Other Coverage Options

Voluntary Election of Coverage

Employers excluded from the requirement to carry workers’ compensation coverage on their employees can purchase a policy from a licensed insurance company voluntarily.

Excluded employers who hire domestic servants, or are a department or division of the a State, Counties or Municipal Corporation that wish to elect coverage should file a Notice of Acceptance of the Act by Exempt Employer (Form I-8) with the Bureau. If the employer later chooses to opt back out of the law, they must file a Notice of Withdrawal (Form I-9) with the Bureau. The employer must still meet the qualifications to be exempt from the law in order to withdraw.

Employees should be notified that they are no longer covered by workers’ compensation.

Excluding Corporate Officers

Corporate officers in non-construction type employments may exclude themselves from being covered by their workers’ compensation insurance by filing a Corporate Officer Election Not to Accept Provisions of Workers' Compensation (Form I-6)  with the Corporation and must include an affidavit that the officer rejecting the coverage was not advised, counseled or encouraged by the employer or anyone acting on behalf of the employer to waive their rights. The Corporate officer should provide the agent and carrier with a copy of the exclusion for audit purposes.

Officers that reject the coverage do not reduce the number of employee’s when making the determination as to whether the entity is subject to the law.

Conversely, the Form I-6 can be withdrawn by filing a Notice of Corporate Officer’s Revocation of Exemption (Form I-7). While corporate officers are allowed to exempt themselves from a workers’ compensation policy, they are generally not excluded from the count of employees.

Including Sole Proprietors, Partners, and Members of LLCs

Non-Construction: Sole proprietors, LLC members, and partners are not covered by their workers' compensation policy when written unless they specifically choose to include themselves. The sole proprietor, LLC member, or partner may elect to be covered by his/her own workers' compensation policy by filing a Notice of Election of Sole Proprietor or Partner to Come Within the Provisions of the Tennessee Workers’ Compensation Law (Form I-4) with the insurer (or in the case where the entity is self-insured, should file the election with the entity).  Conversely, the Form I-4 can be withdrawn by filing a Notice of Withdrawal of Sole Proprietor or Partner Election (Form I-5).
Construction: Sole Proprietors, Partners, and Members of LLCs providing construction services are required to be covered by their workers’ compensation policy unless they are on the Bureau’s Exemption Registry.

Coverage under the General Contractor’s Policy

As an alternative to obtaining their own policy, subcontractors, with the agreement of the general contractor, can elect to be covered by the general contractor's workers' compensation insurance by filing an Agreement of General Contractor to Provide Workers’ Compensation Coverage to Subcontractor (Form I-15). The Form I-15 allows the general contractor to withhold premiums from the subcontractor's payroll to cover the subcontractor and its employees.

Failure of the general contractor to file the form with the Bureau does not relieve the obligation of the insurance company to provide coverage to a subcontractor when the subcontractor can produce evidence of payment of premiums to the carrier.

Conversely, to terminate the agreement with the general contractor, both parties should file a Notice of Termination of Agreement (Form I-17), which is at the bottom of the I-15 form.

No form will waive the rights of subcontractors' employees to file a workers’ compensation claim for a work-related injury.

Summary of Coverage Forms

The table below outlines the purpose of each Coverage form to help businesses navigate workers’ compensation coverage requirements. Use this table to quickly identify the correct form needed to manage employer workers' compensation obligations and ensure compliance.

Form Number	Purpose	Applicable To
Form I-3 Notice of Reduction	To formally drop workers' compensation coverage when a employer's workforce falls below five employees.	Employers (non-construction or coal mining)
Form I-4 Notice of Election	To elect to be covered by workers' compensation insurance, even though not automatically covered.	Non-construction Sole Proprietors, LLC members, and Partners
Form I-5 Notice of Withdrawal	To withdraw a previously made election (Form I-4) to be covered by workers' compensation.	Non-construction Sole Proprietors, LLC members, and Partners
Form I-6 Notice of Corporate Officer to Employer of Election Not to Accept Provisions of Workers' Compensation Act of Tennessee	To exclude officers from workers' compensation coverage.	Non-construction corporate officers
Form I-7 Notice of Corporate Officer’s Revocation of Exemption	To revoke a previously made exemption (Form I-6) from workers' compensation coverage and become covered.	Non-construction corporate officers
Form I-8 Notice of Acceptance of the Workers’ Compensation Act by an Exempt Employer	To formally notify the Bureau of Workers' Compensation of voluntary election to be subject to the Workers' Compensation Law.	Non-construction Excluded Employers
Form I-9 Notice of Withdrawal of an Exempt Employers’ Voluntary Election	To withdraw from voluntary coverage under the workers' compensation law after previously filing an I-8.	Non-construction Excluded Employers
Form I-15 / I-17 General Contractor Acceptance/Termination of Coverage Agreement	To establish or withdraw an agreement where a general contractor provides workers' compensation coverage to a subcontractor and their employees.	General Contractors and Subcontractors

Need More Help?

If you have additional questions, send an email to wc.info@tn.gov.