(a) Every person in the service of the state, or of any | 16 |
county, municipal corporation, township, or school district | 17 |
therein, including regular members of lawfully constituted police | 18 |
and fire departments of municipal corporations and townships, | 19 |
whether paid or volunteer, and wherever serving within the state | 20 |
or on temporary assignment outside thereof, and executive officers | 21 |
of boards of education, under any appointment or contract of hire, | 22 |
express or implied, oral or written, including any elected | 23 |
official of the state, or of any county, municipal corporation, or | 24 |
township, or members of boards of education. | 25 |
As used in division (A)(1)(a) of this section, the term | 26 |
"regular members of lawfully constituted police and fire | 27 |
departmentsemployee" includes the following persons when
the | 28 |
person
respondsresponding to an inherently dangerous situation | 29 |
that calls for an
immediate response on the part of the person, | 30 |
regardless of
whether the person is within the limits of the | 31 |
jurisdiction of the
person's regular employment or voluntary | 32 |
service when responding,
on the condition that the person responds | 33 |
to the situation as the
person otherwise would if the person were | 34 |
on duty in the person's
jurisdiction: | 35 |
(i) Off-duty peace officers. As used in division | 36 |
(A)(1)(a)(i) of this section, "peace officer"
means a member of | 37 |
the organized police department of any municipal corporation, | 38 |
including a member of the organized police department of a | 39 |
municipal corporation in an adjoining state serving in Ohio under | 40 |
a contract pursuant to section 737.04 of the Revised Code, member | 41 |
of a police force employed by a metropolitan housing authority | 42 |
under division (D) of section 3735.31 of the Revised Code, member | 43 |
of a police force employed by a regional transit authority under | 44 |
division (Y) of section 306.05 of the Revised Code, state | 45 |
university law enforcement officer appointed under section 3345.04 | 46 |
of the Revised Code, Ohio veterans' home police officer appointed | 47 |
under section 5907.02 of the Revised Code, police constable of any | 48 |
township, police officer of a township or joint township police | 49 |
district, state highway patrol trooper, and member of a qualified | 50 |
nonprofit corporation police department established pursuant to | 51 |
has the same meaning as in
section
1702.802935.01 of the Revised | 52 |
Code. | 53 |
As used in division (A)(1)(a) of this section with respect to | 54 |
off-duty peace officers, "jurisdiction" means the limits of the | 55 |
municipal corporation, township, metropolitan housing authority | 56 |
housing project, regional transit authority facilities or areas of | 57 |
a municipal corporation that have been agreed to by a regional | 58 |
transit authority and a municipal corporation located within its | 59 |
territorial jurisdiction, college, university, or Ohio veterans' | 60 |
home in which the peace officer is appointed, employed, or | 61 |
elected. | 62 |
(ii) Off-duty firefighters, whether paid or volunteer, of a | 63 |
lawfully constituted fire department.
As used in division | 64 |
(A)(1)(a) of this section with respect to off-duty firefighters, | 65 |
"jurisdiction" means the limits of the political subdivision, | 66 |
joint ambulance district, fire district, or joint fire district in | 67 |
which the firefighter is appointed or employed. | 68 |
(iii) Off-duty first responders, emergency medical | 69 |
technicians-basic, emergency medical technicians-intermediate, or | 70 |
emergency medical technicians-paramedic, whether paid or | 71 |
volunteer, of an ambulance service organization or emergency | 72 |
medical service organization pursuant to Chapter 4765. of the | 73 |
Revised Code.
