If you skip required workers compensation in Kansas, the state can charge you with a crime, assess a civil penalty measured against your premium, and pay an injured worker from a state fund and then come after you to get that money back. Kansas treats knowingly going without coverage as a serious violation, not a paperwork slip. For any employer whose payroll is over the 20,000 dollar line, the cost of skipping coverage dwarfs the premium.
Who this is for: Kansas owners weighing the risk of going without coverage, or worried about a lapse, especially in higher-risk trades like roofing and construction.
The short version
- Knowingly and intentionally failing to secure coverage is a class A misdemeanor under the Kansas Act.
- The state can assess a civil penalty of twice the premium you should have paid, or 25,000 dollars, whichever is greater.
- If a worker is hurt while you are uninsured, the state Workers Compensation Fund pays them.
- The Commissioner of Insurance can then sue you to recover every dollar the Fund paid.
- Sole proprietors and partners are personally the employer, so that recovery can reach personal assets.
What Kansas can do to you
Kansas backs the coverage requirement with a criminal charge, a civil penalty, and a state-run recovery, rather than the stop-work orders or tort exposure some other states use.
| Consequence | What Kansas can do |
|---|---|
| Knowingly failing to carry required coverage | Charged as a class A misdemeanor, which under the general criminal statutes carries up to 12 months in county jail and a fine up to 2,500 dollars |
| Civil penalty for that failure | After a state hearing, twice the annual premium you would have paid or 25,000 dollars, whichever is greater, assessed by the director |
| An injury while you are uninsured | The injured worker is paid from the state Workers Compensation Fund |
| Repaying the Fund | The Commissioner of Insurance can sue the employer to recover what the Fund paid |
| Who the recovery reaches | The employer; a sole proprietor or partner is personally the employer, so personal assets can be exposed |
The civil penalty and the fund recovery
Two of these deserve a closer look. The civil penalty is deliberately steep: after a hearing that starts with the director's statement of charges, an employer found to have knowingly and intentionally gone without coverage can be assessed twice the premium it should have paid or 25,000 dollars, whichever is greater, so the number scales with how much coverage you avoided. Separately, the fund recovery is the one that follows you after an injury: the state Workers Compensation Fund pays the hurt worker, and then the Commissioner of Insurance has a cause of action to recover that full amount from you. You do not escape the cost by being uninsured; you just move it from a premium to a lawsuit.
What Kansas does not do
It helps to know the limits too. Kansas does not issue stop-work orders for lack of comp, and it does not strip an uninsured employer of the workers comp system's protections the way a few states do, so an injured worker's claim generally still runs through the comp process and the state Fund rather than a direct tort lawsuit against you. That said, none of that softens the real teeth: the misdemeanor charge, the civil penalty, and the Commissioner chasing you to repay the Fund. Construction and roofing draw the closest attention, and a job site without proof of coverage is a common trigger for enforcement.
A Dodge City roofing example
Illustrative, not a quote. A Dodge City roofing contractor with four crew members earning well over the payroll line skips coverage for a season to save money. A crew member falls and is seriously hurt. Because the business was uninsured, the state Workers Compensation Fund pays the worker's benefits, and the Commissioner of Insurance then sues the contractor to recover every dollar. On top of that he faces a class A misdemeanor charge and a civil penalty of twice the premium he avoided or 25,000 dollars, whichever is greater, and as a sole proprietor his personal assets are exposed. A season of premium would have cost a small fraction of that. See our workers comp for roofers page.
Real questions Kansas owners ask
What is the penalty for not having workers comp in Kansas?
Knowingly going without required coverage is a class A misdemeanor, and the state can assess a civil penalty of twice the premium you should have paid or 25,000 dollars, whichever is greater. An uninsured injury can also be recovered from you.
Can I go to jail for not carrying workers comp in Kansas?
It is possible. Knowingly and intentionally failing to secure coverage is a class A misdemeanor, which under the general criminal statutes carries up to 12 months in county jail and a fine up to 2,500 dollars.
How big is the civil penalty in Kansas?
After a state hearing, the director can assess twice the annual premium you would have paid or 25,000 dollars, whichever is greater. Because it scales with your avoided premium, the number grows with the coverage you skipped.
What happens if a worker is hurt while I am uninsured?
The injured worker is paid their workers comp benefits from the state Workers Compensation Fund. The Commissioner of Insurance then has a cause of action to sue you and recover the full amount the Fund paid out.
Can Kansas issue a stop-work order to shut me down?
No. Kansas does not have a stop-work order for lack of workers comp. Its enforcement runs through the misdemeanor charge, the civil penalty, and the state recovering what its fund pays an injured worker.
Can an injured worker sue me directly if I have no coverage?
Generally the claim still runs through the workers comp system and the state Fund rather than a direct tort lawsuit, because Kansas does not strip that protection from uninsured employers the way a few states do. The cost comes back as the fund recovery.
Am I personally on the hook, or just the company?
It depends on your structure. Sole proprietors and partners are personally the employer, so their personal assets can be exposed to the recovery. A corporation is the employer for these purposes, though officers should not treat the risk lightly.
Why Kansas owners choose Morrow
- We shop the right market for you. In Kansas you buy workers comp on the open, competitive market from any private insurer licensed in the state, because there is no state fund, and if no carrier will take you the state's assigned risk plan, run by the national rating bureau, is the guaranteed backstop, so we can shop your rate freely and still have a fallback 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 Kansas guides
Every Kansas 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 Kansas (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?
- I only employ family: do I need workers comp?
- Remote or out-of-state staff: do I need coverage?
- 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)
- What workers comp does not cover
- Workers comp vs employers liability
- Kansas roofing workers comp
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Kansas rules and penalty amounts can change, so verify current requirements with the Kansas Department of Labor, Division of Workers Compensation or a licensed advisor before you rely on them. Last updated: July 2026.