CASUAL LABOR
CONSIDERATIONS
The following definitions are from Black’s Law Dictionary, Seventh Edition
• Casual Employment: work that is occasional, irregular, or for a limited, temporary purpose.
• Employee: A person who works in the service of another person (the employer) under an express or implied contract of hire, under which the employer has the right to control the details of work performance.
• Employment: 1. The act of employing; the state of being employed. 2. Work for which one has been hired and is being paid by an employer.
• Independent Contractor: One who is hired to undertake a specific project but who is left free to do the assigned work and to choose the method of accomplishing it.
• Statutory employee (Workers’ Compensation): An employee who is covered, or required to be covered, by the employer’s workers’ compensation insurance and who therefore has no independent tort claim against the employer for unintentional injuries suffered on the job.
The Company – casual labor employees are often excluded under workers’ compensation statutes and, thus job related injuries are not subject to benefits payable by The Company’s workers’ compensation insurance. Independent contractors are not employees and therefore generally are not subject to coverage under worker compen-sation statutes or The Company’s workers’ compensation insurance. The workers’ compensation statute in a given state must be reviewed by The Company to determine how it affects its use of casual labor and independent contractors.
In determining whether one acting for another is a servant (i.e. employee) or an independent contractor, the following matters of fact, among others, are considered (*):
• Whether or not the one employed is engaged in a distinct occupation or business;
• The kind of occupation, with reference to whether, in the locality, the work is usually done under the direction of the employer or by a specialist without supervision;
• The skill required in the particular occupation;
• Whether the employer or the workman supplies the instrumentalities, tools, and the place of work for the person doing the work;
• The length of time for which the person is employed;
• The method of payment, whether by the time or by the job;
• Whether or not the work is part of the regular business of the employer;
• Whether or not the parties believe they are creating the relation of master and servant; and
• Whether the principal is or is not in business.