Workers’ Comp Class Code 8810: Clerical Office Employees
Class code 8810 is where California places clerical office employees: bookkeepers, receptionists, administrators, dispatchers and office drafters. It carries one of the smallest advisory rates the WCIRB publishes, and that is exactly why two tests, one about duties and one about walls, decide every 8810 assignment.
The duty test for class code 8810
An 8810 employee’s work stays inside the office. Described plainly, that means keeping the employer’s books, records or cash, handling correspondence, working on computers, dispatching, recording weights, or doing general office work or office drafting, with no regular duty outside clerical work. Almost every business has someone who fits, from a contractor’s office manager to a distributor’s dispatcher.
8810 is a Standard Exception classification, so qualifying staff are reported there rather than in the business’s governing class. Supervisors, and time, stock or tally clerks whose work is tied to non-clerical operations, are left out. The California workers’ comp class code guide covers how the governing class itself is set.
The separation test
Duties are only half of it. The office has to be a distinct space: the clerical staff must work exclusively in areas separated from every other work place of the employer by buildings, floors, partitions, railings or counters. A desk in an open corner of the warehouse does not pass, however clerical the work at it. A walled office or a counter that marks off the office area does.
Exposure overrides everything else. A clerical employee who faces any operative hazard of the business, or who does outside selling, goes to the highest-rated class that person is exposed to. An office manager who packs orders at month end or drives parts to a job site is, for the WCIRB, part of that operation.
Codes that include office staff, and other neighbours
Some classifications already include clerical office employees in their wording. Consulting engineers and architects in 8601(1) and physicians in 8834 are two examples. In those businesses the office staff stay in the main class even when they sit in a separate location, and when an employer has both kinds of class, a payroll comparison decides which treatment applies. Field staff who sell rather than file belong in class code 8742.
The reverse case also comes up. In the USRP’s own example, an investment firm’s staff are 8810, but the employee who maintains its building goes to class code 9015. A separate class, 8871 Clerical Telecommuter Employees, appears beside 8810 in the 2026 filing with its own rate, so confirm with the insurer which one fits staff who work away from your office.
How 8810 payroll is reported
An employee’s pay cannot be split between 8810 and another class in one policy period, apart from a single permanent reassignment. That rule catches small businesses where one person keeps the books three days a week and works the counter or the shop floor the rest. Unless the role changes for good, the whole salary goes to the higher-rated work.
Keeping 8810 at audit comes down to evidence. Written job descriptions, a floor plan or photos that show the office separation, and payroll records that match each person to one role are what auditors look for. 8810 has no dual wage split. Covered officers and LLC members who work in the office are reported on actual pay within the WCIRB’s limits, $66,300 to $171,600 a year from September 1, 2026, in the class their duties fit.
Checking your 8810 code with the WCIRB
Look at the policy information page and last year’s audit report to see which staff were reported in 8810. If an auditor moved office employees into the operative class and you believe both tests were met, you can send the WCIRB a written inquiry within 12 months of the policy’s expiration. The WCIRB also runs inspections to confirm that insurers apply the right classes.
What 8810 means for your premium
The WCIRB’s advisory pure premium rate for 8810 from September 1, 2026 is 0.214 per $100 of payroll, and 8871 is 0.096. These are loss-cost benchmarks, not the price an insurer quotes. A $60,000 bookkeeper produces $128.40 at the 8810 rate; the same pay in the 8018 wholesale store class, at 5.927, produces $3,556.20. That difference is why the separation and duty tests are worth getting right, and why the x-mod and the class mix shape your workers’ comp cost together.
A few useful answers
Common questions
Does my office manager qualify for class code 8810?
Only if the job is clerical with no regular non-clerical duty and the work happens in a separated office area. Regular time on the shop floor, in deliveries or at job sites moves the whole salary to that operation’s class.
Will an office inside my warehouse pass the 8810 separation test?
It passes when buildings, floors, partitions, railings or counters separate the office area from the rest of the warehouse, and the clerical staff work only in that area.
Can one employee be split between 8810 and the shop code?
The USRP does not allow a split between 8810 and another class in one policy period, except for one permanent reassignment. Mixed duties put the full pay in the higher-rated class.
Do remote office workers use 8810 or 8871?
California has a separate class, 8871 Clerical Telecommuter Employees, with its own advisory rate. Ask your insurer which class it applies to staff working away from your office before the audit.