S.B. 11

1

WORKERS' COMPENSATION - EXEMPTION
2 FOR AGRICULTURAL WORKERS
3 1997 GENERAL SESSION
4 STATE OF UTAH
5 Sponsor: Robert C. Steiner
6 AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR; MODIFYING EXEMPTION FOR AGRICULTURAL
7 WORKERS; MAKING TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE
8 DATE.
9 This act affects sections of Utah Code Annotated 1953 as follows:
10 AMENDS:
11 35A-3-103 (Effective 07/01/97), as last amended by Chapter 190 and renumbered and amended
12 by Chapter 240, Laws of Utah 1996
13 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
14 Section 1. Section 35A-3-103 (Effective 07/01/97) is amended to read:
15 35A-3-103 (Effective 07/01/97). Employers enumerated and defined -- Regularly
16 employed -- Statutory employers.
17 (1) (a) The state, and each county, city, town, and school district in the state are considered
18 employers under this chapter.
19 (b) For the purposes of the exclusive remedy in this chapter prescribed in Section
20 35A-3-105, the state is considered to be a single employer and includes any office, department,
21 agency, authority, commission, board, institution, hospital, college, university, or other
22 instrumentality of the state.
23 (2) Except as provided in Subsection (4), each person, including each public utility and
24 each independent contractor, who regularly employs one or more workers or operatives in the same
25 business, or in or about the same establishment, under any contract of hire, express or implied, oral
26 or written, is considered an employer under this chapter. As used in this Subsection (2):
27 [(b)] (a) "Independent contractor" means any person engaged in the performance of any

1 work for another who, while so engaged, is:
2 (i) independent of the employer in all that pertains to the execution of the work[, is];
3 (ii) not subject to the routine rule or control of the employer[, is];
4 (iii) engaged only in the performance of a definite job or piece of work[,]; and [is]
5 (iv) subordinate to the employer only in effecting a result in accordance with the
6 employer's design.
7 [(a)] (b) "Regularly" includes all employments in the usual course of the trade, business,
8 profession, or occupation of the employer, whether continuous throughout the year or for only a
9 portion of the year.
10 (3) (a) The client company in an employee leasing arrangement under Title 58, Chapter
11 59, Employee Leasing Company Licensing Act, is considered the employer of leased employees
12 and shall secure workers' compensation benefits for them by complying with Subsection
13 35A-3-201(1)(a) or (b) and department rules.
14 (b) Insurance carriers may underwrite such a risk showing the leasing company as the
15 named insured and each client company as an additional insured by means of individual
16 endorsements.
17 (c) Endorsements shall be filed with the department as directed by rule.
18 (4) (a) An agricultural employer is not considered an employer under this chapter if:
19 (i) the employer's employees are all members of the employer's immediate family; and
20 (ii) the employer has a proprietary interest in the farm where [they] the employees work[;
21 or].
22 [(ii) the employer employed five or fewer persons other than immediate family members
23 for 40 hours or more per week per employee for 13 consecutive weeks during any part of the
24 preceding 12 months.]
25 (b) A domestic employer who does not employ one employee or more than one employee
26 at least 40 hours per week is not considered an employer under this chapter.
27 (5) An employer of agricultural laborers or domestic servants who is not considered an
28 employer under this chapter [has the right and] and Chapter 3a may at its option [to] come under
29 [it] this chapter and Chapter 3a by complying with [its provisions]:
30 (a) this chapter and Chapter 3a; and
31 (b) the rules of the department.

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1 (6) (a) If any person who is an employer procures any work to be done wholly or in part
2 for the employer by a contractor over whose work the employer retains supervision or control, and
3 this work is a part or process in the trade or business of the employer, the contractor, all persons
4 employed by the contractor, all subcontractors under the contractor, and all persons employed by
5 any of these subcontractors, are considered employees of the original employer for the purposes
6 of this chapter and Chapter 3a.
7 (b) Any person who is engaged in constructing, improving, repairing, or remodelling a
8 residence that the person owns or is in the process of acquiring as the person's personal residence
9 may not be considered an employee or employer solely by operation of Subsection (6)(a).
10 (c) A partner in a partnership or an owner of a sole proprietorship may not be considered
11 an employee under Subsection (6)(a) if the employer who procures work to be done by the
12 partnership or sole proprietorship obtains and relies on either:
13 (i) a valid certification of the partnership's or sole proprietorship's compliance with Section
14 35A-3-201 indicating that the partnership or sole proprietorship secured the payment of workers'
15 compensation benefits pursuant to Section 35A-3-201; or
16 (ii) if a partnership or sole proprietorship with no employees other than a partner of the
17 partnership or owner of the sole proprietorship, a workers' compensation policy issued by an
18 insurer pursuant to Subsection 31A-21-104(8) stating that:
19 (A) the partnership or sole proprietorship is customarily engaged in an independently
20 established trade, occupation, profession, or business; and
21 (B) the partner or owner personally waives the partner's or owner's entitlement to the
22 benefits of Chapters 1 and 2 in the operation of the partnership or sole proprietorship.
23 (d) A director or officer of a corporation may not be considered an employee under
24 Subsection (6)(a) if the director or officer is excluded from coverage under Subsection
25 35A-3-104(4).
26 (e) A contractor or subcontractor is not an employee of the employer under Subsection
27 (6)(a), if the employer who procures work to be done by the contractor or subcontractor obtains
28 and relies on either:
29 (i) a valid certification of the contractor's or subcontractor's compliance with Section
30 35A-3-201; or
31 (ii) if a partnership, corporation, or sole proprietorship with no employees other than a

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1 partner of the partnership, officer of the corporation, or owner of the sole proprietorship, a workers'
2 compensation policy issued by an insurer pursuant to Subsection 31A-21-104(8) stating that:
3 (A) the partnership, corporation, or sole proprietorship is customarily engaged in an
4 independently established trade, occupation, profession, or business; and
5 (B) the partner, corporate officer, or owner personally waives the partner's, corporate
6 officer's, or owner's entitlement to the benefits of this chapter and Chapter 3a in the operation of
7 the partnership's, corporation's, or sole proprietorship's enterprise under a contract of hire for
8 services.
9 Section 2. Effective date.
10 This act takes effect on July 1, 1997.




Legislative Review Note
as of 8-21-96 3:21 PM

A limited legal review of this bill raises no obvious constitutional or statutory concerns.

Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel

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