California law makes which insurance mandatory for a contractor that has employees?

Explanation

Labor Code §3700 requires every employer to secure the payment of compensation, by insurance or by a certificate of consent to self-insure, and one employee triggers it; B&P §7125 then makes a current certificate of workers' compensation insurance or of self-insurance on file with the board a condition of the license itself. A licensee with NO employees may file an exemption statement instead until January 1, 2028, unless it holds a C-8, C-20, C-22, C-39 or D-49 classification; from that date SB 216, as postponed by SB 1455 (Stats. 2024, ch. 485), requires coverage of every licensee except a §7029 joint venture that employs nobody. General liability, commercial auto, and builder's risk are routinely required by contract, by a lender, or by the Vehicle Code for the vehicles themselves, but none of them is made mandatory for contractors by the license law, and none of them pays an injured worker's benefits.