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.AT¶-ommlBI 0-AX. April 26, 1973

Mr. Jerry W. Belcher Aesistant Executive Director Industrial Accident Board State Finance Building Austin, Texas 78711

Dear Mr. Belcher: Opinion No. H- 33
Re: Whether students participating in the Federal College Work Study Program at a privately-owned college are employees under the Workmen’s Compensation Act.
You have aeked our opinion ae towhether or not studenta it privatelyowned Jarvie Chriotian College of Hawkins, Texas, who participate in the Federal College Work Study Program ire to be considered employees of the college under ‘the Texas Workmen’s Compenbation Acf’ao as to ’ be entitled to its benefits. You state that the Feder,al program (42 U.S.C. Section 2751, et.seq. )pro&ides funds to thenprivate college tobe user% in hiring needy students to do part-time work for’ the college. The student is charged for his tuition, books dtid other expenses &tthe’beginning t of the semester and. every four or five weeks , wages which he has ‘earned under the program are ciodited against thdbe cl&gee. ”
As you des~cribe the program. about 88’per **cent** of the 450 students engaged in the program atJarvir work all **classroom** assistants, lab ’ and library assistants, student personnel rrsistantr, clerical work, artr and crafts assistants and other’technician type jobs. “’ About 20 per cent work in building maintenance type jobe. The rate of ’piy is determined by the student’6 economic need. Notie can work more.‘than 15hours aweek and the **average** rate of pay is approximately $2.00 per ho&. : InJune of 1972, thie office issued its opinion M-1142 answering * a similar question with reference to students enrolled in’Texaa colleges and universities. That opinion cited the fact that state colleges. and > universities are not subject tothe general principles of the Workmen’s Compensation Act (Art. 8306, et seq., Vernon’s Texas Civil

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Mr. Jerry W. Belcher, page 2 (H-33)

Statutes) but are governed, if at all, by specific statutes such as Articles 8309b, 8309d and 8309f, V. T. C.S. These statutes generally designate the specific poaitions at the various institutions which are covered. In Opinion M-1142 it was stated that the manner of remuneration, that is whether by a credit to his accounts or by the direct receipt of money, was immaterial. Citing American Fire &Casualty Co v. Baker, 431S.W.2d 956 (Tex. Civ. App., 1961err. ref., n.r. e)., it was likewiee stated that the fact that the funds used in large part to offset the cost of the program were .received from the Federal government would have no bearing on the determination of coverage. Section 2ofArticle 8306, V.T. C.S., provides that the Workmen’s Compensation Law shall not apply to actions for injuries sustained by domestic servants, farm laborers, ranch laborers, or employees of a firm having less than three employees; nor shall it apply to the employees of any firm operating a steam, electric, street or interurban railway as a common carrier. Who are employees is determined by Article 8309, Section I, V.T. C. S., which defines “employee” to include every pereon in the service of another under any contract ofhire, expressed or implied, oral or written. With the abolition of the doctrine of charitable immunity by the Supreme Court in Howle v. Camp Amon Carter, 470 S.W.2d 629 (Tex. 1971), no reason exists why employees of a privately-owned charitable, religious, educational or other non-profit corporation, under contracts ofhire, should not be covered either.as employees of a subscriber or of a non-subscriber under the Workmen’s Cornpensation laws. The Act specifically recognizes in Section 1(4) ofArticle 8309, that wages may be paid in board, lodgi.ng, laundry and “other advan:: tsges which can be estimated in money”

. The fact, therefore, that the st,udents of Jarvis may never actually receive money as s,alary is unimportant. Nor would it be important that their employment is part-time. Section 1of Article 8309 specifies how “average weekly wages” shall be calculated and recognizes that there will be situations under which an employee will work part-time or fewer than 210days per year. The Act also recognizes inArticle 8306, Section 12(i) that the employee may be a minor. Inview of the foresing, it is our opinion that, depending upon the facts of each instance, students at Jarvis Christian College parp. 138. -

Mr. Jerry W. Belcher, page 3 (H-33)

ticipating in the Federal College Work Study Program may be employees within the coverage of the Texas Workmen’s Compensation Act and may be entitled to the benefits ofthat Act.
SUMMARY Students at a privately-owned institution of higher education working part-time for an hourly remuneration credited to their college expenses will be considered employees ofthe institution and covered by the Texas Workmen’s Compenaation Act provided, factually, they are employed under a contract ofhire and do not fall within one of the excluded occupations. Very truly yours, - 

# u JOHN L. HILL Attorney General of Texas
APPR VED:

/

DAVID M. KENDALL, Chairman Opinion Committee

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