Workers' Compensation Class Codes
Workers' compensation class codes are four-digit numeric codes, largely standardized by the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI), that group a business's employees by the type of work they actually perform so insurers can price the risk of on-the-job injury accordingly. The Allen Thomas Group reviews class code assignments with clients because a single miscoded job description can meaningfully overstate or understate a workers' comp premium for years.
How Class Codes Drive Premium
Each code carries its own base rate per $100 of payroll, built from years of industry-wide injury and claims data. A roofing crew's code carries a far higher base rate than an office clerical code, because the underlying injury frequency and severity data is completely different between the two jobs.
Why One Business Can Have Multiple Class Codes
Payroll for employees doing genuinely different jobs, such as office staff versus a field installation crew at the same company, can often be split across separate class codes if the payroll records properly document the division. Lumping everyone under the highest-risk code overstates the premium unnecessarily.
Why This Matters
Correctly splitting an owner's or employee's payroll across the right codes can produce a real premium savings, while a miscoded policy also creates exposure at the year-end premium audit, where the insurer can bill additional premium if actual payroll and duties didn't match what was originally reported.
How The Allen Thomas Group Can Help You
We'll help you understand exactly how workers' compensation class codes affects your coverage and cost, then shop your policy across 15+ A-rated carriers to find the right fit.
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