Workers’ Comp Class Code 8017: Retail Stores
Class code 8017 is California’s catch-all workers’ comp classification for retail shops whose products no more specific store class describes. Gift shops, phone stores, pharmacies, toy and pet shops often carry it, and a few details about what the store sells and who does what decide whether the code holds up at audit.
Which shops fall under class code 8017
The classification is 8017(1), Stores – retail – N.O.C., where N.O.C. means not otherwise classified. Put simply, it takes in retail stores selling goods that no narrower store classification names. The examples in the WCIRB’s Uniform Statistical Reporting Plan (USRP) run from appliances, art and baked goods to cell phones, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, party and craft supplies, mattresses, pets, firearms, electronics, musical instruments, sporting goods, toys, vitamins, Christmas trees and wheelchairs.
A few businesses that hardly look like shops are listed too: self-serve laundromats, dry-cleaning drop-off counters with no cleaning on the premises, mail service stores and arcades. Two more suffixes share the number. 8017(8) is for linen rental or restroom supply services with no laundry operations, and 8017(9) is for product demonstrators or sample distributors who work in stores for a contractor.
Store codes next to 8017, and the hot food boundary
Because 8017 is the fallback, check first whether a narrower store class fits your product line. Retail sales of wine, beer or spirits go to 8060, tile has its own store class in 8059, and wholesale stores have a separate catch-all, class code 8018. The USRP holds many product-based store codes, so a shop that sells mostly one category should read that category’s wording before accepting the general one.
Food is the other edge. The retail store class leaves hot food preparation and serving to be classified separately. The restaurant class the 2020 rules pointed to, 9079, was replaced on September 1, 2024 by six food and beverage classes, so a store that adds a hot food counter should ask its insurer which of them applies. Our page on 9079 and the codes that replaced it sets out how they differ.
How retail payroll is reported
When a business’s operations normally fall within one classification, California puts the entire payroll there with no division. The USRP’s own illustration is a restaurant whose bakers, janitors, valets and storage staff all follow the main class. For most shops that means one code for the whole team. A second class applies only to a distinct operation, and then the USRP looks for physical separation with no interchange of labor, or complete payroll records for anyone who works on both sides.
Two Standard Exception classes can sit beside the store code: 8810 for clerical office staff in a separated office, and 8742 for outside salespersons. One employee cannot be split between either of them and 8017 in the same policy period, apart from a single permanent reassignment, so a bookkeeper who also covers the register stays in the store class. Covered executive officers, partners and LLC members are reported on actual pay, with a minimum of $66,300 and a maximum of $171,600 a year under the WCIRB’s September 1, 2026 filing.
Class code 8017 mistakes that surface at audit
Most retail misclassification comes from a business that changed while its policy did not: a shop that starts serving hot food, a back room that turns into packing and shipping for other sellers on a fee basis (which the USRP lists under 8018), or a second site that begins selling wholesale. The insurer assigns the code when it issues the policy and confirms it at the premium audit. If an audit or WCIRB review moves the store to a higher-rated class and the correction is published or noticed within three months, the higher rate runs back to the start of the error, and that is how an unexpected audit bill arrives.
Time records protect you here. If an employee’s hours are not separated by type of work in original time records, all of that person’s pay goes to the highest-rated class they work in.
Checking your retail store classification with the WCIRB
Your code appears on the policy information page and on the latest audit report. Compare the 8017(1) wording, as the WCIRB publishes it in the USRP, with what the store actually sells and does each day. The WCIRB also inspects businesses to confirm that insurers apply the right classes, and the employer receives a copy of its inspection report within 30 days. If you believe the classification is wrong, write to the WCIRB within 12 months after the policy expires, naming the insurer and explaining the problem. The California class code guide covers the complaint and appeal steps that follow.
What 8017 means for a store’s workers’ comp cost
The WCIRB’s approved advisory pure premium rate for 8017 from September 1, 2026 is 2.786 per $100 of payroll, above the $1.65 statewide average benchmark the Insurance Commissioner adopted for the same date. The rate reflects expected losses and claim handling only, and insurers are free to set their own rates around it, so use it to compare classes rather than as a price. At 2.786, a sales associate earning $45,000 represents $1,253.70, and a store with $300,000 of payroll comes to $8,358 before the insurer’s pricing and any experience modifier. The same $300,000 in the 8018 wholesale class would be $17,781.
When we request workers’ compensation quotes for a shop, we send payroll by class with a plain description of what is sold and how, and the insurer decides after reviewing it. For the store’s liability, property and other policies, see insurance for retail stores.
A few useful answers
Common questions
What is class code 8017 in California?
It is 8017(1), Stores – retail – N.O.C., the WCIRB classification for retail stores whose products no narrower store class names, such as electronics, toy, pet, cosmetics and sporting goods shops, along with self-serve laundromats and mail service stores.
Does a shop that serves hot food stay in class code 8017?
Hot food preparation and serving is classified separately from the retail store class. California has used six food and beverage classes for that work since September 1, 2024, so ask your insurer which one fits before the audit.
Can a cashier who also keeps the books be split between 8017 and 8810?
Not within one policy period. The USRP bars splitting an employee between 8810 and another class except after one permanent reassignment, so mixed duties keep the whole salary in 8017.
Is the 2.786 WCIRB figure what my store will pay for class code 8017?
No. It is the WCIRB’s advisory pure premium rate per $100 of payroll for September 1, 2026, a benchmark for expected losses. Insurers are not bound by it and add their own expenses, credits or debits and your x-mod.