As used in division (A)(1)(a) of this section with | 74 |
respect to off-duty first responders and emergency medical | 75 |
technicians, "jurisdiction" means the limits of the political | 76 |
subdivision or joint ambulance district in which the first | 77 |
responder or emergency medical technician is employed or | 78 |
volunteers as a first responder or emergency medical technician. | 79 |
(b) Every person in the service of any person, firm, or | 80 |
private corporation, including any public service corporation, | 81 |
that (i) employs one or more persons regularly in the same | 82 |
business or in or about the same establishment under any contract | 83 |
of hire, express or implied, oral or written, including aliens and | 84 |
minors, household workers who earn one hundred sixty dollars or | 85 |
more in cash in any calendar quarter from a single household and | 86 |
casual workers who earn one hundred sixty dollars or more in cash | 87 |
in any calendar quarter from a single employer, or (ii) is bound | 88 |
by any such contract of hire or by any other written contract, to | 89 |
pay into the state insurance fund the premiums provided by this | 90 |
chapter. | 91 |
Every person in the service of any independent contractor or | 138 |
subcontractor who has failed to pay into the state insurance fund | 139 |
the amount of premium determined and fixed by the administrator of | 140 |
workers' compensation for the person's employment or occupation or | 141 |
if a self-insuring employer has failed to pay compensation and | 142 |
benefits directly to the employer's injured and to the dependents | 143 |
of the employer's killed employees as required by section 4123.35 | 144 |
of the Revised Code, shall be considered as the employee of the | 145 |
person who has entered into a contract, whether written or verbal, | 146 |
with such independent contractor unless such employees or their | 147 |
legal representatives or beneficiaries elect, after injury or | 148 |
death, to regard such independent contractor as the employer. | 149 |
Any employer may elect to include as an "employee" within | 155 |
this chapter, any person excluded from the definition of | 156 |
"employee" pursuant to division (A)(2) of this section. If an | 157 |
employer is a partnership, sole proprietorship, or family farm | 158 |
corporation, such employer may elect to include as an "employee" | 159 |
within this chapter, any member of such partnership, the owner of | 160 |
the sole proprietorship, or the officers of the family farm | 161 |
corporation. In the event of an election, the employer shall | 162 |
serve upon the bureau of workers' compensation written notice | 163 |
naming the persons to be covered, include such employee's | 164 |
remuneration for premium purposes in all future payroll reports, | 165 |
and no person excluded from the definition of "employee" pursuant | 166 |
to division (A)(2) of this section, proprietor, or partner shall | 167 |
be deemed an employee within this division until the employer has | 168 |
served such notice. | 169 |
For informational purposes only, the bureau shall prescribe | 170 |
such language as it considers appropriate, on such of its forms as | 171 |
it considers appropriate, to advise employers of their right to | 172 |
elect to include as an "employee" within this chapter a sole | 173 |
proprietor, any member of a partnership, the officers of a family | 174 |
farm corporation, or a person excluded from the definition of | 175 |
"employee" under division (A)(2)(a) of this section, that they | 176 |
should check any health and disability insurance policy, or other | 177 |
form of health and disability plan or contract, presently covering | 178 |
them, or the purchase of which they may be considering, to | 179 |
determine whether such policy, plan, or contract excludes benefits | 180 |
for illness or injury that they might have elected to have covered | 181 |
by workers' compensation. | 182 |
(2) Every person, firm, and private corporation, including | 188 |
any public service corporation, that (a) has in service one or | 189 |
more employees regularly in the same business or in or about the | 190 |
same establishment under any contract of hire, express or implied, | 191 |
oral or written, or (b) is bound by any such contract of hire or | 192 |
by any other written contract, to pay into the insurance fund the | 193 |
premiums provided by this chapter. | 194 |
All such employers are subject to this chapter. Any member | 195 |
of a firm or association, who regularly performs manual labor in | 196 |
or about a mine, factory, or other establishment, including a | 197 |
household establishment, shall be considered an employee in | 198 |
determining whether such person, firm, or private corporation, or | 199 |
public service corporation, has in its service, one or more | 200 |
employees and the employer shall report the income derived from | 201 |
such labor to the bureau as part of the payroll of such employer, | 202 |
and such member shall thereupon be entitled to all the benefits of | 203 |
an employee. | 204 |
(E) "Family farm corporation" means a corporation founded | 220 |
for the purpose of farming agricultural land in which the majority | 221 |
of the voting stock is held by and the majority of the | 222 |
stockholders are persons or the spouse of persons related to each | 223 |
other within the fourth degree of kinship, according to the rules | 224 |
of the civil law, and at least one of the related persons is | 225 |
residing on or actively operating the farm, and none of whose | 226 |
stockholders are a corporation. A family farm corporation does | 227 |
not cease to qualify under this division where, by reason of any | 228 |
devise, bequest, or the operation of the laws of descent or | 229 |
distribution, the ownership of shares of voting stock is | 230 |
transferred to another person, as long as that person is within | 231 |
the degree of kinship stipulated in this division. | 232 |
(F) "Occupational disease" means a disease contracted in the | 233 |
course of employment, which by its causes and the characteristics | 234 |
of its manifestation or the condition of the employment results in | 235 |
a hazard which distinguishes the employment in character from | 236 |
employment generally, and the employment creates a risk of | 237 |
contracting the disease in greater degree and in a different | 238 |
