# Colorado — Workers' compensation insurance requirements by US state: employee thresholds, who counts, and industry exceptions

For Colorado, employee threshold is one or more employees; who counts toward the threshold is part-time, full-time, or family members; owner/officer inclusion or exemption is If a contractor has no employees, the contractor must be covered by workers' compensation insurance unless they choose to reject coverage; industry-specific rules is Construction: contractors must carry a policy for employees, and must make sure that subcontractors also meet workers' compensation requirements. If a contractor has no employees, the contractor must be covered by workers' compensation insurance unless they choose to reject coverage; penalty for not carrying coverage is up to $500 for every day you are uninsured. Your business may also be shut down. If one of your employees is hurt while you are uninsured, you will have to pay for the claim yourself and an additional penalty totaling 25% of the injured worker's benefits, recorded from its source on 2026-08-12.

- **State:** Colorado _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Employee threshold:** one or more employees _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Who counts toward the threshold:** part-time, full-time, or family members _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Owner/officer inclusion or exemption:** If a contractor has no employees, the contractor must be covered by workers' compensation insurance unless they choose to reject coverage.
- **Industry-specific rules:** Construction: contractors must carry a policy for employees, and must make sure that subcontractors also meet workers' compensation requirements. If a contractor has no employees, the contractor must be covered by workers' compensation insurance unless they choose to reject coverage.
- **Penalty for not carrying coverage:** up to $500 for every day you are uninsured. Your business may also be shut down. If one of your employees is hurt while you are uninsured, you will have to pay for the claim yourself and an additional penalty totaling 25% of the injured worker's benefits.
- **Issuing authority:** Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, Division of Workers' Compensation

## What the source says

> If you have one or more employees working for you in Colorado, you must have workers' compensation insurance and maintain it at all times. This applies to all employers, regardless of whether the employees are part-time, full-time, or family members. Colorado has additional insurance requirements for businesses in the construction industry. Failure to carry insurance could result in fines.

## Source

- https://cdle.colorado.gov/dwc/employers/insurance-coverage

Last verified: 2026-08-12. Review by: 2027-02-08.
Part of [Workers' compensation insurance requirements by US state: employee thresholds, who counts, and industry exceptions](https://referencesource.org/workers-comp-coverage-thresholds-by-state/).