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As Passed by the House
122nd General Assembly
Regular Session
1997-1998 | Sub. H. B. No. 558 |
REPRESENTATIVES WISE-CATES-WESTON-MAIER-COUGHLIN-GARCIA-
METELSKY-MALLORY-THOMAS-O'BRIEN-NETZLEY-JAMES-GRENDELL-
HOUSEHOLDER-COLONNA-JACOBSON-PRINGLE-HEALY-BOYD-LUCAS-SULZER-
HARRIS-HODGES-WACHTMANN-PATTON-HARTLEY-LOGAN-WILLIAMS-
MOTTLEY-KRUPINSKI-KASPUTIS-DAMSCHRODER-STAPLETON-CAREY-
REID-MYERS-TERWILLEGER-PADGETT-SALERNO-VERICH-SUTTON-
TAVARES-MOTTL-VESPER-PERZ-FORD-SAWYER-YOUNG-OPFER-BEATTY-
JONES-METZGER-JOHNSON-BENDER-KREBS-WOMER BENJAMIN-ALLEN-
CLANCY-BATEMAN-CALLENDER-ROMAN-BUCHY-PRENTISS-WILSON-
JERSE-MILLER-BRITTON-OLMAN-SCHULER
A BILL
To amend sections 4123.01 and 4123.46 of the Revised Code to provide workers'
compensation
coverage for off-duty peace officers, firefighters,
and emergency medical
technicians who are
injured or killed while
responding to an emergency
situation and to require payment for those claims
from the Workers'
Compensation Surplus Fund
rather than the State Insurance
Fund.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 4123.01 and 4123.46 of the Revised Code be amended to
read as
follows:
Sec. 4123.01. As used in this chapter:
(A)(1) "Employee" means:
(a) Every person in the service of the state, or of any
county, municipal corporation, township, or school district
therein, including regular members of lawfully constituted police
and fire departments of municipal corporations and townships,
whether paid or volunteer, and wherever serving within the state
or on temporary assignment outside thereof, and executive
officers of boards of education, under any appointment or
contract of hire, express or implied, oral or written, including
any elected official of the state, or of any county, municipal
corporation, or township, or members of boards of education;
AS USED IN DIVISION (A)(1)(a) OF THIS SECTION, THE
TERM "REGULAR MEMBERS OF LAWFULLY CONSTITUTED POLICE AND FIRE DEPARTMENTS"
INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING PERSONS WHEN THE
PERSON IS REQUIRED TO RESPOND TO AN INHERENTLY DANGEROUS SITUATION THAT
DEMANDS
AN IMMEDIATE RESPONSE ON THE PART OF THE PERSON, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THE
PERSON IS WITHIN THE LIMITS OF THE JURISDICTION OF THE PERSON'S REGULAR
EMPLOYERWHEN RESPONDING:
(i) OFF-DUTY PEACE OFFICERS. AS USED IN DIVISION
(A)(1)(a)(i) OF THIS
SECTION, "PEACE OFFICER" MEANS A MEMBER OF THE ORGANIZED POLICE
DEPARTMENT OF ANY MUNICIPAL CORPORATION, INCLUDING A MEMBER OF THE ORGANIZED
POLICE DEPARTMENT OF A MUNICIPAL CORPORATION IN AN ADJOINING STATE SERVING IN
OHIO UNDER A CONTRACT PURSUANT TO SECTION
737.04 OF THE REVISED
CODE, MEMBER OF A POLICE FORCE EMPLOYED BY A
METROPOLITAN HOUSING AUTHORITY UNDER DIVISION
(D) OF SECTION 3735.31 OF THE
REVISED CODE,
MEMBER OF A POLICE FORCE EMPLOYED BY A REGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITY UNDER
DIVISION (Y) OF SECTION 306.05 OF THE
REVISED CODE,
STATE UNIVERSITY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER APPOINTED UNDER SECTION 3345.04 OF THE
REVISED CODE,
OHIO VETERANS' HOME POLICE OFFICER APPOINTED
UNDER SECTION 5907.02 OF THE REVISED
CODE, POLICE CONSTABLE OF ANY TOWNSHIP,
POLICE OFFICER OF A TOWNSHIP OR JOINT TOWNSHIP POLICE DISTRICT, STATE HIGHWAY
PATROL TROOPER, AND MEMBER OF A QUALIFIED NONPROFIT CORPORATION POLICE
DEPARTMENT ESTABLISHED PURSUANT TO SECTION 1702.80 of the Revised Code.
