workers comp insurance

Statement:
We have reviewed your request to require workers comp. No action taken.

Tom,

Looking at the N.J. workers comp laws tells me that eployers are responsible for covering their employees. Self employed vendors such as lecturers, entertainers and individual performers are NOT employees , therefore the HOA should not be responsible for coverage. Contractors doing work at the HOA are supposed to be covered by their business owners or if they are self employed, they must cover themselves. The HOA covers it's employees, those who work within the pay system of the HOA, not a painting company or management company who have payroll employees.

In Wisconsin where I had my business, workmans comp was based on salaries of MY paid employees, not everyone who came in the door to tighten a screw or wash the floors.

I was just getting ready to speculate that very same thing, Donna. It sounds like they want to pass along THEIR Workers Comp expenses to their clients.

One more thought,

The HOA does need to carry an insurance policy for some uninsured vendor or contractor who might slip in under the radar to do service and sue the association if they get hurt. I am not in the insurance business so I cannot tell you what it might be other than a liability thing. That is why it is so important that insurance coverage must be checked on anyone servicing the HOA. I know that in Florida, it is the law to carry coverage if you do work within associations.

I must thank all those who took the time to respond to my question regarding Workmans Comp. (W.C.) insurance. This became an issue when we had an insurance audit and it came to light that two contractors who did not have W.C. had done work. The additional premium plus penalties came to $5200.
We couldn't believe it. We have appealed the surcharge.
Going forward, insurance requirements including W.C. will be monitored closely. We will be obtaining the Insurance Certificates needed DIRECTLY from the broker rather than the vendor to be sure they are actually valid.
We cannot risk a problem again.
As to the sole proprietor or individuals, we will attempt to obtain the proper insurance and I know it will be a problem.
When you get a retired piano player to play at a function for a $100, they most likely will not have the appropriate insurance.
I plan on researching this further with other HOAs in the area (New Jersey) to see how they deal with the individual providers.
We are asking our broker if they can give us a premium estimate if we were to carry the insurance that would cover the various individuals that present or entertain in our community throughout the year. I'm sure we can come up with a good estimate of the cost for their services.
Again, many thanks for the feedback.
Tom

Hi, thanks for your response.
Evidently, an idependent firm is engaged to perform annual audits on behalf of any insurance company both for their protection and the clients. We were assigned to the primary insurance company by the State. They have been the providers for years. We are now looking to replace them with another company.
As I mentioned we have appealed the surcharge.
FYI: We do have a good number of individuals perform, instruct and/or lecture in our very active adult community.
Thanks again. Your comments are appreciated.
Tom

Tom,

These people still are not considered "employees" but vendors. Big difference. Workmans comp is based on salaries, not fees. The higher the wages reported, the higher the percentage of workmans comp charged to the employer. I certainly would not be adding tons of these foo foo fees to your wage reports.