As Introduced 1
122nd General Assembly 4
Regular Session H. B. No. 558 5
1997-1998 6
REPRESENTATIVES WISE-CATES-WESTON-MAIER-COUGHLIN-GARCIA- 8
METELSKY-MALLORY-THOMAS-O'BRIEN-NETZLEY-JAMES-GRENDELL- 9
HOUSEHOLDER-COLONNA-JACOBSON-PRINGLE-HEALY-BOYD-LUCAS-SULZER 10
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A B I L L
To amend section 4123.01 of the Revised Code to 14
provide workers' compensation coverage for 15
off-duty police officers who are injured or 16
killed while responding to an emergency 17
situation. 18
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO: 19
Section 1. That section 4123.01 of the Revised Code be 21
amended to read as follows: 22
Sec. 4123.01. As used in this chapter: 31
(A)(1) "Employee" means: 33
(a) Every person in the service of the state, or of any 35
county, municipal corporation, township, or school district 36
therein, including regular members of lawfully constituted police 37
and fire departments of municipal corporations and townships, 38
whether paid or volunteer, and wherever serving within the state 39
or on temporary assignment outside thereof, and executive 40
officers of boards of education, under any appointment or 41
contract of hire, express or implied, oral or written, including 42
any elected official of the state, or of any county, municipal 43
corporation, or township, or members of boards of education;. 44
AS USED IN DIVISION (A)(1)(a) OF THIS SECTION, THE TERM 47
"REGULAR MEMBERS OF LAWFULLY CONSTITUTED POLICE AND FIRE
DEPARTMENTS" INCLUDES AN OFF-DUTY POLICE OFFICER OF A LAWFULLY 48
CONSTITUTED POLICE DEPARTMENT WHO RESPONDS TO AN INHERENTLY 49
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DANGEROUS SITUATION THAT DEMANDS AN IMMEDIATE RESPONSE ON THE 50
PART OF THE POLICE OFFICER, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THE POLICE 51
OFFICER IS WITHIN THE POLICE OFFICER'S JURISDICTION WHEN
RESPONDING. 52
(b) Every person in the service of any person, firm, or 54
private corporation, including any public service corporation, 55
that (i) employs one or more persons regularly in the same 56
business or in or about the same establishment under any contract 57
of hire, express or implied, oral or written, including aliens 58
and minors, household workers who earn one hundred sixty dollars 59
or more in cash in any calendar quarter from a single household 60
and casual workers who earn one hundred sixty dollars or more in 61
cash in any calendar quarter from a single employer, or (ii) is 62
bound by any such contract of hire or by any other written 63
contract, to pay into the state insurance fund the premiums 64
provided by this chapter. 65
(c) Every person who performs labor or provides services 68
pursuant to a construction contract, as defined in section 69
4123.79 of the Revised Code, if at least ten of the following
criteria apply:
(i) The person is required to comply with instructions 72
from the other contracting party regarding the manner or method 73
of performing services;
(ii) The person is required by the other contracting party 76
to have particular training;
(iii) The person's services are integrated into the 79
regular functioning of the other contracting party; 80
(iv) The person is required to perform the work 82
personally;
(v) The person is hired, supervised, or paid by the other 84
contracting party;
(vi) A continuing relationship exists between the person 87
and the other contracting party that contemplates continuing or 88
recurring work even if the work is not full time; 89
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(vii) The person's hours of work are established by the 92
other contracting party;
(viii) The person is required to devote full time to the 95
business of the other contracting party;
(ix) The person is required to perform the work on the 98
premises of the other contracting party;
(x) The person is required to follow the order of work set 101
by the other contracting party;
(xi) The person is required to make oral or written 104
reports of progress to the other contracting party; 105
(xii) The person is paid for services on a regular basis 108
such as hourly, weekly, or monthly;
(xiii) The person's expenses are paid for by the other 110
contracting party;
(xiv) The person's tools and materials are furnished by 113
the other contracting party;
(xv) The person is provided with the facilities used to 115
perform services;
(xvi) The person does not realize a profit or suffer a 118
loss as a result of the services provided;
(xvii) The person is not performing services for a number 121
of employers at the same time;
(xviii) The person does not make the same services 123
available to the general public; 124
(xix) The other contracting party has a right to discharge 127
the person;
(xx) The person has the right to end the relationship with 130
the other contracting party without incurring liability pursuant 131
to an employment contract or agreement. 132
Every person in the service of any independent contractor 134
or subcontractor who has failed to pay into the state insurance 135
fund the amount of premium determined and fixed by the 136
administrator of workers' compensation for the person's 137
employment or occupation or if a self-insuring employer has 138
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failed to pay compensation and benefits directly to the 139
employer's injured and to the dependents of the employer's killed 140
employees as required by section 4123.35 of the Revised Code, 142
shall be considered as the employee of the person who has entered 143
into a contract, whether written or verbal, with such independent 144
contractor unless such employees or their legal representatives 145
or beneficiaries elect, after injury or death, to regard such 146
independent contractor as the employer.
