Industries

Benefits for restoration and cleanup companies

Your crews roll out at 2 a.m. for a flooded basement or a fire-damaged kitchen, paid by the hour, and too often their benefits end at the paycheck.

Confirm anything about taxes with your own CPA or licensed tax advisor before you act.

Last updated: 2026-10-26

Seen from above, a worker in a white protective suit, hood and blue shoe covers runs a fogging machine in a living room that is filling with mist.
A worker in a protective suit fogs a living room. Photo: Michelangelo Buonarroti on Pexels (opens in a new tab)

My crews are on call and their hours swing. Who counts as full-time?

For the federal health coverage rules, anyone who averages at least 30 hours of service a week, or 130 hours a month. A wet spring can push a whole crew over that line for a few months. Track hours monthly, because the rules work from averages.

Part-time hours count too. Each month, add up the hours of everyone who is not full-time, capped at 120 per person, and divide by 120. That number joins your full-time count.

A full group plan is too much right now. What can I offer?

A CHOICE Arrangement, once called an ICHRA, lets you set a monthly amount that employees put toward an individual health plan they pick. Employers of any size can generally offer one.

Disability and life coverage are worth a look for work that is hard on the body. A technician who hurts a back on a demo job may be out for weeks.

Do workers I pay as subcontractors count?

That is a legal question about how they are classified, not a benefits question. Settle it with your attorney or accountant first. Plan benefits around the people on your W-2 payroll.

Where these facts come from

Questions owners ask

Do restoration companies have to offer health insurance?

Under federal law, only once you are an applicable large employer, meaning 50 or more full-time employees, counting full-time equivalents, on average during the prior year.

Can storm-season crews get different benefits from year-round staff?

With a CHOICE Arrangement, yes. It can be offered to certain classes of employees, and seasonal status is one of the classes HealthCare.gov lists.

When does COBRA apply to a restoration company?

Federal COBRA generally applies to the group health plan of an employer that had 20 or more employees in the prior year.

How long can a new technician wait before health coverage starts?

A group health plan cannot apply a waiting period longer than 90 days.

Services

Other industries

Three roofers are silhouetted on the roof ridge of a house against a yellow evening sky, one carrying a long-handled fork tool on his shoulder.

Bring your questions.Talk them through with an advisor.

Pick a time to talk