Source: https://www.neworleanslegal.com/independant-contractors-covered-by-workers-compensation
Timestamp: 2020-01-18 07:48:15
Document Index: 745644756

Matched Legal Cases: ['§1044', '§1', '§1061', '§3', '§1', '§1062', '§1063', '§1']

Manual Laborers Who Are Independent Contractors Are Nevertheless Covered by Louisiana Workers Compensation | New Orleans Legal, LLC
Manual Laborers Who Are Independent Contractors Are Nevertheless Covered by Louisiana Workers Compensation
Independent Contractors Are Entitled to Louisiana Workers Compensation Benefits Under the “Manual Labor” Exception
Under Louisiana's “manual labor exception,” an independent contractor may be entitled to workers compensation benefits if he or she demonstrates that:
A substantial part of his or her work time is spent in manual labor in carrying out the terms of the contract with the principal; and
The manual work performed is part of the principal's trade business or occupation.
So, even if an independent contractor relationship exists between the parties, an injured worker may be entitled to workers compensation benefits under this manual labor exception.
Of course, this manual labor exception begs the questions:
What is a substantial part of the work time?
Must the independent contractor be engaged in the trade, business or occupation of the principal?
The Legal Definition of "Manual Labor" in Louisiana Workers Compensation
Louisiana workers compensation courts have observed:
The true legal meaning of the term “manual labor” is to denote work in which the physical element predominates over the mental. … For purposes of determining compensation coverage, the distinguishing feature is whether the workman participates physically himself rather than—so to speak—aloofly directs in clean Sunday clothes.
In other words, manual labor is defined at work where the individual actually does the work (instead of supervising), and the work is more physical than it is mental.
The issue of manual labor is a factual one on which the claimant bears the burden of proof in a suit for workers compensation.
So if an injured worker wants to be covered by workers compensation under the manual labor exception, then the injured worker (or his or her attorney) needs to prove that he or she is a manual laborer.
Many times, neither party will dispute that an injured worker is a manual laborer; other times, the workers compensation Judge will need to decide.
Often times, if a party is disputing the manual labor exception, the party will claim that the worker was not a manual laborer, but instead a skilled craftsman. Such disputes will need to be resolved on a case by case basis, based on the facts of each case.
Important factors may include whether the injured worker was assisted by other employees, or carried out all the physical work by himself or herself.
Examples of Independent Contractors Entitled to Workers Compensation Benefits
Louisiana workers compensation courts have awarded workers compensation benefits to the following types of “working independent contractor” individuals:
A truck driver engaged in long-distance deliveries of merchandise;
A farmer hauling cotton to a local gin for other farmers;
A painter;
A plasterer/carpenter injured while repairing a roof;
A carpenter engaged in securing additional materials from a lumber yard;
A welder;
A person engaged in erecting transmission power lines;
A service station operator who reconditioned repossessed automobiles for a bank;
A jockey working part-time as an exercise boy;
An oil rig worker who had been on direct payroll status but was shifted to “contract worker” status;
A car dealership employee picking up a vehicle out of town, a person loading a heavy “rearer” into a truck; and
A person providing cleaning services at a factory.
It is very common for Louisiana workers compensation courts to conclude that the work of an independent contractor is “manual labor” in order to satisfy the definition and award workers compensation benefits.
Tractor Trailer Truck Drivers Are Not Manual Laborers
Louisiana workers compensation law specifically defines as “not manual labor” the operation of a “truck tractor or truck tractor-trailer, including fueling, driving, connecting and disconnecting electrical lines and air hoses, hooking and unhooking trailers, and vehicle inspections. …”
Louisiana workers compensation law also defines an “owner-operator” as a person who provides “trucking transportation services under written contract” to a common carrier, even though there may be a lease of equipment or a driver to the common carrier in question.
Therefore, such persons are declared not be employees if there is a written contract stating that the owner-operator is an “independent contractor.”
However, such an owner-operator “does not include an individual driver who purchases his equipment from the carrier or hauler, and then directly leases the equipment back to the carrier or hauler with the purchasing driver.”
Workers Engaged in a Substantial Part of Work Time in Louisiana Workers Compensation
In order to receive workers compensation benefits, the independent contractor must prove that a “substantial part” of the work time was spent in manual labor in carrying out the terms of the contract.
Well, how much exactly is a substantial part?
Louisiana workers compensation courts have ruled that "a substantial part" is not a mathematically precise amount and may very well be an amount less than 50%.
Louisiana courts have also ruled that "a substantial part" simply means the opposite of “insubstantial” or “immaterial.”
