As Reported by the House Commerce and Labor Committee 1
122nd General Assembly 4
Regular Session Sub. 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
HARRIS-HODGES-WACHTMANN-PATTON-HARTLEY-LOGAN-WILLIAMS 11
13
A B I L L
To amend sections 4123.01 and 4123.46 of the Revised 15
Code to provide workers' compensation coverage 17
for off-duty peace officers, firefighters, and 18
emergency medical technicians who are injured or 20
killed while responding to an emergency situation 22
and to require payment for those claims from the 23
Workers' Compensation Surplus Fund rather than 25
the State Insurance Fund. 26
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO: 27
Section 1. That sections 4123.01 and 4123.46 of the 29
Revised Code be amended to read as follows: 31
Sec. 4123.01. As used in this chapter: 40
(A)(1) "Employee" means: 42
(a) Every person in the service of the state, or of any 44
county, municipal corporation, township, or school district 45
therein, including regular members of lawfully constituted police 46
and fire departments of municipal corporations and townships, 47
whether paid or volunteer, and wherever serving within the state 48
or on temporary assignment outside thereof, and executive 49
officers of boards of education, under any appointment or 50
contract of hire, express or implied, oral or written, including 51
any elected official of the state, or of any county, municipal 52
corporation, or township, or members of boards of education; 53
2
AS USED IN DIVISION (A)(1)(a) OF THIS SECTION, THE TERM 56
"REGULAR MEMBERS OF LAWFULLY CONSTITUTED POLICE AND FIRE
DEPARTMENTS" INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING PERSONS WHEN THE PERSON IS 58
REQUIRED TO RESPOND TO AN INHERENTLY DANGEROUS SITUATION THAT
DEMANDS AN IMMEDIATE RESPONSE ON THE PART OF THE PERSON, 60
REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THE PERSON IS WITHIN THE LIMITS OF THE 61
JURISDICTION OF THE PERSON'S REGULAR EMPLOYER WHEN RESPONDING: 62
(i) OFF-DUTY PEACE OFFICERS. AS USED IN DIVISION 65
(A)(1)(a)(i) OF THIS SECTION, "PEACE OFFICER" MEANS A MEMBER OF 66
THE ORGANIZED POLICE DEPARTMENT OF ANY MUNICIPAL CORPORATION, 67
INCLUDING A MEMBER OF THE ORGANIZED POLICE DEPARTMENT OF A 68
MUNICIPAL CORPORATION IN AN ADJOINING STATE SERVING IN OHIO UNDER 69
A CONTRACT PURSUANT TO SECTION 737.04 OF THE REVISED CODE, MEMBER 71
OF A POLICE FORCE EMPLOYED BY A METROPOLITAN HOUSING AUTHORITY 72
UNDER DIVISION (D) OF SECTION 3735.31 OF THE REVISED CODE, MEMBER 75
OF A POLICE FORCE EMPLOYED BY A REGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITY UNDER
DIVISION (Y) OF SECTION 306.05 OF THE REVISED CODE, STATE 78
UNIVERSITY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER APPOINTED UNDER SECTION
3345.04 OF THE REVISED CODE, OHIO VETERANS' HOME POLICE OFFICER 80
APPOINTED UNDER SECTION 5907.02 OF THE REVISED CODE, POLICE 82
CONSTABLE OF ANY TOWNSHIP, POLICE OFFICER OF A TOWNSHIP OR JOINT 83
TOWNSHIP POLICE DISTRICT, STATE HIGHWAY PATROL TROOPER, AND 84
MEMBER OF A QUALIFIED NONPROFIT CORPORATION POLICE DEPARTMENT 85
ESTABLISHED PURSUANT TO SECTION 1702.80 OF THE REVISED CODE.
AS USED IN DIVISION (A)(1)(a) OF THIS SECTION WITH RESPECT 89
TO OFF-DUTY PEACE OFFICERS, "JURISDICTION" MEANS THE LIMITS OF 90
THE MUNICIPAL CORPORATION, TOWNSHIP, METROPOLITAN HOUSING
AUTHORITY HOUSING PROJECT, REGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITY FACILITIES 91
OR AREAS OF A MUNICIPAL CORPORATION THAT HAVE BEEN AGREED TO BY A 92
REGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITY AND A MUNICIPAL CORPORATION LOCATED 93
WITHIN ITS TERRITORIAL JURISDICTION, COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY, OR OHIO 94
VETERANS' HOME IN WHICH THE PEACE OFFICER IS APPOINTED, EMPLOYED, 95
OR ELECTED.
