Which best describes who must carry workers' compensation insurance?

Explanation

Labor Code §3700 requires every employer except the state to secure the payment of compensation, either by insuring with a carrier authorized to write it in California or by obtaining a certificate of consent to self-insure from the Director of Industrial Relations; one employee is enough, and there is no small-employer exception. For licensed contractors the license law adds to that: B&P §7125 requires a current certificate of workers' compensation insurance or of self-insurance on file, and even a licensee with no employees must carry it if it holds a C-8, C-20, C-22, C-39 or D-49 classification. From January 1, 2028 (SB 216, as postponed by SB 1455 (Stats. 2024, ch. 485)) every licensee must, except a joint venture licensed under §7029 that employs nobody. (c) is a threshold some other states use and California does not. (a) and (d) invent categories the statute has never drawn.