manner from the public in general. | 239 |
(G) "Self-insuring employer" means an employer who is | 240 |
granted the privilege of paying compensation and benefits directly | 241 |
under section 4123.35 of the Revised Code, including a board of | 242 |
county commissioners for the sole purpose of constructing a sports | 243 |
facility as defined in section 307.696 of the Revised Code, | 244 |
provided that the electors of the county in which the sports | 245 |
facility is to be built have approved construction of a sports | 246 |
facility by ballot election no later than November 6, 1997. | 247 |
Sec. 4123.026. (A) The administrator of workers' | 250 |
compensation,
or a self-insuring public employer for the peace | 251 |
officers, firefighters, and emergency medical workers employed by | 252 |
or volunteering for that self-insuring public employer, shall pay | 253 |
the costs of conducting post-exposure medical diagnostic services, | 254 |
consistent with the standards of medical care existing at the time | 255 |
of the exposure, to investigate
whether an injury or
occupational | 256 |
disease was sustained by a peace
officer, firefighter, or | 257 |
emergency medical worker when coming into
contact with
the blood | 258 |
or other body fluid of another person in
the course of
and arising | 259 |
out of the peace officer's,
firefighter's, or
emergency medical | 260 |
worker's employment, or when
responding to an inherently dangerous | 261 |
situation in the manner
described in, and in accordance with the | 262 |
conditions specified under, division (A)(1)(a) of section
4123.01 | 263 |
of the Revised
Code, through any of the
following means: | 264 |
(A) A rule providing that in the event there is developed
as | 285 |
of any given rate revision date a surplus of earned premium
over | 286 |
all losses which, in the judgment of the administrator, is
larger | 287 |
than is necessary adequately to safeguard the solvency of
the | 288 |
fund, the administrator may return such excess surplus to the | 289 |
subscriber to the fund in either the form of cash refunds or a | 290 |
reduction of
future premiums, regardless of when the premium | 291 |
obligations have accrued; | 292 |
(B) A rule providing that the premium security deposit | 293 |
collected from
any employer entitles the employer to the benefits | 294 |
of
this chapter for the remainder of
the six months and also for | 295 |
an additional adjustment period of two months,
and,
thereafter, if | 296 |
the employer pays the premium due at the close of any six-month | 297 |
period, coverage shall be extended for an additional eight-month | 298 |
period
beginning from the end of the six-month period for which | 299 |
the employer pays the
premium due; | 300 |
(D) Such special rules as the administrator considers | 309 |
necessary to safeguard the fund and that are just in the | 310 |
circumstances, covering the rates to be applied where one
employer | 311 |
takes over the occupation or industry of another or
where an | 312 |
employer first makes application for state insurance,
and the | 313 |
administrator may require that if any employer transfers
hisa | 314 |
business in whole or in part or otherwise reorganizes the | 315 |
business, the successor in interest shall assume, in proportion
to | 316 |
the extent of the transfer, as determined by the
administrator, | 317 |
the employer's account and shall continue the
payment of all | 318 |
contributions due under this chapter; | 319 |
(2) The premium determined by the administrator to be due | 328 |
from an employer
shall be payable on or before the end of the | 329 |
coverage period established by
the premium security deposit, or | 330 |
within the time specified by the
administrator if
the period for | 331 |
which the advance premium has been paid is less than eight
months. | 332 |
If an employer fails to pay the premium when due, an amount equal | 333 |
to
three per cent of the premium shall be added to the premium.
If | 334 |
the failure
to pay continues for more than one month, the
premium | 335 |
shall be increased
further
in an amount equal to two per
cent of | 336 |
the premium for each additional month or
part of a month,
but the | 337 |
total of all additional amounts shall not exceed
twelve
per cent | 338 |
of the premium. If the employer files an appropriate
payroll | 339 |
report, within the time provided by law or within the time | 340 |
specified by the
administrator if the period for which the | 341 |
employer paid an estimated premium is
less than eight months, the | 342 |
employer shall not be in default and division
(E) of section | 343 |
4123.32 of the Revised Code shall not apply if the employer
pays | 344 |
the premiums within fifteen days after being first notified by the | 345 |
administrator of the amount due. | 346 |
(3) Any deficiencies in the amounts of the premium security | 347 |
deposit paid by
an employer for any period shall be subject to an | 348 |
interest charge of six per
cent per annum from the date the | 349 |
premium obligation is incurred. In
determining the interest due | 350 |
on deficiencies in premium security deposit
payments, a charge in | 351 |
each case shall be made against the employer in an
amount
equal to | 352 |
interest at the rate of six per cent per annum on the premium | 353 |
security
deposit due but remaining unpaid sixty days after notice | 354 |
by the administrator. | 355 |
(F) A rule providing that each employer, on the occasion
of | 360 |
instituting coverage under this chapter, shall submit a
premium | 361 |
security deposit. The deposit shall be calculated
equivalent to | 362 |
thirty per cent of the semiannual premium
obligation of the | 363 |
employer based upon the employer's estimated
expenditure for wages | 364 |
for the ensuing six-month period plus
thirty per cent of an | 365 |
additional adjustment period of two months
but only up to a | 366 |
maximum of one thousand dollars and not less
than ten dollars.
The | 367 |
administrator shall review the security
deposit of every
employer | 368 |
who has submitted a deposit which is
less than the | 369 |
one-thousand-dollar maximum. The administrator may
require any | 370 |
such employer to submit additional money up to the
maximum of one | 371 |
thousand dollars that, in the administrator's
opinion, reflects | 372 |
the employer's current payroll expenditure for
an eight-month | 373 |
period. | 374 |