Workers' comp for hotels: what you need and what it costs
A hotel with employees needs workers' comp, the commercial policy that pays injured staff's medical bills and lost wages. Its price comes from the job codes your staff fall into, the payroll in each code and your claims record; front desk, housekeeping and maintenance usually share one code, and a restaurant the hotel runs itself often has another. The final bill is settled after the year, when an auditor checks payroll.
- You pay a price per $100 of payroll for each job code, then your own claims record can raise or lower it once you are large enough to qualify.
- Housekeepers, laundry staff and seasonal hires count as employees; whether a contract housekeeper or laundry contractor does depends on the facts, not the label.
- Seasonal payroll swings are settled at the year-end audit, so keep payroll by job title all year.
Which class codes apply to a hotel?
The rating system sorts every job into a numbered category, which insurers call a class code, and prices each per $100 of payroll. A hotel usually has two: one for most staff, one for restaurant staff the hotel itself employs.
Insurance that pays an injured employee's medical bills and lost wagesWorkers' Compensation Insurance that pays medical bills and lost wages when an employee is hurt or sick because of work. Insurers call it workers' compensation. more → is rated in most states by a national bureau using one set of codes. Its code 9052, titled "Hotel: all other employees and salespersons, drivers," is the one that lookup tools list for Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts and Missouri. (Source: insurancexdate.com class lookup) Front desk, housekeeping and maintenance staff generally fall there.
Staff of a restaurant the hotel runs and manages itself fall under code 9058, "Hotel: restaurant employees." (Source: insurancexdate.com, New York 9058 entry) If you lease the restaurant to an outside operator, that operator carries its own coverage and its own code, so ask for proof of it. Our workers' compensation coverage page explains what the policy pays for.
Confirm with your agent where the bar and banquet staff belong; we found no published source that settles it, so it is worth asking in writing.
Who counts as an employee at my hotel?
Almost everyone who works for you and takes your direction, whatever the paperwork says. Contract housekeepers and laundry contractors are the groups hotels most often get wrong.
- Contract housekeepers and laundry contractors: calling a worker a contractor does not decide the question; the federal labor department treats it as a question of whether an employment relationship exists. (Source: U.S. Department of Labor) Some states go further. Missouri treats a business that has contract work done on its premises, as part of its usual business, as the employer of the contractor's injured workers. (Source: Missouri Revised Statutes 287.040) Ask any laundry or cleaning contractor for a certificate showing their own workers' comp.
- Seasonal housekeepers and part-timers: they count from the first day, and their payroll goes into the audit even if they leave in the off season.
- Family members: a spouse or child on the payroll is an employee like anyone else, unless an owner election in your state reaches them.
- Owners and officers: covered or not by your state's election rules, which differ; see the state section below.
- Banquet and event staff: where the national manual applies, automatic charges a customer cannot decline count as payroll, while tips a customer chooses to leave do not. (Source: Business Insurance)
About 420,800 maids and housekeeping cleaners were employed nationally in 2025. (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics) About to make your first hire? Read what changes when you hire an employee.
What drives the rate?
Payroll in each code, the base price for each code, your insurer's own expenses, and, once you are big enough, a multiplier built from your own claims. The bureau's base price is not what you pay.
The base price is the rating bureau's average injury cost per $100 of payroll in your code; each insurer then adds its expenses. Larger accounts also get a multiplier built from your own claimsExperience Modification Factor (E-Mod) A number, with 1.0 as average, that raises or lowers your workers' compensation price based on your claims compared with similar businesses. Insurers call it the experience modification factor. more →, which insurers call the experience modifier: above 1.00 raises the premium, below 1.00 lowers it. Picture a hotel with $600,000 of payroll in its main code, a made-up base price of $2.00, and an insurer that adds 25% for its own expenses.
| What happens | Amount |
|---|---|
| Your payroll in this job type is | $600K |
| Divided into $100 units ($600K ÷ $100) | 6,000 |
| The rating bureau's base price per unit, a made-up figure | $2.00 |
| Your insurer adds its own expenses and profit to the base price, here a made-up 25% ($2.00 × 1.25) | $2.50 |
| The premium before any modifier is (6,000 × $2.50) | $15K |
| With an average claims modifier of 1.00, you pay ($15K × 1.00) | $15K |
| With a modifier of 1.20, more claims than average, the premium becomes ($15K × 1.20) | $18K |
| With a modifier of 0.85, fewer claims than average, it becomes ($15K × 0.85) | $12.75K |
Illustration only, with round numbers, a made-up base price and a made-up expense load. It is not a statement of what any policy pays; your own policy wording governs.
