2023 Oklahoma Statutes › Title 85A. Administrative Workers' Compensation System › §85A-36. Liability other than immediate employer.

A. If a subcontractor fails to secure compensation required by the Administrative Workers' Compensation Act, the prime contractor shall be liable for compensation to the employees of the subcontractor unless there is an intermediate subcontractor who has workers' compensation coverage.
B. 1. Any contractor or the contractor's insurance carrier who shall become liable for the payment of compensation on account of injury to or death of an employee of his or her subcontractor may recover from the subcontractor the amount of the compensation paid or for which liability is incurred.
2. The claim for the recovery shall constitute a lien against any monies due or to become due to the subcontractor from the prime contractor.
3. A claim for recovery shall not affect the right of the injured employee or the dependents of the deceased employee to recover compensation due from the prime contractor or his or her insurance carrier.
C. 1. a.
When a subcontractor elects not to secure compensation and is not required to secure compensation pursuant to this title, the prime contractor is not liable under the Administrative Workers' Compensation Act for injuries sustained by the subcontractor or any person working with the subcontractor who is not considered an employee of the subcontractor pursuant to Section 2 of this title, and if the injured person is not an employee of the prime contractor.
b.
(1)
If a subcontractor has filed with the Commission an unexpired Affidavit of Exempt Status, the subcontractor and any person who works with the subcontractor but is not considered an employee of the subcontractor pursuant to Section 2 of this title shall be conclusively presumed not to be covered by the law or to be employees of the prime contractor during the term of the affidavit.
(2)
This provision shall not affect the rights or coverage of any employee of a subcontractor.
2. The prime contractor's insurance carrier shall not be liable for injuries to the subcontractor described in this section who have filed an unexpired Affidavit of Exempt Status, and the carrier shall not include compensation paid by the prime contractor to the subcontractor described above in computing the insurance premium for the prime contractor.
D. 1. Any individual or business entity that is not required to secure compensation pursuant to the requirements of the Administrative Workers' Compensation Act may execute an Affidavit of Exempt Status. The "Affidavit of Exempt Status" shall be a form prescribed by the Workers' Compensation Commission available on the Commission's website. The Commission may assess a nonrefundable fee not to exceed Fifty Dollars ($50.00) per individual or business entity for filing of an Affidavit of Exempt Status at the Commission. An Affidavit of Exempt Status executed and filed with the Commission shall expire at midnight two (2) years from the date filed. A new Affidavit of Exempt Status may be filed prior to expiration to renew an existing Affidavit of Exempt Status.
2.
a.
Knowingly providing false information on an executed affidavit shall constitute a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00).
b.
In the event changed circumstances make securing compensation pursuant to the requirements of the Administrative Workers' Compensation Act necessary, the individual or business entity on whose behalf the affidavit was executed shall execute and file a Cancellation of Affidavit of Exempt Status. The Commission shall prescribe a form for cancellation of an affidavit which shall be available on the Commission's website.
c.
Affidavits shall conspicuously state on the front thereof in at least ten-point, bold-faced print that it is a crime to falsify information on the form.
d.
The Commission shall immediately notify the Workers' Compensation Fraud Unit in the Office of the Attorney General of any violations or suspected violations of this section. The Commission shall cooperate with the Fraud Unit in any investigation involving affidavits executed pursuant to this section.
The execution or filing of an affidavit shall not affect the rights or coverage of any employee of the affiant or business entity on whose behalf the affiant executes or files an affidavit.
3. Fees collected pursuant to this section shall be deposited in the State Treasury to the credit of the Workers' Compensation Commission Revolving Fund.
E. If work is performed by an independent contractor on a single-family residential dwelling occupied by the owner, or the premises of such dwelling, or for a farmer whose cash payroll for wages, excluding supplies, materials and equipment, for the preceding calendar year did not exceed One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00), such owner or farmer shall not be liable for compensation under the Administrative Workers' Compensation Act for injuries to the independent contractor or his or her employees.
F. If an owner of a project or job enters a contract with a contractor, and the owner of the project or job does not substantively form an employment relationship with its contractor, then the owner of the project or job shall not be liable for compensation for a compensable injury to any contractor or subcontractor in any tier or employee of any contractor or subcontractor in any tier.
Added by Laws 2013, c. 208, § 36, eff. Feb. 1, 2014. Amended by Laws 2018, c. 239, § 1.