Bill Text: CT HB05282 | 2014 | General Assembly | Introduced

Connecticut House Bill 5282 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: An Act Concerning Workers' Compensation And Small Business Owners.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-02-21 - Public Hearing 02/27 [HB05282 Detail]

Download: Connecticut-2014-HB05282-Introduced.html


General Assembly		*Raised Bill No. 5282*
*February Session, 2014*		LCO No. 1337
		01337_______LAB
Referred to Committee on LABOR AND PUBLIC EMPLOYEES
Introduced by:
(LAB)

AN ACT CONCERNING WORKERS' COMPENSATION AND SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Subdivision (9) of section 31-275 of the 2014 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2014):

(9) (A) "Employee" means any person who:

(i) Has entered into or works under any contract of service or apprenticeship with an employer, whether the contract contemplated the performance of duties within or without the state;

(ii) Is a sole proprietor or business partner who accepts the provisions of this chapter in accordance with subdivision (10) of this section;

(iii) Is elected to serve as a member of the General Assembly of this state;

(iv) Is a salaried officer or paid member of any police department or fire department;

(v) Is a volunteer police officer, whether the officer is designated as special or auxiliary, upon vote of the legislative body of the town, city or borough in which the officer serves;

(vi) Is an elected or appointed official or agent of any town, city or borough in the state, upon vote of the proper authority of the town, city or borough, including the elected or appointed official or agent, irrespective of the manner in which he or she is appointed or employed. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed as affecting any existing rights as to pensions which such persons or their dependents had on July 1, 1927, or as preventing any existing custom of paying the full salary of any such person during disability due to injury arising out of and in the course of his or her employment;

(vii) Is a member of the armed forces of the state while in the performance of military duty, whether paid or unpaid for such military duty, in accordance with the provisions of section 27-17, 27-18 or 27-61; or

(viii) Is elected to serve as a probate judge for a probate district established in section 45a-2.

(B) "Employee" shall not be construed to include:

(i) Any person to whom articles or material are given to be treated in any way on premises not under the control or management of the person who gave them out;

(ii) One whose employment is of a casual nature and who is employed otherwise than for the purposes of the employer's trade or business;

(iii) A member of the employer's family dwelling in his house; but, if, in any contract of insurance, the wages or salary of a member of the employer's family dwelling in his house is included in the payroll on which the premium is based, then that person shall, if he sustains an injury arising out of and in the course of his employment, be deemed an employee and compensated in accordance with the provisions of this chapter;

(iv) Any person engaged in any type of service in or about a private dwelling provided he is not regularly employed by the owner or occupier over twenty-six hours per week;

(v) An employee of a corporation who is a corporate officer and who elects to be excluded from coverage under this chapter by notice in writing to his employer and to the commissioner; [or]

(vi) An owner of a business employing not more than three employees, exclusive of such owner, who elects to be excluded from coverage under this chapter by notice in writing to the commissioner, provided such owner has complied with the provisions of section 2 of this act; or

[(vi)] (vii) Any person who is not a resident of this state but is injured in this state during the course of his employment, unless such person (I) works for an employer who has a place of employment or a business facility located in this state at which such person spends at least fifty per cent of his employment time, or (II) works for an employer pursuant to an employment contract to be performed primarily in this state.

Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2014) Any owner of a business employing not more than three employees, exclusive of such owner, who has elected to be excluded from coverage under chapter 568 of the general statutes pursuant to subparagraph (B)(vi) of subdivision (9) of section 31-275 of the general statutes, as amended by this act, shall: (1) Provide written notice to each client currently serviced by the business that such owner has elected to be excluded from coverage under chapter 568 of the general statutes not later than five business days after electing such exclusion; (2) provide written notice to any client not currently serviced by the business that such owner has elected to be excluded from coverage under chapter 568 of the general statutes prior to engaging in any services for such client; and (3) waive all rights and claims against any client resulting from any injury such owner may incur while providing services to such client.


This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1	October 1, 2014	31-275(9)
Sec. 2	October 1, 2014	New section

Statement of Purpose:

To allow certain small business owners to exclude themselves from workers' compensation coverage provided they notify their clients of such exclusion and agree to hold their clients harmless if they are injured while providing services to the client.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]