How is a workers' comp premium calculated in Hawaii?

The base formula divides annual payroll by 100, multiplies by the class-code base rate, then multiplies by your experience modification factor. So $500,000 of payroll at a $2.40 rate and a 1.0 mod yields about $12,000 in manual premium before credits and minimums.

What is a class-code base rate?

Each type of work has a classification code with a rate per $100 of payroll that reflects its injury risk. Clerical roles carry low rates while roofing or construction carry much higher ones. Hawaii uses NCCI-style codes, and carriers file their own rates around the advisory loss costs.

Does Hawaii have a state workers' comp fund?

No monopolistic state fund. Hawaii's market is served by private insurers and the Hawaii Employers' Mutual Insurance Company (HEMIC), a state-created mutual carrier. Employers can shop coverage, so it pays to compare quotes from several carriers and HEMIC.

What is the experience modification factor?

The experience mod, or e-mod, compares your past claims to the average for your class. A mod below 1.0 means a better-than-average safety record and lowers your premium, while a mod above 1.0 raises it. New or small employers often start at 1.0 until they have enough claims history.

Will this be my exact premium?

No, it is an estimate. Real Hawaii premiums add schedule rating credits and debits, expense constants, minimum premiums, and a separate calculation for each class code if you have mixed job duties. Use this to ballpark cost, then get firm quotes from carriers.

Hawaii Workers' Compensation Premium Calculator

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Workers’ compensation is mandatory for nearly every Hawaii employer, and the premium scales with payroll, the riskiness of the work, and your claims history. This calculator applies the standard premium formula so you can estimate annual cost before shopping carriers.

How it works

Workers’ comp premium starts from payroll and a class-code rate, then adjusts for your safety record:

manual premium   = (annual payroll ÷ 100) × class-code base rate
modified premium = manual premium × experience mod

The class-code base rate is expressed per $100 of payroll and reflects how dangerous the job is — clerical work is cheap, construction is expensive. The experience modification factor then rewards or penalizes your history: below 1.0 lowers the premium, above 1.0 raises it.

Estimated premium = payroll ÷ 100 × class-code rate × experience mod.

The tool also reports the cost as a percentage of payroll so you can compare it across class codes and carriers.

Example and notes

With $500,000 of payroll, a $2.40 class-code rate, and a 1.0 experience mod, the manual premium is 500,000 ÷ 100 × $2.40 = $12,000. A clean safety record that earns a 0.85 mod would cut that to about $10,200.

Hawaii has no monopolistic state fund, so compare private carriers and HEMIC. Real premiums add schedule credits, expense constants, minimum premiums, and separate calculations for each class code when employees do different jobs. Treat this as a ballpark and get firm quotes. Everything runs in your browser.