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NCCI class code 8810: clerical office employees (rates, scope, governing rule)

Workers compensation class code 8810 covers clerical office employees with no field exposure. Median rate $0.18 to $0.67 per $100 of payroll. The lowest-rated standard code; subject to the governing-classification rule.

Published January 14, 2025 · 6 min read

NCCI class code 8810: clerical office employees

NCCI class code 8810 covers clerical office employees performing administrative work with no field exposure. The median rate runs $0.18 to $0.67 per $100 of payroll, putting it at the bottom of the standard rate scale. This page covers what 8810 includes, the governing-classification rule that traps many employers, and the remote-work classification questions that came up after 2020.

What 8810 includes

The classification covers administrative office staff:

Bookkeepers, accounting clerks, payroll processors
Receptionists, administrative assistants, executive assistants
Office managers, HR generalists
Customer-service representatives working in-office
Data-entry clerks, file clerks
IT staff who work primarily in the office (some states carve specific IT codes; check your state)

The defining characteristic is “no exposure to operative hazards.” A bookkeeper who works at a desk all day, never visits a job site, and never handles operational equipment is the prototypical 8810 employee.

What 8810 excludes

The common exclusions:

Outside sales (NCCI 8742). Sales employees who travel to customer locations are 8742, not 8810. Same low-rate range, but technically a different code.
Drivers, even occasional. Office staff who deliver packages or run errands in a company vehicle do not stay in 8810 if the driving is regular.
Field administrative staff. Construction-site office trailers staffed by clerical employees are sometimes carved to a different code in some states.
Manufacturing-floor support staff. Manufacturing companies sometimes have administrative staff who walk the production floor. The floor exposure may push them out of 8810.
Healthcare clerical with patient contact. Front-desk staff in medical practices who have direct patient contact may be classified under a healthcare-specific code rather than 8810.

State-by-state rate range

Sample 8810 medians from our dataset [cells/cells-summary.json]:

Indiana: approximately $0.18 to $0.32
Wisconsin: approximately $0.20 to $0.36
Illinois: approximately $0.20 to $0.42
Texas: approximately $0.20 to $0.40
Florida: approximately $0.30 to $0.55

The published rates are often the lowest in the bureau filing, reflecting the very low frequency and severity of clerical claims. Most claims are slip-and-fall in the office, ergonomic repetitive-strain (carpal tunnel, neck), or motor-vehicle accidents during commute (which generally are not covered).

The governing-classification rule

The single biggest 8810 trap is the governing-classification rule. The rule:

When an employee performs work that falls into multiple class codes during a policy period, payroll is allocated based on time records. In the absence of supporting time records, all payroll is assigned to the highest-rated classification the employee touched during the period.

The implications for 8810-classified employees:

1. The bookkeeper who occasionally visits a job site. A residential carpentry contractor’s bookkeeper is normally 8810 ($0.18 to $0.67 per $100). If the bookkeeper occasionally visits a job site to deliver paperwork, photograph progress, or meet with a client, the auditor will reclassify the entire bookkeeper’s payroll to 5403 ($4.80 to $9.20 per $100) unless time records prove the field hours were minimal. The rate difference is roughly 15-30x. On a $50,000 bookkeeper salary, the difference is $2,000 to $4,000 in additional premium.

2. The office manager who supervises a warehouse. An office manager whose job description includes warehouse oversight, even if mostly desk-based, can be reclassified to the warehouse code. Job descriptions matter. If the title or description suggests operational supervision, expect audit scrutiny.

3. Working owners. A working owner who handles both office administration and field work cannot be allocated entirely to 8810. The split must be supportable. Without time records, owners default to the field code.

The fix: maintain payroll-allocation records, time-tracking by class code at the employee or department level, and clear job descriptions for any employee whose work crosses classifications. Most modern payroll software supports class-code tagging; use it.

