Workers' compensation pays medical costs and lost wages for work-related injury or illness, and it follows your employees to wherever they actually work.
Workers' compensation is not optional coverage; it is a statutory obligation in nearly every state once you have employees. It pays medical treatment, a portion of lost wages, rehabilitation, and death benefits for work-related injuries and illnesses, without regard to fault. In exchange, it is generally the exclusive remedy — employees give up the right to sue you for those injuries.
Part Two of the policy, Employers Liability, is what most technology contracts are actually referencing when they specify limits like $1M/$1M/$1M. It responds where the exclusive remedy breaks down, and it is the piece a customer's insurance exhibit will check.
The complexity for technology companies is geography. Coverage is written state by state. Ohio, North Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming require you to buy from a state fund rather than a private carrier. If you hire an engineer in one of those states without adding it, you have an uninsured exposure and a compliance problem. Texas permits employers to opt out entirely, with meaningful legal consequences for doing so. This is a maintenance job, not a one-time purchase — and it is one of the first workflows worth automating.
Buy it when
Grants vary by carrier and form. These are the components we look for when we place it.
Full medical cost of a work-related injury or illness, with no deductible to the employee.
Temporary and permanent disability benefits at a statutorily defined percentage of wages.
Physical rehabilitation and, in many states, vocational retraining benefits.
Benefits to dependents, including burial costs, set by state statute.
Defense and damages where an employee's claim falls outside the exclusive remedy — third-party over actions, consequential family claims, dual capacity.
A critical endorsement for distributed teams: extends coverage to states you enter mid-term, excluding monopolistic states.
We put this in front of you at binding — the only moment you can still do something about it.
Composite scenarios drawn from how these losses typically develop. Illustrative, not case files.
An employee in a state you added last quarter develops a repetitive strain injury. The claim is compensable. If that state was never added to the policy, you are paying it yourself and explaining it to the state board.
An employee is injured during a company-sponsored activity at an annual offsite. Employer-sponsored events are generally compensable, and the location has nothing to do with which state's law applies.
Payroll grew 140% during the term. The year-end audit generates a five-figure additional premium. Reporting payroll changes as they happen — not at audit — is the fix.
Ranges we commonly see for technology companies. Your contracts and exposure decide the answer — this is where the conversation starts, not where it ends.
| Stage | Typical | |
|---|---|---|
| All stages | Statutory | Part One is set by state law. There is no limit to select. |
| Standard contracts | $1M / $1M / $1M | Employers Liability limits: each accident, disease-policy limit, disease-each employee. |
| Enterprise contracts | $1M with $5M umbrella | Higher asks are usually satisfied by scheduling Employers Liability under the umbrella. |
| Monopolistic states | State fund + stop-gap | OH, ND, WA, WY require state fund coverage plus a stop-gap employers liability endorsement. |
What we need to quote
Most of this is collected once in the Atlas submission and reused across the markets we approach.
Start a submissionYes. Coverage obligations follow where the employee works, not where the company is registered. A fully remote team typically needs more states on the policy, not fewer.
It depends on the state and on whether officers have properly elected exclusion. Several states still require a policy. It's a five-minute check and an expensive assumption to get wrong.
Generally yes while you are on the PEO. The risk is the transition: coming off a PEO without a policy in place on day one leaves a gap, and customers will still ask for a certificate in your own name.
Ohio, North Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming require workers' compensation to be purchased from a state-run fund. Private carriers cannot write it. You also need a stop-gap employers liability endorsement on your package policy for those states.
Build a SaaS insurance checklist around customer contracts, data, employees and funding. Know what to prepare before requesting quotes.
Read the guide: SaaS Insurance Checklist for Founders and Finance TeamsTell us about the business once. A broker reviews it the same business day and comes back with a plan and a timeline.
