps, but only as a rebuttable presumption. Nevada deems subs, independent contractors and their employees to be employees of the principal contractor, and its independent-enterprise exception doesn't apply to a principal contractor licensed under Nevada Revised Statutes chapter 624.
Arizona adds an audit protection: under Arizona Revised Statutes 23-961, a carrier can't charge premium for workers it says are your employees under those tests without written audit findings first. The uninsured sub charges guide covers what to collect from every sub.
California leaves tips out, generally leaves meals and lodging out, and drops the overtime premium only when it is recorded apart from regular pay. Nevada counts reported tips of $20 or more a month, values furnished meals at the employer's cost and, from October 1, 2026, stops counting a private employee's pay at a per-person ceiling that changes each January. This site hasn't verified Arizona's rules for tips, meals or overtime. Restaurants feel these differences most; see restaurant payroll for workers comp for a role-by-role view.
California's adopted average advisory pure premium rate is $1.65 per $100 of payroll from September 1, 2026, 6.6% above the prior approved level. Arizona's NCCI filing proposes a decrease of 0.2% for January 1, 2027, and it stays proposed until the state acts. Nevada's approved advisory loss costs rise 8.6% on March 1, 2027. These are advisory figures that carriers build their own rates from; the full list with dates, including the Nevada loss cost changes, is on one page.
A contractor or restaurant group with payroll in two or three of these states typically reports each state's payroll under that state's classifications and rules. Keep payroll by state and by person, note who travels, and keep owner choices on file for each state. The state pages go deeper: Arizona statutory employer rule, Nevada contractor workers comp rules and California rules for contractors. When your payroll is split out, get a multi-state workers comp quote and a broker reviews it with you.
For hands-on help with one state at a time, see the workers comp tools.
Arizona's rules apply statewide, but local pay shapes the payroll each audit counts. The metro pages set local trade pay beside those rules and list each area's cities and ZIP codes: Phoenix restaurant workers comp for the Valley and Tucson restaurant workers comp for Pima County.
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Not as numbers. A California code comes from the WCIRB system, while an Arizona or Nevada policy uses NCCI classifications, so the codes and their wording differ. In each state the classification depends on the duties the crew performs and the carrier's determination.
Nevada does: reported monthly tips at or above $20 are rated the same as wages. California leaves tips out. This site hasn't verified Arizona's tip rule, so ask the carrier before you estimate.
California uses 10% for an officer or director, or 1% under a family test with health coverage. Arizona's line is 50% for working members and shareholders. Nevada sets no ownership percentage. Confirm any owner choice with the carrier.
Yes, for private employers from October 1, 2026. Each employee's pay counts up to $98,433.60 on policies from October 1, 2026 to December 31, 2026, and up to $102,452.16 on policies from January 1, 2027. California doesn't use Nevada's limit, and this site hasn't verified an Arizona payroll limit.
Each state has a rule that can make you answer for them. California presumes unlicensed workers on licensed work are employees, Arizona has its statutory employer rule, and Nevada deems a principal contractor the employer of its subs' workers. Certificates from every sub help at audit.
16 official sources, every one checked
Reviewed by David Gleason, Principal, on .
Next Level Experience. Insurance Done Right.
Three states, three rulebooks: compare them before you hire, bid or renew across state lines.
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