Workers' comp for Georgia cleaning businesses

Georgia's rule is three or more regular employees

A Georgia business that regularly employs three or more people must provide workers' compensation benefits. Below three, the law does not require it, though clients may.

The count is people, not full-time equivalents. Three part-time cleaners who work for you every week count as three. The word regularly matters: a business that normally has three on the payroll cannot drop cover in a slow month.

Cleaning is physical work. Wet floors, ladders, lifting and chemicals all cause injuries. That is why commercial contracts often ask for workers' comp even from a firm the law does not reach yet.

3 or more employeesGeorgia requires workers' compensation benefits from any business that regularly employs three or more persons in Georgia. — Georgia State Board of Workers' Compensation, retrieved 2026-09-27

How sole proprietors and partners are treated

Georgia treats sole proprietors and partners as employers, not employees. They do not count toward the three, but they can choose to be covered.

A sole proprietor with two cleaners is below the threshold. Add a third cleaner and the requirement applies, though you as the owner still are not counted.

You can elect to cover yourself by telling your insurance carrier in writing. Owners who clean alongside their crew often do, because their own injuries would not otherwise be covered by the policy.

Georgia law considers sole proprietors and partners to be employers, not employees, but they can elect coverage by advising their insurance carrier in writing. — Georgia State Board of Workers' Compensation, retrieved 2026-09-27

LLC members and corporate officers count toward the three

Forming an LLC or corporation changes the count. Members and officers are included in the employee count, even when they are the owners.

Two LLC members plus one cleaner makes three. That business needs workers' comp, while the same three people as a partnership might not. Owners are often surprised by this when they move from sole proprietor to LLC.

Up to five officers or members can waive coverage on themselves using form WC-10, filed with the carrier. The waiver does not reduce the count. A business with three people still needs a policy for anyone not waived.

In a Georgia corporation or LLC, the officers or members are included in the employee count for workers' compensation. — Georgia State Board of Workers' Compensation, retrieved 2026-09-27

Form WC-10Up to five corporate officers or LLC members may waive coverage on themselves using form WC-10, and those exemptions do not reduce the employee count. — Georgia State Board of Workers' Compensation, retrieved 2026-09-27

What commercial cleaning contracts ask for

Public contracts often require statutory workers' comp plus employer's liability, whatever your head count. The employer's liability limit is set by the contract.

The Chatham County Board of Health asked for statutory workers' compensation and $500,000 in employer's liability. Douglas County asked for the same $500,000 employer's liability on its courthouse cleaning contract.

Gwinnett's standard terms set employer's liability at $100,000 per accident, $500,000 per disease policy limit and $100,000 per employee. If you are below three employees, ask the buyer whether it will accept that. Some will; many will not.

$500,000The Chatham County Board of Health housekeeping bid required statutory workers' compensation and employer's liability of $500,000 for each accident, disease policy limit and disease each employee. — Board of Health of Chatham County, Georgia, retrieved 2026-09-27

$100,000 each accidentGwinnett County's standard insurance terms set employer's liability at $100,000 each accident, $500,000 disease policy limit and $100,000 disease each employee. — Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners, retrieved 2026-09-27

Subcontractors and the coverage chain

Using subcontracted cleaners does not always keep them off your policy. Gwinnett, for example, makes the prime contractor pass its insurance terms down to every subcontractor.

Its terms say the contractor must put the insurance requirements in every subcontract. If a subcontractor fails to carry the cover, the contractor must provide it at its own expense.

This is where worker classification and insurance meet. Paying cleaners as 1099 contractors does not change who controls the work. The test for that is on the hiring cleaners page.

Gwinnett County requires contractors to include its insurance requirements in every subcontract and to provide the insurance themselves if a subcontractor fails to. — Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners, retrieved 2026-09-27

Getting the policy in place before the third hire

Buy the policy before the hire that takes you to three, not after. Get quotes while you are recruiting, so cover starts on the new cleaner's first day.

Contracts can force the timing anyway. Gwinnett does not let a contractor or its subcontractors start any work until every insurance requirement is met. A new crew member without cover can hold up the whole account.

Tell the agent your real payroll and job duties. Workers' comp is generally priced on payroll by job class, so an honest estimate avoids a large bill at audit time.

Once the policy is in force, add it to the certificate your commercial clients hold. Their paperwork is covered in how a certificate of insurance works. The rest of your payroll setup is in the business setup guide, and the safety duties that come with employees are in chemical safety for cleaning crews.

Gwinnett County does not allow a contractor or subcontractor to begin any work until all of the contract's insurance requirements have been met and evidenced. — Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners, retrieved 2026-09-27

Questions