Restaurant workers comp is rated on payroll, and each role brings its own pay mix. California leaves tips out and usually leaves staff meals out too. Nevada counts reported tips of $20 or more a month, values staff meals at what they cost you and caps each employee's counted pay. For Arizona, ask the carrier how tips and meals are counted.
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A carrier prices a restaurant from an estimate of payroll, and an auditor checks that estimate against your books after the policy ends. The estimate is easier to get right when you build it the way your schedule already works: kitchen, service, bar and delivery. Each group is paid differently. Cooks and dishwashers are mostly hourly wages. Servers and bartenders earn a large share of their income in tips. Drivers may be paid by the hour, by the run or both. Chefs and general managers are often salaried.
Those differences matter because the states don't agree on what counts. A tip is payroll in one state and not in the next, and a staff meal can be added in one and left out in another. Before you send a number to a carrier, sort your people by role, then apply the rules of the state where they work. The restaurant workers comp insurance page compares formats from fine dining to counter service.
| Role or Pay Item | California | Nevada | Arizona |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kitchen wages (cooks, prep, dishwashers) | Counted as payroll. | Counted as payroll, up to the per-employee limit. | Ask the carrier how each pay item is counted. |
| Server and bartender tips | Left out of payroll. | Monthly tips at or above $20 are reported and rated like wages. | Not verified here; ask the carrier. |
| Staff meals | Left out unless the classification wording or a wage reduction for meals says otherwise. | Valued at the employer's cost. | Not verified here; ask the carrier. |
| Overtime | The overtime premium stays out only when it is recorded apart from regular pay. | Ask the carrier. | Ask the carrier. |
| Delivery staff | Classification depends on duties and the carrier's determination. | Classification depends on duties and the carrier's determination. | Classification depends on duties and the carrier's determination. |
| Salaried chefs and managers | Counted as payroll. | Counted up to $98,433.60 on policies from October 1, 2026 to December 31, 2026, and up to $102,452.16 from January 1, 2027. | Ask the carrier. |
California and Nevada rows come from the WCIRB payroll rules and Nevada's statutes and regulations listed under sources. This site hasn't verified Arizona's payroll rules for tips, meals or overtime, so those cells point you to the carrier rather than guess.
California's published restaurant classifications are named for the kind of restaurant, such as table service or quick service, with a catch-all for others, not for the job a person does. So in California, role matters less for which classification applies and more for what you count. A server's tips stay out of payroll, whether they come in cash or on a card. Wages paid for the shift go in.
Meals and lodging are usually left out of California payroll unless the classification wording or a wage reduction for them says otherwise. Overtime is counted at the regular rate, and the extra half-time stays out only when your payroll records show it apart from regular pay. A kitchen that runs heavy overtime through the holidays can lose that exclusion simply because the payroll report lumps it together. Which published classifications that mention restaurant work fit your place depends on the actual duties and the carrier's determination; this site doesn't assign codes. See California restaurant workers compensation for the full state picture.
Nevada calls workers comp industrial insurance, and it counts more of a restaurant's pay than California does. Once a worker's tips reach $20 in a month, they get reported and carry premium just like wages, so a busy bartender's reported tips can add more to payroll than the hourly wage does. Meals you furnish to staff are valued at what they cost you, not at menu price.
Starting October 1, 2026, Nevada stops counting a private employee's pay once it passes a ceiling that the state resets each January. Before that change, the cap was $36,000. The new limit mostly touches the top of the pay sheet: an executive chef, a general manager or a multi-unit operator's district manager. Paid officers and LLC managers follow their own separate amounts outside that limit. Read Nevada restaurant industrial insurance for how the limit and loss cost changes work together.
The Nevada workers comp payroll cap calculator applies the limit to each role you enter.
Arizona uses NCCI classifications, which this site doesn't publish, and the carrier determines which ones apply. This site hasn't verified how Arizona counts tips, staff meals or overtime premium, so ask the carrier three questions before you estimate: whether reported tips are included, how furnished meals are valued and whether the overtime premium can be left out. Write the answers down and use them the same way at audit.
Crown Your Crew lets you lay out a crew role by role before you request a quote.
Pull last year's payroll report and sort it by role, then compare it with the rules for your state. Nevada operators can start with Nevada workers comp for contractors and restaurants, which explains the payroll limit, and California owners with workers comp for restaurants in California. When the numbers are ready, get a restaurant workers comp quote and a broker reviews the request with you. Audit questions about tips and meals are covered in what happens at a premium audit.
Audit and owner questions for restaurants are covered in the other workers comp guides.
Send your trade, state and payroll, and a broker reviews the request. If you would rather talk first, leave a number.
Swipe or use the arrows for every answer.
The answer changes at the state line. In California, tips aren't payroll. Nevada counts tips of $20 or more a month that are reported, and premium is paid on them at the wage rate. Arizona's rule isn't verified on this site, so ask the carrier before you estimate.
In California, the published restaurant classifications are named for the type of restaurant rather than the job, so servers and cooks at one restaurant are often reported together. Nevada and Arizona use NCCI classifications. In every state the classification depends on actual duties and the carrier's determination.
In Nevada, meals you furnish to staff are valued at your cost and count. In California, meals and lodging are usually left out unless the classification wording or a wage reduction for meals says otherwise. Keep a record of what staff meals cost either way.
Record the hours and duties for each kind of work. How mixed duties are classified depends on the carrier's determination, and clear records give the auditor something to follow. In Nevada, that bartender's reported tips count too; in California they don't.
Only up to the per-employee limit. On policies from October 1, 2026 to December 31, 2026 the limit is $98,433.60, and from January 1, 2027 it is $102,452.16. Pay above the limit for that employee doesn't count toward rated payroll.
Employee drivers are typically on the payroll you report, but how their payroll is classified depends on their duties and the carrier's determination. A crash also raises questions about the vehicle and other drivers that workers comp doesn't answer; those typically fall to auto coverage.
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Reviewed by David Gleason, Principal, on .
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Restaurant payroll by role, with tips, meals and overtime counted the way each state does.
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