New law requires construction industry to verify workers’ compensation coverage of subcontractors.
House Bill 1366, which makes a change to workers’ compensation coverage for workers in the construction industry, has officially gone into effect as of October 1, 2007. This new law requires that every person performing construction work on a construction site be covered by workers’ compensation insurance or have a Rejection of Coverage Form that has been filed with the Division of Workers’ Compensation when the subcontractor is the sole owner or partner with no employees.
Under this law, the person on the construction site who contracts work from another party is responsible to either provide workers’ compensation coverage to the contracted employees or require proof of coverage from the subcontractor employing these workers. The “responsible person” may also accept a Rejection of Coverage Form from sole proprietors or partners (general partner, limited partner, limited liability partner, limited liability limited partner) that have no employees and have filed the form with the state Division of Workers’ Compensation. Owners of a personal residence are specifically excluded from this law unless the worker is an employee of the owner. If the requirements of the law are not meet then a penalty of up to $500 per day may be assessed by the Division of Workers’ Compensation.
For more information regarding HB 1366 and its requirements, you can contact StaffScapes or click on the links below.