(ii) OFF-DUTY FIREFIGHTERS, WHETHER PAID OR VOLUNTEER, OF 97
3
A LAWFULLY CONSTITUTED FIRE DEPARTMENT. AS USED IN DIVISION 99
(A)(1)(a) OF THIS SECTION WITH RESPECT TO OFF-DUTY FIREFIGHTERS, 100
"JURISDICTION" MEANS THE LIMITS OF THE POLITICAL SUBDIVISION, 101
JOINT AMBULANCE DISTRICT, FIRE DISTRICT, OR JOINT FIRE DISTRICT 102
IN WHICH THE FIREFIGHTER IS APPOINTED OR EMPLOYED.
(iii) OFF-DUTY FIRST RESPONDERS, EMERGENCY MEDICAL 104
TECHNICIANS-BASIC, EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIANS-INTERMEDIATE, OR 105
EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIANS-PARAMEDIC, WHETHER PAID OR 106
VOLUNTEER, OF AN AMBULANCE SERVICE ORGANIZATION OR EMERGENCY 107
MEDICAL SERVICE ORGANIZATION PURSUANT TO CHAPTER 4765. OF THE 109
REVISED CODE. AS USED IN DIVISION (A)(1)(a) OF THIS SECTION WITH 112
RESPECT TO OFF-DUTY FIRST RESPONDERS AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL
TECHNICIANS, "JURISDICTION" MEANS THE LIMITS OF THE POLITICAL 113
SUBDIVISION OR JOINT AMBULANCE DISTRICT IN WHICH THE FIRST 115
RESPONDER OR EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIAN IS EMPLOYED AS A FIRST 116
RESPONDER OR EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIAN.
(b) Every person in the service of any person, firm, or 118
private corporation, including any public service corporation, 119
that (i) employs one or more persons regularly in the same 120
business or in or about the same establishment under any contract 121
of hire, express or implied, oral or written, including aliens 122
and minors, household workers who earn one hundred sixty dollars 123
or more in cash in any calendar quarter from a single household 124
and casual workers who earn one hundred sixty dollars or more in 125
cash in any calendar quarter from a single employer, or (ii) is 126
bound by any such contract of hire or by any other written 127
contract, to pay into the state insurance fund the premiums 128
provided by this chapter. 129
(c) Every person who performs labor or provides services 132
pursuant to a construction contract, as defined in section 133
4123.79 of the Revised Code, if at least ten of the following
criteria apply:
(i) The person is required to comply with instructions 136
from the other contracting party regarding the manner or method 137
4
of performing services;
(ii) The person is required by the other contracting party 140
to have particular training;
(iii) The person's services are integrated into the 143
regular functioning of the other contracting party; 144
(iv) The person is required to perform the work 146
personally;
(v) The person is hired, supervised, or paid by the other 148
contracting party;
(vi) A continuing relationship exists between the person 151
and the other contracting party that contemplates continuing or 152
recurring work even if the work is not full time; 153
(vii) The person's hours of work are established by the 156
other contracting party;
(viii) The person is required to devote full time to the 159
business of the other contracting party;
(ix) The person is required to perform the work on the 162
premises of the other contracting party;
(x) The person is required to follow the order of work set 165
by the other contracting party;
(xi) The person is required to make oral or written 168
reports of progress to the other contracting party; 169
(xii) The person is paid for services on a regular basis 172
such as hourly, weekly, or monthly;
(xiii) The person's expenses are paid for by the other 174
contracting party;
(xiv) The person's tools and materials are furnished by 177
the other contracting party;
(xv) The person is provided with the facilities used to 179
perform services;
(xvi) The person does not realize a profit or suffer a 182
loss as a result of the services provided;
(xvii) The person is not performing services for a number 185
of employers at the same time;
5
(xviii) The person does not make the same services 187
available to the general public; 188
(xix) The other contracting party has a right to discharge 191
the person;
(xx) The person has the right to end the relationship with 194
the other contracting party without incurring liability pursuant 195
to an employment contract or agreement. 196
Every person in the service of any independent contractor 198
or subcontractor who has failed to pay into the state insurance 199
fund the amount of premium determined and fixed by the 200
administrator of workers' compensation for the person's 201
employment or occupation or if a self-insuring employer has 202
failed to pay compensation and benefits directly to the 203
employer's injured and to the dependents of the employer's killed 204
employees as required by section 4123.35 of the Revised Code, 206
shall be considered as the employee of the person who has entered 207
into a contract, whether written or verbal, with such independent 208
contractor unless such employees or their legal representatives 209
or beneficiaries elect, after injury or death, to regard such 210
independent contractor as the employer.
