Workers’ Comp Class Code 8742: Outside Salespersons
Class code 8742 is the California workers’ comp classification for employees who sell, collect or do public relations work away from your premises. Its rate sits near the bottom of the WCIRB’s table, so auditors check closely who belongs in it. This page covers who qualifies, what pushes a rep out and how to confirm the code on your own policy.
Who class code 8742 covers
In plain terms, 8742 is for people whose job is selling, collecting or representing the business out in the field rather than working on site. The class also takes in employees who divide their time between that field work and clerical tasks, provided the clerical part happens in an office area set apart from every other work area. Field reps for wholesalers, manufacturers and distributors, estimators who only bid jobs, collectors and public relations staff are the usual examples.
The number is the same one NCCI states use, but the California definition is the WCIRB’s. Like clerical office work, 8742 is a Standard Exception classification, which means a qualifying rep is reported in 8742 instead of the business’s governing class. The California workers’ comp class code guide explains how that governing class is chosen.
What takes a rep out of 8742
The class is built around the absence of operative hazard. If a salesperson is exposed to any of the hands-on risks of the business, whether by demonstrating or installing the product, running deliveries or supervising crews, the WCIRB’s rule sends that person’s entire payroll to the highest-rated class of that exposure. A rep who drops off one pallet a week is, for classification purposes, part of the delivery operation.
Some routine tasks do not break the class. Going to the bank, picking up mail, buying office supplies and walking through an operative area simply to get in or out of the building leave 8742 intact. And where a class’s own wording includes outside salespersons, as 8601(1) does for engineering and architecture firms, the reps stay in that class instead. The neighbouring codes to know are 8810 for clerical office staff, 8871 for clerical telecommuters and 5606 for contractor executives.
Estimators and sales staff at construction firms
Contractors meet this question most often. The WCIRB’s September 1, 2026 filing spells it out in the 5606 wording: employees who visit job sites only for pre-construction estimating or client meetings, with no supervisory duties and no walking the site to check progress, quality or safety, belong in 8742, not in the executive supervisor class. Once an estimator starts inspecting work in progress, the role moves toward class code 5606 or the trade code. Builders weighing their wider cover can start with insurance for contractors.
Reporting payroll for outside sales staff
One employee’s pay cannot be divided between 8742 and another class during a policy period. The single exception is a permanent reassignment, and only one is allowed. So a rep who spends Mondays in the warehouse is not split; the whole salary follows the higher-rated work.
Travel costs change the payroll figure too. When outside salespersons pay their own travel expenses out of their earnings, at least two-thirds of their pay counts as payroll. 8742 has no dual wage split. Commission plans, mileage logs and a written description of each rep’s duties are the records that hold up at audit.
Checking your 8742 assignment with the WCIRB
Your policy’s information page and the audit report show which employees went into 8742 and how much payroll was reported. Compare that with what each rep did during the year. If the insurer moved reps into the operative class and you believe they qualify, the first step is a written inquiry to the WCIRB, sent no later than 12 months after that policy ends. The class code guide sets out the steps that follow.
How 8742 affects what you pay
The WCIRB’s advisory pure premium rate for 8742, effective September 1, 2026, is 0.337 per $100 of payroll. That figure is a loss-cost benchmark for expected claims, not what an insurer charges; insurers set their own rates above it. Still, the contrast is telling. A rep earning $80,000 produces a benchmark of $269.60 in 8742. Moved at audit into the 8018 wholesale store class, at 5.927, the same pay produces $4,741.60. Your experience modifier then applies to the result. Because reps spend their days on the road, it is also worth reviewing hired and non-owned auto alongside workers’ compensation.
A few useful answers
Common questions
Does an estimator qualify for class code 8742?
An estimator who visits job sites only to bid work or meet clients, with no supervisory role and no checks on progress, quality or safety, fits 8742 under the WCIRB’s 2026 filing. Inspecting work in progress moves the role out.
Can a sales rep who also makes deliveries stay in 8742?
Deliveries are an operative exposure, so the rep’s entire payroll goes to the highest-rated class of that work, usually the business’s main class, for the policy period.
What counts as payroll for an outside salesperson who pays travel costs?
When reps cover their own travel expenses from their pay, at least two-thirds of that pay is reported as payroll in 8742.
Can I insure my outside sales team through Mithril1?
It can, when an insurer agrees to write the policy once it has seen your payroll, each rep’s duties and your claims history. We request quotes with the reps placed in the class their work supports.