Workers Engaged in the Trade, Business or Occupation of the Principal in Louisiana Workers Compensation
An independent contractor spending a substantial part of the work time in manual labor carrying out the contract is not an employee of the principal but is to be treated as if he were for compensation purposes.
This injured worker is thus required to demonstrate that he is performing services “arising out of and incidental to his employment in the course of his employer's trade, business or occupation,” as an employee would have to do.
This because Louisiana law requires that the work done by the contractor must be part of the business of the principal before the contractor's employee is entitled to workers compensation benefits.
In other words, the question to be asked is simply whether the injured worker was “performing services arising out of and incidental to his employment in the course of” the defendant's trade, business or occupation.
The Louisiana Statutes on Independent Contractors in Louisiana Workers Compensation
The primary Louisiana statutes on independent contractors are La. R.S. 23:1021, La. R.S. 23:1044, La. R.S. 23:1061, La. R.S. 23:1062, and La. R.S. 23:1063, which read as follows:
§1044. Presumption of employee status
A person rendering service for another in any trades, businesses or occupations covered by this Chapter is presumed to be an employee under this Chapter.
Every executive officer elected or appointed and empowered in accordance with the charter and by-laws of a corporation, other than a charitable, religious, educational or other non-profit corporation or an official of the state or other political subdivision thereof or of any incorporated public board or commission, shall be an employee of such corporation under this Chapter.
Amended by Acts 1958, No. 306, §1.
§1061. Principal contractors; liability
A.(1) Subject to the provisions of Paragraphs (2) and (3) of this Subsection, when any "principal" as defined in R.S. 23:1032(A)(2), undertakes to execute any work, which is a part of his trade, business, or occupation and contracts with any person, in this Section referred to as the "contractor", for the execution by or under the contractor of the whole or any part of the work undertaken by the principal, the principal, as a statutory employer, shall be granted the exclusive remedy protections of R.S. 23:1032 and shall be liable to pay to any employee employed in the execution of the work or to his dependent, any compensation under this Chapter which he would have been liable to pay if the employee had been immediately employed by him; and where compensation is claimed from, or proceedings are taken against, the principal, then, in the application of this Chapter reference to the principal shall be substituted for reference to the employer, except that the amount of compensation shall be calculated with reference to the earnings of the employee under the employer by whom he is immediately employed. For purposes of this Section, work shall be considered part of the principal's trade, business, or occupation if it is an integral part of or essential to the ability of the principal to generate that individual principal's goods, products, or services.
(3) Except in those instances covered by Paragraph (2) of this Subsection, a statutory employer relationship shall not exist between the principal and the contractor's employees, whether they are direct employees or statutory employees, unless there is a written contract between the principal and a contractor which is the employee's immediate employer or his statutory employer, which recognizes the principal as a statutory employer. When the contract recognizes a statutory employer relationship, there shall be a rebuttable presumption of a statutory employer relationship between the principal and the contractor's employees, whether direct or statutory employees. This presumption may be overcome only by showing that the work is not an integral part of or essential to the ability of the principal to generate that individual principal's goods, products, or services.
B. When the principal is liable to pay compensation under this Section, he shall be entitled to indemnity from any person who independently of this Section would have been liable to pay compensation to the employee or his dependent, and shall have a cause of action therefor.
Acts 1989, No. 454, §3, eff. Jan. 1, 1990; Acts 1997, No. 315, §1, eff. June 17, 1997.
§1062. Sub-contractors; liability
Nothing in R.S. 23:1061 shall be construed as preventing an employee or his dependent from recovering compensation under this Chapter from the contractor instead of from the principal.
§1063. Suits against principal contractors; subcontractors as co-defendants
A. A principal contractor, when sued by an employee of a subcontractor or his dependent, may call that contractor, or any intermediate contractor or contractors, as a co-defendant, and the principal contractor shall be entitled to indemnity from his subcontractor for compensation payments paid by the principal contractor on account of an accidental injury to the employee of the subcontractor.
B. A principal contractor, when sued pursuant to the provisions of R.S. 23:1021(6)* by an independent contractor who is a sole proprietor and who has elected by written agreement not to be covered by the provisions of this Chapter in accordance with R.S. 23:1035 or his dependent, may call such independent contractor as a co-defendant, and the principal contractor shall be entitled to indemnity from his independent contractor for compensation payments paid by the principal contractor on account of an accidental injury to the independent contractor.
Acts 2001, No. 1014, §1, eff. June 27, 2001.