(2) "Employee" does not mean: 212
(a) A duly ordained, commissioned, or licensed minister or 214
assistant or associate minister of a church in the exercise of 215
ministry; or 216
(b) Any officer of a family farm corporation. 218
Any employer may elect to include as an "employee" within 220
this chapter, any person excluded from the definition of 221
"employee" pursuant to division (A)(2) of this section. If an 222
employer is a partnership, sole proprietorship, or family farm 223
corporation, such employer may elect to include as an "employee" 224
within this chapter, any member of such partnership, the owner of 225
the sole proprietorship, or the officers of the family farm 226
corporation. In the event of an election, the employer shall 227
serve upon the bureau of workers' compensation written notice 228
6
naming the persons to be covered, include such employee's 229
remuneration for premium purposes in all future payroll reports, 230
and no person excluded from the definition of "employee" pursuant 231
to division (A)(2) of this section, proprietor, or partner shall 232
be deemed an employee within this division until the employer has 233
served such notice. 234
For informational purposes only, the bureau shall prescribe 236
such language as it considers appropriate, on such of its forms 237
as it considers appropriate, to advise employers of their right 238
to elect to include as an "employee" within this chapter a sole 239
proprietor, any member of a partnership, the officers of a family 240
farm corporation, or a person excluded from the definition of 241
"employee" under division (A)(2)(a) of this section, that they 242
should check any health and disability insurance policy, or other 243
form of health and disability plan or contract, presently 244
covering them, or the purchase of which they may be considering, 245
to determine whether such policy, plan, or contract excludes 246
benefits for illness or injury that they might have elected to 247
have covered by workers' compensation. 248
(B) "Employer" means: 250
(1) The state, including state hospitals, each county, 252
municipal corporation, township, school district, and hospital 253
owned by a political subdivision or subdivisions other than the 254
state; 255
(2) Every person, firm, and private corporation, including 257
any public service corporation, that (a) has in service one or 258
more employees regularly in the same business or in or about the 259
same establishment under any contract of hire, express or 260
implied, oral or written, or (b) is bound by any such contract of 261
hire or by any other written contract, to pay into the insurance 262
fund the premiums provided by this chapter. 263
All such employers are subject to this chapter. Any member 265
of a firm or association, who regularly performs manual labor in 266
or about a mine, factory, or other establishment, including a 267
7
household establishment, shall be considered an employee in 268
determining whether such person, firm, or private corporation, or 269
public service corporation, has in its service, one or more 270
employees and the employer shall report the income derived from 271
such labor to the bureau as part of the payroll of such employer, 272
and such member shall thereupon be entitled to all the benefits 273
of an employee. 274
(C) "Injury" includes any injury, whether caused by 276
external accidental means or accidental in character and result, 277
received in the course of, and arising out of, the injured 278
employee's employment. "Injury" does not include: 279
(1) Psychiatric conditions except where the conditions 281
have arisen from an injury or occupational disease; 282
(2) Injury or disability caused primarily by the natural 285
deterioration of tissue, an organ, or part of the body; 286
(3) Injury or disability incurred in voluntary 288
participation in an employer-sponsored recreation or fitness 289
activity if the employee signs a waiver of the employee's right 290
to compensation or benefits under this chapter prior to engaging 291
in the recreation or fitness activity. 292
(D) "Child" includes a posthumous child and a child 294
legally adopted prior to the injury. 295
(E) "Family farm corporation" means a corporation founded 297
for the purpose of farming agricultural land in which the 298
majority of the voting stock is held by and the majority of the 299
stockholders are persons or the spouse of persons related to each 300
other within the fourth degree of kinship, according to the rules 301
of the civil law, and at least one of the related persons is 302