Across all accommodation businesses, 2.3 cases per 100 full-time workers involved days away from work or restricted or transferred duty in 2024. (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics) Fewer and smaller claims over time are what move your modifier down.
What happens at the audit if my staffing swings by season?
Your starting premium is an estimate. After the year ends, the insurer checks your actual payroll by code and bills or refunds the difference.
That check, the year-end payroll review, is where seasonal hires, contract cleaners and banquet service charges get found. A hotel that adds housekeepers for a busy season can expect the estimate to be adjusted upward, and a quiet year can bring money back. Median pay for maids and housekeeping cleaners was $16.78 an hour in 2025, so every added shift shows up in payroll. (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics) Keep payroll by job title all year; our premium audit guide lists what the auditor asks for, and the hotel quote checklist covers the payroll split to have ready.
What changes by state?
The hotel codes are the same two numbers in most states, but a few states run their own bureaus or a state fund, and that changes how your payroll is split and priced.
Below is only the hotel angle in each state; the full law for each state is on our workers' comp laws by state pages, and who must carry coverage is in hotel insurance requirements by state.
Kansas. Kansas uses the national manual, so code 9052 applies to front desk, housekeeping and maintenance staff. (Source: insurancexdate.com class lookup) The full rule is on our Kansas workers' comp law page.
Missouri. Missouri also uses code 9052. (Source: insurancexdate.com class lookup) Its statutory-employer rule matters to a hotel with a laundry or maintenance contractor on site. The full rule is on our Missouri workers' comp law page.
New York. New York has its own rating board, but its code list carries the same two hotel numbers: 9052 for the hotel and 9058 for restaurant employees under the hotel's direct management. (Source: insurancexdate.com, New York 9058 entry) The full rule is on our New York workers' comp law page.
Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania's own bureau publishes its own classification numbers, so do not assume the national codes above apply; ask your agent which Pennsylvania numbers your front desk, housekeeping and restaurant staff fall under. (Source: Pennsylvania Compensation Rating Bureau) The full rule is on our Pennsylvania workers' comp law page.
Massachusetts. Massachusetts has its own bureau, yet lookup tools list the same hotel code 9052 for the state. (Source: insurancexdate.com class lookup) Ask where a hotel-run restaurant's payroll goes. The full rule is on our Massachusetts workers' comp law page.
Louisiana. Louisiana also lists code 9052 for hotels. (Source: insurancexdate.com class lookup) The full rule is on our Louisiana workers' comp law page.
Maryland. Maryland also lists code 9052 for hotels. (Source: insurancexdate.com class lookup) The full rule is on our Maryland workers' comp law page.
Washington. Washington is different: coverage comes from the state fund at Labor & Industries and is priced per hour worked. Hotels and motels are class 4905-04, which lists housekeeping, laundry, maintenance, shuttle service and valet; restaurant and lounge staff go in class 3905, and a desk clerk with no other duties can go in 4904. (Source: Washington Administrative Code 296-17A-4905) The 2026 base rate for hotels is about $1.21 per hour worked, up from about $1.09 in 2025, before the employer and worker split. (Source: Washington L&I) The full rule is on our Washington workers' comp law page.
Common questions about workers' comp for hotels
No. The package that bundles your liability and property coverage does not include workers' comp. It is a separate policy, often with a different insurer, with its own renewal and audit.
It covers your employee's own injuries. Damage to the van and injuries to the other driver are generally handled by business auto coverage. Check your own policy wording and ask your agent.
It can. Restaurant staff the hotel employs directly are commonly rated in their own code, so payroll is split between two codes. A restaurant you lease to someone else carries its own policy.
Check your hotel's workers' comp codes and payroll
Send us your payroll by job title and the codes on your current policy, and we will compare them with how your hotel actually runs.