Georgia has no general exemption for family members, so a spouse, child, or relative you pay to work in the business is an employee who counts toward the three-employee threshold. If your family staff bring your regular headcount to three or more, you need workers compensation for them, just as you would for any other worker.
Who this is for: Georgia owners of family-run businesses who want to know whether relatives on the payroll trigger a coverage duty.
The short version
- No family carve-out. Georgia does not exempt family members from the count the way it exempts a few narrow job types.
- Paid relatives are employees. A family member you pay to work counts toward the three, like any other employee.
- Three is the trigger. Once three or more people are regularly in service, coverage is required (O.C.G.A. section 34-9-2).
- Owners are the exception, not relatives. A sole proprietor or partner is out by default; a spouse who is a paid worker, not an owner, is not.
- A couple of job types are exempt, such as household domestic workers and farm laborers, but that is about the work, not the family tie.
How family members are counted
The question is whether the relative is a paid worker in your business, not how they are related to you. Owners are treated under the owner rules; paid relatives who are not owners are treated as employees.
| Family member | Counts toward the three? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Spouse or child you pay as staff | Yes | A paid non-owner relative is an employee |
| Relative who is a co-owner (partner or member) | Under the owner rules | Partners out by default; members and officers in by default |
| Part-time or seasonal relative | Yes, if regular | No hours minimum and no waiting period |
| Household domestic worker | No | Domestic servants are a separate exempt category |
| Farm laborer | No | Farm labor is a separate exempt category |
The narrow exceptions that are about the work
Georgia does exempt a few kinds of work, and family businesses sometimes fall into them. Household domestic workers, such as a nanny or housekeeper in a private home, and farm laborers are outside the Act. Those exemptions turn on the type of work, not the family relationship. A relative working in your ordinary business, a store, a restaurant, a contracting company, is a regular employee and counts toward the three. So a family shop with three relatives on the payroll needs a policy, while a household that pays a family member to clean the home may not, because that is domestic work.
Why family businesses often insure anyway
Even below three employees, a work injury to a relative can be costly, and a family member's health plan may refuse a work-related claim. Comp is built to pay those medical bills and part of lost wages. Because a business below the threshold also lacks the Act's protection against an injury lawsuit, some family owners buy a policy before they strictly must, especially in hands-on trades where the risk of injury is higher.
A Roswell example
Illustrative, not a quote. A Roswell family restaurant is owned by two partners, a husband and wife, who also employ their adult son and two part-time cousins in the kitchen. The three younger relatives are paid staff, not owners, so they count toward the three-employee trigger and the restaurant needs a policy for them. The two owner-partners are out by default but can elect in. When the son burns a hand on the grill, comp pays instead of the family absorbing the bill. See our workers comp for restaurants page.
Real questions Georgia owners ask
Do I need workers comp for family employees in Georgia?
If paid relatives bring you to three or more people regularly in service, yes. Georgia has no general family exemption, so a spouse, child, or relative you pay counts like any other employee.
Does Georgia exempt family members from workers comp?
No. There is no general family carve-out. A few job types are exempt, such as household domestic workers and farm laborers, but those turn on the type of work, not the family relationship.
Do my spouse and kids count toward the three-employee rule?
Yes, if you pay them to work in the business and they are not owners. A paid non-owner relative is an employee for the count, whether full-time, part-time, or seasonal if regular.
What if the relative is also a co-owner?
Then the owner rules apply. A relative who is a partner is out by default and can elect in, while a relative who is an LLC member or corporate officer is in by default and can opt out, but still counts.
Is a nanny or housekeeper I pay covered by this?
Usually not for the count. Household domestic workers are a separate exempt category, so paying a family member for domestic work in a private home is different from employing them in a business.
We are a two-person family business. Do we need a policy?
Not by state law, since two is below the three-employee trigger. Many family owners still buy coverage, because below the threshold they also lose the Act's protection against an injury lawsuit.
Do part-time family workers count?
Yes, if they work regularly. Regular part-time and seasonal relatives count toward the three the same as full-timers, with no minimum hours and no waiting period.
Why Georgia owners choose Morrow
- We shop the right market for you. In Georgia you buy workers' comp on the open market from any private insurer licensed in the state, because Georgia has no state fund, and if no carrier will take you the NCCI-run assigned risk plan is the guaranteed fallback, so we can shop your rate freely and still have a backstop for hard-to-place work.
- We catch pricing mistakes. Your price depends heavily on the category your work falls into for pricing (the class code). Put people in the wrong category and you overpay for years. We review your payroll and classifications before you buy.
- Proof of coverage, fast. Need a certificate (proof of coverage) for a general contractor or a landlord before Monday? We turn those around the same business day for most carriers.
- We help lower the score that drives your price. Insurers give you a score based on your past claims that raises or lowers your cost (the experience modification rate). We review it each year, flag errors, and connect you with return-to-work and safety resources that bring it down.
- Real people when a claim happens. When someone gets hurt, we stay involved through the life of the claim, not just at renewal.
Related Georgia guides
Every Georgia business is set up a little differently. These companion guides answer the same question for other situations, plus the national explainers behind the terms used here.
- Business insurance in Georgia (start here)
- Workers comp: the owner's overview
- I own an LLC: do I need workers comp?
- I'm a sole proprietor: do I need workers comp?
- I own a corporation (C-corp or S-corp): do I need it?
- We're a partnership: do we need workers comp?
- We're a nonprofit: do we need workers comp?
- My workers are 1099: do I still need it?
- Only part-time or seasonal staff: do I need it?
- Remote or out-of-state staff: do I need coverage?
- What happens if I don't carry workers comp?
- How much does workers comp cost?
- How do I get workers comp (even if turned down)?
- What insurance do I need for a contractor license?
- Workers compensation insurance, explained
- What workers comp costs (national guide)
- Do sole proprietors need workers comp?
- Hiring your first employee: what changes
- Georgia retail store workers comp
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Georgia rules and penalty amounts can change, so verify current requirements with Georgia State Board of Workers' Compensation or a licensed advisor before you rely on them. Last updated: July 2026.