Legislative Update: Workers Compensation Law for Construction Industry Amended
A law requiring every worker on a construction site to have workers’ compensation insurance on themselves has been permanently amended. Under the prior law, sole proprietors and partners were not required to obtain coverage. By classifying employees as sole proprietors, some employers (mostly in the construction industry) were able to take advantage of this loophole. To thwart these misclassifications, legislation was passed requiring that all construction workers on a construction site, with a few minor exceptions, be covered under a workers’ compensation policy. After small contractors across the state complained about the cost of the requirement, legislators passed a bill temporarily suspending the law until March 2011. Now lawmakers have made good on their promise to resolve the issue before then, recently passing a law that amends the requirement permanently. See Chapter 1149 of the Public Acts of 2010 (Senate Bill No. 3591).
By Legislative Update: Tennessee Workers Compensation Law
Last month, I reported on a bill passed by the Tennessee legislature that temporarily suspends the requirement that independent contractors in the construction industry obtain workers’ compensation coverage on themselves. The requirement had been in effect for less than a month before being suspended due to its “unintended” financial consequences on small construction contractors. Now, lawmakers are considering another bill, one that would amend the requirement permanently. See SB 3591 by Ketron/HB 3163 by Curtiss, Pitts.
New Tennessee Workers’ Compensation Law Delayed
Independent contractors engaged in the construction industry can ignore-for now-a new law requiring them to carry workers’ compensation on themselves. On January 22, 2010, the Governor signed into law Public Chapter No. 1, temporarily suspending the new requirement.