INFORMATION SHEET 6
October, 2002
Workers' Compensation and
Landowner Liability
Landowners may be liable for workers' compensation costs if a logger is injured on their property while conducting a timber harvest. Such costs can amount to many thousands of dollars. To avoid this liability, the landowner must follow one of three courses:
1. Require Proof of Workers' Compensation Insurance:
A landowner who engages a timber harvester to cut a woodlot, must ask for and receive a certificate of workers' compensation insurance from the harvester, and must annually request and receive similar certificates as the work proceeds.
If the logger does not provide proof of this insurance, you are liable for any injuries to his or her employees.
2. Require Proof of Independent Status:
A logger may receive from the Workers' Compensation Board a Certificate of Independent Status. This is issued by the Board on an annual basis to a logger, certifying that the logger harvests forest products in a manner that would not make him an employee of the landowner. These certificates apply to all timber harvesting jobs carried out by the logger for the year of issuance provided the circumstances under which the certificate was issued do not change.
3. Obtain Predetermination of Independent Contractor Status:
A landowner can submit to the State of Maine Workers' Compensation Board an Application for Predetermination of Independent Contractor Status to Establish Conclusive Presumption. The "conclusive presumption" will be based on the application and the wood harvesting contract. The responses to the questions on the application will be checked to ensure that the wood harvester is an independent contractor and not an employee. Also, the contract will be checked to see that it contains the following mandatory language: "The independent contractor will not hire any employees to assist in the wood harvesting without first providing the required certificate of insurance to the landowner."
If the "conclusive presumption" or "certificate of independent status" is approved, it will affect both the landowner and the wood harvester in significant ways. The landowner will not be required to provide workers' compensation insurance for the wood harvester, because the wood harvester will be considered an independent contractor for the purposes of the Workers' Compensation Act. An independent contractor is not considered an employee. Since the wood harvester is not an employee, the landowner is not an employer. Therefore, the landowner is exempted from the requirement that employers provide workers' compensation insurance for their employees.
If the wood harvester is injured while harvesting wood on the landowner's property, the wood harvester will not be able to request that the landowner provide workers' compensation benefits. These benefits, including payment for medical treatment and lost wages, and in some cases, vocational rehabilitation and reinstatement to a previously held job, are only available to employees. An independent contractor is not an employee.
An Application for Predetermination of Independent Contractor Status to Establish Conclusive Presumption or an Application for a Certificate of Independent Status may be obtained from the State of Maine Workers' Compensation Board (1-207-287-3751) or from the Maine Forest Service (1-800-367-0223, In State) or (207) 287-2791.
For more information, please contact:
27 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333-0027
(207) 287-3751
