Most Massachusetts businesses that have employees are required by state law to maintain a workers compensation insurance policy that provides coverage for their employees. Whether or not companies that use subcontractors need to maintain workers compensation coverage for the subcontractors they hire is sometimes less clear. If your Framingham business relies on subcontractors, you may need to include them on your company’s workers compensation policy, or you might not need to.
Do Your Framingham Business’ Subcontractors Need to Be Covered by Your Company's Workers Compensation Insurance?
Covering Subcontractors with Workers Compensation Insurance
In Massachusetts, whether or not coverage for subcontractors must be included in a business’ workers compensation insurance is determined on a case-by-case basis.
According to the state’s Office of Labor and Workforce Development, the main determining factor is whether the subcontractor or hiring company determines “the manner and methods of the work.” When a subcontractor has control over how they do their work, a company usually isn’t required to provide workers compensation for them because the subcontractor’s decisions influence their risk of injury. If a company stipulates how a subcontractor must do their work, the company is controlling many of the workplace conditions and, therefore, is sometimes required to provide workers compensation coverage.
Determining Your Framingham, MA Business’ Particular Requirements
Sometimes, it’s easy to determine whether or not a business needs to provide workers compensation coverage for the subcontractors they hire. In other cases, it can be difficult to determine, and the situation can seem more gray than black-and-white.
If you need help determining whether your Framingham business is or isn’t required to include subcontractors in its workers compensation coverage, there are a few places you can go to help. An insurance agent or a lawyer who specializes in workers compensation may be able to answer your questions. Alternatively, you can also contact the Office of Legal Council, which is located in Boston.
You’ll want to make this determination before you hire any subcontractors for two reasons. First, it’s important to make sure your business is properly insured so that it’s not unnecessarily exposed to risk and is in line with Massachusetts’ laws. Second, if your company is required to provide workers compensation coverage, you’ll want to find out how much coverage will be prior to requesting bids from subcontractors so you can factor the coverage’s premiums into how much it will cost to hire someone.
Finding Workers Compensation Coverage for Subcontractors
If your business needs to provide subcontractors with workers compensation insurance, you can find out how much a policy will cost by contacting an independent insurance agent who works with companies in Framingham. An independent agent will be able to look up quotes from different insurers serving the area and show you a range of price options that you’ll have.
