Legislature Seeks to Ensure that Construction Workers are Protected by Workers’ Compensation Insurance
September 2009
Concerned that construction workers who were functioning as employees were being treated as independent contractors in order to avoid workers’ compensation, unemployment and taxes, the Legislature enacted 39-A M.R.S.A. §105-A. Under that Section, a person performing work for a general contractor or hiring agent is an employee for workers’ compensation purposes unless the person meets all of the twelve listed criteria. Section 105-A is limited to the construction industry. Whether or not a person in any other industry is an independent contractor for workers’ compensation purposes is still governed by the test in 39-A M.R.S.A. §102, Subsection 13.