Texas — Workers Compensation Insurance

No — Texas is one of the few states where it's optional for most private employers, the opposite default from California, Arizona and Nevada.

It's the term for an employer who chooses not to carry workers compensation, a lawful option under Texas law — but one that removes certain traditional legal defenses in a workplace injury lawsuit.

Yes — many GCs require it as a subcontract condition, especially on larger commercial and public projects, regardless of the general state-law option to opt out.

As a non-subscriber, certain traditional legal defenses are unavailable in a resulting lawsuit under Texas law — many non-subscriber employers manage this risk with occupational accident or similar alternative coverage.

That's a genuine business decision weighing coverage cost against non-subscriber litigation exposure and likely future contract requirements — worth discussing directly with a broker.

No — it depends on the specific business's risk tolerance, typical clients, and whether the contracts being pursued require it. There's no single right answer for every Texas contractor.

Yes — for contractors who choose to carry it, alongside general liability and other coverage across our five licensed states.

An independent broker is usually the stronger fit for workers comp specifically — where an agent is limited to one carrier's appetite and rates, Gleason Insurance Brokers can shop your Texas workers comp submission across multiple markets and bring back real, comparable options rather than a single quote.

It can matter more here than elsewhere. Because Texas does not require private employers to carry coverage, an employer that elects non-subscriber status gives up certain legal defenses in a workplace injury lawsuit, which puts more weight on documented safety practice rather than less. For employers who do carry coverage, carriers generally expect the same written program and incident reporting as any other state. Either way, general contractors on larger commercial and public projects frequently require coverage by contract regardless of what state law permits, and the safety file is usually part of that prequalification.

Not entirely — opting out shifts injury exposure from the workers' comp system into ordinary civil liability, where an injured worker can sue for damages a workers' comp claim wouldn't include. Many non-subscribers pair an occupational accident policy with strong general liability and umbrella coverage specifically to address that shifted exposure.