TL;DR
Insurance covering employee workplace injuries. Homeowners should confirm coverage when crews will work on-site, especially on roofing, tree, or demolition jobs.
What it means
Insurance covering employee workplace injuries. Homeowners should confirm coverage when crews will work on-site, especially on roofing, tree, or demolition jobs.
Where it sits in the glossary
Workers' comp is part of the Legal group inside the ProFix Directory glossary. Browse every term in this category from the glossary index.
Why Ohio homeowners should know it
Ohio's workers' compensation system covers employees who are hurt on the job, including roofers, tree crews, demolition workers, and anyone climbing a ladder above a homeowner's driveway. If a contractor's crew is uninsured and an injury happens on your property, that liability can land on the homeowner.
Homeowners do not need to be insurance experts. They just need to know to ask for a current certificate naming workers' comp coverage before letting a crew start work — especially on roof, tree, and exterior demolition jobs.
ProFix tools that touch this term
Where this term gets mixed up
Workers' comp vs. liability insurance
Workers' comp covers the contractor's employees. General liability covers damage or injury to others, including the homeowner's property.
Sole proprietors may be exempt
A one-person shop without employees may legally carry no workers' comp. That is fine on a small job, but a real risk if a helper shows up.
Where this term comes from
Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation.
See also
License: CC-BY-4.0 — quote freely with attribution to ProFix Editorial Team / ProFix Directory.