residing on or actively operating the farm, and none of whose 303
stockholders are a corporation. A family farm corporation does 304
not cease to qualify under this division where, by reason of any 305
devise, bequest, or the operation of the laws of descent or 306
distribution, the ownership of shares of voting stock is 307
transferred to another person, as long as that person is within 308
8
the degree of kinship stipulated in this division. 309
(F) "Occupational disease" means a disease contracted in 311
the course of employment, which by its causes and the 312
characteristics of its manifestation or the condition of the 313
employment results in a hazard which distinguishes the employment 314
in character from employment generally, and the employment
creates a risk of contracting the disease in greater degree and 315
in a different manner from the public in general. 316
(G) "Self-insuring employer" means any of the following 318
categories of employers if granted the privilege of paying 319
compensation and benefits directly under section 4123.35 of the 320
Revised Code: 321
(1) Any employer mentioned in division (B)(2) of this 323
section; 324
(2) A board of county hospital trustees; 326
(3) A publicly owned utility; 328
(4) A board of county commissioners for the sole purpose 330
of constructing a sports facility as defined in section 307.696 331
of the Revised Code, provided that the electors of the county in 332
which the sports facility is to be built have approved
construction of a sports facility by ballot election no later 333
than November 6, 1997. 334
Sec. 4123.46. The (A)(1) EXCEPT AS PROVIDED IN DIVISION 344
(A)(2) OF THIS SECTION, THE bureau of workers' compensation shall
disburse the state insurance fund to employees of employers who 345
have paid into the fund the premiums applicable to the classes to 346
which they belong when the employees have been injured in the 347
course of their employment, wherever the injuries have occurred, 348
and provided the injuries have not been purposely self-inflicted, 349
or to the dependents of the employees in case death has ensued. 350
(2) THE BUREAU SHALL DISBURSE THE SURPLUS FUND CREATED 353
UNDER SECTION 4123.34 OF THE REVISED CODE TO OFF-DUTY PEACE 354
OFFICERS, FIREFIGHTERS, EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIANS, AND FIRST 355
RESPONDERS WHO ARE INJURED WHILE RESPONDING TO INHERENTLY 357
9
DANGEROUS SITUATIONS THAT DEMAND AN IMMEDIATE RESPONSE ON THE 358
PART OF THE PERSON, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THE PERSON WAS WITHIN 359
THE LIMITS OF THE PERSON'S JURISDICTION WHEN RESPONDING, PROVIDED 360
THE INJURIES HAVE NOT BEEN PURPOSEFULLY SELF-INFLICTED, OR TO THE 361
DEPENDENTS OF THE PERSON IN CASE DEATH HAS ENSUED. 362
AS USED IN DIVISION (A)(2) OF THIS SECTION, "PEACE 364
OFFICER," "FIREFIGHTER," "EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIAN," "FIRST 365
RESPONDER," AND "JURISDICTION" HAVE THE SAME MEANINGS AS IN 366
SECTION 4123.01 OF THE REVISED CODE.
(B) All self-insuring employers, in compliance with this 368
chapter, shall pay the compensation to injured employees, or to 369
the dependents of employees who have been killed in the course of 370
their employment, unless the injury or death of the employee was 371
purposely self-inflicted, and shall furnish the medical, 372
surgical, nurse, and hospital care and attention or funeral 373
expenses as would have been paid and furnished by virtue of this 374
chapter under a similar state of facts by the bureau out of the 375
state insurance fund if the employer had paid the premium into 376
the fund. 377
If any rule or regulation of a self-insuring employer 379
provides for or authorizes the payment of greater compensation or 380
more complete or extended medical care, nursing, surgical, and 381
hospital attention, or funeral expenses to the injured employees, 382
or to the dependents of the employees as may be killed, the 383
employer shall pay to the employees, or to the dependents of 384
employees killed, the amount of compensation and furnish the 385
medical care, nursing, surgical, and hospital attention or 386
funeral expenses provided by his THE SELF-INSURING EMPLOYER'S 387
rules and regulations. 388
(C) Payment to injured employees, or to their dependents 390
in case death has ensued, is in lieu of any and all rights of 391
action against the employer of the injured or killed employees. 392
Section 2. That existing sections 4123.01 and 4123.46 of 394
the Revised Code are hereby repealed. 396