Remote-work questions after 2020

The shift to remote work in 2020 raised classification questions for the standard 8810 employee population. The bureau and carrier consensus that emerged:

Pure remote office workers: stay in 8810. The work performed is clerical; the location does not change the classification.
Hybrid workers: stay in 8810 if the office days do not introduce different exposure. Most hybrid arrangements are still 8810.
Remote workers who occasionally visit a higher-risk facility: may need split allocation, depending on the facility and frequency.

Carriers have not generally reclassified remote-only office workers out of 8810. The historical loss data for 8810 supports the position that remote work does not increase exposure.

Common classification errors

1. Working owner under 8810 alone. A residential-contractor LLC owner who does the books in the evening and works in the field during the day cannot allocate all payroll to 8810. The field hours go to the field code; the office hours go to 8810. Without time records, the field code wins.

2. Sales employees under 8810. Sales employees who travel to customers should be 8742 (outside sales), not 8810. The rate is similar, but the classification matters for accuracy.

3. Construction-trailer staff under 8810. A construction-site office trailer staffed by a clerical employee may not stay in 8810. Some states require a different classification because the location has higher exposure than a corporate office.

4. Healthcare front-desk staff. Front-desk receptionists in medical practices, dental practices, and other healthcare settings may be classified under a healthcare code rather than 8810. Check your state’s specific rule.

Worked premium example

A small professional-services firm with $400,000 annual payroll, all in 8810 at a bureau rate of $0.30 per $100 in Indiana. Manual premium: $400,000 / $100 × $0.30 = $1,200. Apply carrier LCM of 1.40: $1,680. Apply EMR of 1.00 (default): $1,680. Apply schedule credit of 5%: $1,596. Final policy premium: $1,596 per year, approximately $133 per month.

For pure clerical employers, workers comp is often the smallest commercial coverage line on the firm’s overall insurance program. The state minimum premium (varies by carrier) often determines the actual premium for very small accounts.

8742 (outside sales): similar rate, different work pattern. Sales staff who travel to customers but do not perform field operations.
8855 (banks, professional offices): some states use 8855 for bank office staff specifically; rate similar to 8810
8810 also has a clerical telecommuting variant in some states for fully-remote staff

This is general information, not legal or insurance advice. Consult a licensed broker or attorney for your specific situation.

Frequently asked questions

What does class code 8810 cover?

Clerical office employees performing administrative work in an office setting with no field exposure. Includes bookkeepers, accounting clerks, receptionists, administrative assistants, and most office support staff. Excludes outside sales (NCCI 8742), drafters in non-office environments, and any employee who regularly visits job sites.

What's the rate for 8810?

Median rate across our dataset is approximately $0.18 to $0.67 per $100 of payroll. The lowest-rated standard NCCI code in most states. Some states publish 8810 rates as low as $0.10 to $0.15.

Can my office bookkeeper be classified under 8810 if they occasionally visit job sites?

Risky. The governing-classification rule says when an employee's payroll cannot be cleanly split, the entire payroll goes to the highest-rated code that employee touched during the policy period. Without time records proving the field hours were minimal, auditors reclassify the bookkeeper's full payroll to the field code.

What is the governing-classification rule?

The principle that when an employee performs work in multiple class codes during a policy period, payroll is allocated based on time records. Without supporting time records, all payroll is assigned to the highest-rated classification the employee touched. The rule prevents under-payment of premium through casual code assignment.

Does 8810 cover remote workers?

Generally yes, if the work performed is clerical and the employee does not visit job sites or other higher-risk locations. Remote workers who occasionally come into a higher-risk facility may need to be split-allocated. Most carriers and bureaus have accepted remote-work-as-8810 since 2020.

How is 8810 different from 8742?

8742 (outside sales) covers sales employees who travel to customer locations but do not perform field operations. 8810 (clerical) covers in-office work with no travel. Both are low-rated codes. The distinction matters for sales employees who are sometimes incorrectly classified under 8810.