A very confusing and complicated aspect of insurance law has to do with injuries sustained by sub-contractors: at the time of an injury, are they your "employee" and therefore entitled to benefits under your Virginia Workers Compensation policy (what if you do not have one?).

Virginia law states that at the time of an occurrence, an employer with three or more employees (no distinction between full time and/or part time employee) is required to have workers compensation insurance in effect. Failure to do so triggers many adverse consequences for the uninsured employer and the "general contractor" employee (the sub-contractors).

Virginia law states that a "general contractor" (in which status an association could find itself) is responsible to compensate the injuries of any employee of any uninsured employer. Example: an association hires a paint contractor (which does not have workers compensation insurance in effect) and at the time of a loss, has three helpers, one of which has fallen off a ladder while working at the association. The association may be determined in this case to be the general contractor and, therefore, be required to step into the shoes as the injured employee's (uninsured) employer and pay the benefits that are required to be paid and/or incur legal action that may not otherwise be covered under the association's general liability policy.

The best advice for an association to take is to:
If an association has any employees of their own, the association should buy its own worker's compensation policy. A minimum premium policy of several hundred dollars per year will supply the necessary coverages.

Always require a certificate of insurance from any vendor before they start a job, specifying that workers compensation insurance is in effect.

Richard Beskin
Beskin and Associates, Inc.