Work Comp Benefits for Independent Contractor

Can I get Workers’ Compensation if I am an Independent Contractor?

Hi everyone! Dustin here from lawatyourside.com.

The question I would like to answer today is can you get workers’ compensation benefits if you are an independent contractor?

So generally if you are legally considered an independent contractor, then you're not allowed to receive workers’ compensation benefits because you have to be an employee to receive workers’ compensation benefits.

Now, here’s the caveat, you may think you're an independent contractor, your employer may have told you that you're an independent contractor, but so many times that’s not the case legally. So many times I've seen employers that are trying to get out of paying workers’ compensation insurance or having to treat you as an employee because they have to pay more for certain reasons. So they want to label you as an independent contractor, but that’s not necessarily legally determinative. Even if they’ve given you a contract and you’d signed something and you say, “Yes, I am an independent contractor.” Even if they are paying you via 1099s instead of W-2 forms. That is not determinative in determining whether you're an employee or not.

What happens is the law wants to look at the amount of control that the employer is having over you. So if they're controlling hours that you work, if they're paying for your supplies, if they're saying when and where you can't work, they're telling you how to do you're work, things like that. There are a number of factors and it's very important you have an attorney to look at your case in this type of case, but there are number of factors that help make the determination whether you are considered an employee or an independent contractor, but I want you to know that the law highly favors having you be an employee. The law highly favors putting you in the workers’ compensation system.

There is a presumption that in many cases that you are an employee, so don’t be discouraged if you think you're an independent contractor. Just because your employer has told you that, that’s not determinative. That doesn’t mean anything, even if you signed it and said, “Yes, an independent contractor” has no legal conclusive finality or determination on your status. They’ve taken a number of factors to make that determination, and we've dealt with a lot of case over the time that dealt with independent contractors versus employees, and a lot of times, you may be found to be an employee and then in that case, you're an entitled to workers’ compensation benefit.

So if you have that case where you think you know your own defense, give us a call and we will do our best to help you. Thanks so much.

If you want further assistance with your work-related injury or you want to talk to a lawyer and get your questions answered or you want us to represent you in your workers’ compensation case, please fill free to give us a call at the number below or click the link below and fill out the submission form, and we will do our best and work our hardest to ensure that we give you all the benefits that you are entitled to under the law. And we hope you have a smooth, efficient case that runs through, so you can get back to your healthiest that you can be and also receive all the benefits that you are entitled to. Thanks so much.