1. Under the Labor Code, a person injured while
rendering service for another must prove employment status prior to collecting
compensation.
2. When an employee dies from work-related injury, the employee’s
dependents may not recover damages from the employer, in addition to a death benefit.
3. If employer A contracts with employer B to perform certain
services, and employer B’s worker is injured while performing those services, the
worker may file a compensation claim against both employers only if employer A directly
controlled and supervised the injured worker.
4. If a worker is temporarily placed on employer A’s payroll
while on loan from employer B, and is injured while working, she may claim compensation
from both employers.
5. If an employer contracts in writing with a person rendering
services, the contract will be deemed irrelevant in determining employee status.
6. State prison inmates may be defined as employees under the Labor
Code.
7. Aliens may never be considered employees, under the Labor Code.
8. Members of the boards of directors of private corporations may
elect coverage under the Labor Code.
9. Volunteer firefighters must elect coverage for workers’
compensation.
10. An independent contractor may elect coverage under the Labor
Code.
11. Although a person is identified as an independent contractor in a
written contract for performance of services, if he is directed by the principal on the
means of accomplishing the result, he will be covered as an employee.
12. A person who slips on a wet kitchen floor of a non-profit
homeless shelter while performing chores in
exchange for shelter is covered as an employee.
13. A gardener who was paid $125 for clearing brush from a hillside
in one day will be covered as an employee.
14. A retired police officer volunteering as a sheriff’s deputy
in a small county is excluded as an employee.
15. The burden of proof generally rests on the injured worker to
prove she was an employee and not an independent contractor.
16. Determinations by entities such as the Internal Revenue Service
may be dispositive of employment status.
17. In determining independent contractor status, the most important
factor is whether the parties believe they are creating an employment relationship.
18. There is a rebuttable presumption that an unlicensed construction
worker performing services for which a contractor’s license is required is the
employee of the principal.
19. Farm laborers have been deemed employees of landowners, despite
written contracts stating otherwise.
20. Public policy does not permit the application of liberal
construction to the independent contractor analysis. |
