Sometimes terms are thrown at you, and when you don’t understand them you can become confused and frustrated. If you have been injured on-the-job, terms and dates have probably come up that you just don’t understand, and now you are overwhelmed. One of those terms you may have heard is “statutory employer.”
Who is a Statutory Employer
Statutory employer is a term used in the Colorado Workers’ Compensation Act, specifically at C.R.S. § 8-41-401. It states:
Any person, company, or corporation operating or engaged in or conducting any business by leasing or contracting out any part or all of the work thereof to any lessee, sublessee, contractor, or subcontractor, irrespective of the number of employees engaged in such work, shall be construed …show more content…
§ 8-41-401(1)(a)(I). Thus, pursuant to this statute a “statutory employer” is an employer who is responsible for paying workers’ compensation benefits. To put this more simply, the business or entity that is contracting out part or all of its work is considered to be the employer to those whom are performing that work, even though they are not directly working for that business. In this situation, the person performing the work is usually employed by a subcontractor.
Ordinarily, an independent contractor does not qualify as an employer for workers’ compensation purposes; it is only in the situation involving a statutory employer where workers’ compensation benefits apply. See C.R.S. § 8-40-202 (describing situations in which an individual is free from control and direction in the performance of a …show more content…
Therefore, for assuming the workers’ compensation liability, the general contractor does not have to worry about a lawsuit because the injured worker can’t get both workers’ compensation and damages from a tort lawsuit.
However, how does this immunity work when there seems to be so many players? Just because the general contractor, the person above the subcontractor, is immune does not necessarily mean other parties are as well. That immunity couldn’t be shared by say another subcontractor of the general contractor who could have been negligent or reckless on the job and caused a worker’s injury. They could still be responsible for damages.
Exceptions to
Who is a Statutory Employer
Statutory employer is a term used in the Colorado Workers’ Compensation Act, specifically at C.R.S. § 8-41-401. It states:
Any person, company, or corporation operating or engaged in or conducting any business by leasing or contracting out any part or all of the work thereof to any lessee, sublessee, contractor, or subcontractor, irrespective of the number of employees engaged in such work, shall be construed …show more content…
§ 8-41-401(1)(a)(I). Thus, pursuant to this statute a “statutory employer” is an employer who is responsible for paying workers’ compensation benefits. To put this more simply, the business or entity that is contracting out part or all of its work is considered to be the employer to those whom are performing that work, even though they are not directly working for that business. In this situation, the person performing the work is usually employed by a subcontractor.
Ordinarily, an independent contractor does not qualify as an employer for workers’ compensation purposes; it is only in the situation involving a statutory employer where workers’ compensation benefits apply. See C.R.S. § 8-40-202 (describing situations in which an individual is free from control and direction in the performance of a …show more content…
Therefore, for assuming the workers’ compensation liability, the general contractor does not have to worry about a lawsuit because the injured worker can’t get both workers’ compensation and damages from a tort lawsuit.
However, how does this immunity work when there seems to be so many players? Just because the general contractor, the person above the subcontractor, is immune does not necessarily mean other parties are as well. That immunity couldn’t be shared by say another subcontractor of the general contractor who could have been negligent or reckless on the job and caused a worker’s injury. They could still be responsible for damages.
Exceptions to