(2) "Employee" does not mean: 148
(a) A duly ordained, commissioned, or licensed minister or 150
assistant or associate minister of a church in the exercise of 151
ministry; 152
(b) Any officer of a family farm corporation; or 154
(c) An individual who signs the waiver and affidavit 156
provided for in section 4123.15 of the Revised Code, provided 157
that the administrator has granted a waiver and exception to the 158
individual's employer under that section. 159
Any employer may elect to include as an "employee" within 161
this chapter, any person excluded from the definition of 162
"employee" pursuant to division (A)(2) of this section. If an 163
employer is a partnership, sole proprietorship, or family farm 164
corporation, such employer may elect to include as an "employee" 165
within this chapter, any member of such partnership, the owner of 166
the sole proprietorship, or the officers of the family farm 167
corporation. In the event of an election, the employer shall 168
serve upon the bureau of workers' compensation written notice 169
naming the persons to be covered, include such employee's 170
remuneration for premium purposes in all future payroll reports, 171
and no person excluded from the definition of "employee" pursuant 172
to division (A)(2) of this section, proprietor, or partner shall 173
be deemed an employee within this division until the employer has 174
served such notice. 175
For informational purposes only, the bureau shall prescribe 177
such language as it considers appropriate, on such of its forms 178
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as it considers appropriate, to advise employers of their right 179
to elect to include as an "employee" within this chapter a sole 180
proprietor, any member of a partnership, the officers of a family 181
farm corporation, or a person excluded from the definition of 182
"employee" under division (A)(2)(a) of this section, that they 183
should check any health and disability insurance policy, or other 184
form of health and disability plan or contract, presently 185
covering them, or the purchase of which they may be considering, 186
to determine whether such policy, plan, or contract excludes 187
benefits for illness or injury that they might have elected to 188
have covered by workers' compensation. 189
(B) "Employer" means: 191
(1) The state, including state hospitals, each county, 193
municipal corporation, township, school district, and hospital 194
owned by a political subdivision or subdivisions other than the 195
state; 196
(2) Every person, firm, and private corporation, including 198
any public service corporation, that (a) has in service one or 199
more employees regularly in the same business or in or about the 200
same establishment under any contract of hire, express or 201
implied, oral or written, or (b) is bound by any such contract of 202
hire or by any other written contract, to pay into the insurance 203
fund the premiums provided by this chapter. 204
All such employers are subject to this chapter. Any member 206
of a firm or association, who regularly performs manual labor in 207
or about a mine, factory, or other establishment, including a 208
household establishment, shall be considered an employee in 209
determining whether such person, firm, or private corporation, or 210
public service corporation, has in its service, one or more 211
employees and the employer shall report the income derived from 212
such labor to the bureau as part of the payroll of such employer, 213
and such member shall thereupon be entitled to all the benefits 214
of an employee. 215
(C) "Injury" includes any injury, whether caused by 217
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external accidental means or accidental in character and result, 218
received in the course of, and arising out of, the injured 219
employee's employment. "Injury" does not include: 220
(1) Psychiatric conditions except where the conditions 222
have arisen from an injury; 223
(2) Injury, impairment, or disability caused primarily by 226
the natural deterioration of tissue, an organ, or part of the 227
body;
(3) Injury, impairment, or disability incurred in 229
voluntary participation in an employer-sponsored recreation or 230
fitness activity if the employee signs a waiver of the employee's 231
right to compensation or benefits under this chapter prior to 232
engaging in the recreation or fitness activity; 233
(4) A condition, impairment, or disease process that 236
pre-existed an injury unless that pre-existing condition or
impairment is substantially worsened or that disease process is 237
substantially accelerated by an injury as documented by objective 238
clinical findings and test results, and subjective complaints 239
without these findings and results are insufficient to establish 240
a compensable injury as described in division (C)(4) of this 242
section;
(5) Injury, impairment, or disability resulting from 244
cumulative or repetitive trauma. 245
(D) "Child" includes a posthumous child and a child 247
legally adopted prior to the injury. 248
(E) "Family farm corporation" means a corporation founded 250
for the purpose of farming agricultural land in which the 251
majority of the voting stock is held by and the majority of the 252
stockholders are persons or the spouse of persons related to each 253
other within the fourth degree of kinship, according to the rules 254
of the civil law, and at least one of the related persons is 255
residing on or actively operating the farm, and none of whose 256
stockholders are a corporation. A family farm corporation does 257
not cease to qualify under this division where, by reason of any 258
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devise, bequest, or the operation of the laws of descent or 259
distribution, the ownership of shares of voting stock is 260
transferred to another person, as long as that person is within 261
the degree of kinship stipulated in this division. 262
(F) "Occupational disease" means a disease, including a 264
disease or condition that results from a cumulative or repetitive 266
trauma, that is contracted in the course of employment, that 268
results in damage or harm to the physical structure of the body, 269
and that is due to causes and conditions that are characteristic 270
of or peculiar to a particular industrial process, trade, or 271
occupation. "Occupational disease" does not include any of the 272
following:
(1) A disease or condition to which the general public is 274
exposed outside of employment absent a showing, by a 275
preponderance of the evidence, that the disease or condition is 276
characteristic of or peculiar to a particular industrial process, 277
trade, or occupation;
(2) A disease or condition that would have arisen without 279
the occupational exposure; 280
(3) A disease or condition that results from aggravation 282
of a pre-existing disease, condition, or disease process; 283
(4) A disease or condition caused primarily by the natural 285
deterioration of the tissue, organs, or other parts of the body; 286
(5) Psychiatric conditions, except where the conditions 288
have arisen from an occupational disease. 289
(G) "Self-insuring employer" means any of the following 291
categories of employers if granted the privilege of paying 292
compensation and benefits directly under section 4123.35 of the 293
Revised Code: 294
(1) Any employer mentioned in division (B)(2) of this 296
section; 297
(2) A board of county hospital trustees; 299
(3) A publicly owned utility. 301
Section 2. That existing section 4123.01 of the Revised 303
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Code is hereby repealed. 304