AS USED IN DIVISION
(A)(1)(a) OF THIS SECTIONWITH RESPECT TO OFF-DUTY PEACE OFFICERS, "JURISDICTION" MEANS THE
LIMITS OF THE MUNICIPAL CORPORATION, TOWNSHIP, METROPOLITAN HOUSING AUTHORITY
HOUSING PROJECT, REGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITY FACILITIES OR AREAS OF A MUNICIPAL
CORPORATION THAT HAVE BEEN AGREED TO BY A REGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITY AND A
MUNICIPAL CORPORATION LOCATED WITHIN ITS TERRITORIAL JURISDICTION, COLLEGE,
UNIVERSITY, OR OHIO VETERANS' HOME IN WHICH
THE PEACE OFFICER IS APPOINTED, EMPLOYED, OR ELECTED.
(ii) OFF-DUTY FIREFIGHTERS, WHETHER PAID OR VOLUNTEER, OF A LAWFULLY
CONSTITUTED FIRE DEPARTMENT. AS USED IN DIVISION
(A)(1)(a)OF THIS SECTION
WITH RESPECT TO OFF-DUTY FIREFIGHTERS, "JURISDICTION" MEANS THE LIMITS OF THE
POLITICAL SUBDIVISION, JOINT AMBULANCE DISTRICT, FIRE DISTRICT, OR JOINT FIRE
DISTRICT IN WHICH THE FIREFIGHTER IS APPOINTED OR EMPLOYED.
(iii) OFF-DUTY FIRST RESPONDERS, EMERGENCY MEDICAL
TECHNICIANS-BASIC, EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIANS-INTERMEDIATE, OR EMERGENCY
MEDICAL TECHNICIANS-PARAMEDIC, WHETHER PAID OR VOLUNTEER, OF AN AMBULANCE
SERVICE ORGANIZATION OR EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE ORGANIZATION PURSUANT TO
CHAPTER 4765. OF THE
REVISED CODE.
AS USED IN DIVISION
(A)(1)(a)OF THIS SECTION
WITH RESPECT TO OFF-DUTY FIRST RESPONDERS AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIANS,
"JURISDICTION" MEANS THE LIMITS OF THE POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OR JOINT
AMBULANCE
DISTRICT IN WHICH THE FIRST RESPONDER OR EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIAN IS
EMPLOYED AS A FIRST RESPONDER OR EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIAN.
(b) Every person in the service of any person, firm, or
private corporation, including any public service corporation,
that (i) employs one or more persons regularly in the same
business or in or about the same establishment under any contract
of hire, express or implied, oral or written, including aliens
and minors, household workers who earn one hundred sixty dollars
or more in cash in any calendar quarter from a single household
and casual workers who earn one hundred sixty dollars or more in
cash in any calendar quarter from a single employer, or (ii) is
bound by any such contract of hire or by any other written
contract, to pay into the state insurance fund the premiums
provided by this chapter.
(c) Every person who performs labor or provides
services pursuant to a construction contract, as defined in
section 4123.79 of the Revised Code, if at least ten of the following criteria apply:
(i) The person is required to comply with
instructions from the other contracting party regarding the
manner or method of performing services;
(ii) The person is required by the other
contracting party to have particular training;
(iii) The person's services are
integrated into the regular functioning of the other contracting
party;
(iv) The person is required to perform the work personally;
(v) The person is hired, supervised, or paid by the other contracting party;
(vi) A continuing relationship exists
between the person and the other contracting party that
contemplates continuing or recurring work even if the work is
not full time;
(vii) The person's hours of work are
established by the other contracting party;
(viii) The person is required to devote full time
to the business of the other contracting party;
(ix) The person is required to perform the work on
the premises of the other contracting party;
(x) The person is required to follow
the order of work set by the other contracting party;
(xi) The person is required to make
oral or written reports of progress to the other contracting
party;
(xii) The person is paid for services
on a regular basis such as hourly, weekly, or monthly;
(xiii) The person's expenses are paid for by the other contracting party;
(xiv) The person's tools and
materials are furnished by the other contracting party;
(xv) The person is provided with the facilities used to perform services;
(xvi) The person does not realize a profit or
suffer a loss as a result of the services provided;
(xvii) The person is not performing
services for a number of employers at the same time;
(xviii) The person does not make the same services available to
the general public;
(xix) The other contracting party has
a right to discharge the person;
(xx) The person has the right to end
the relationship with the other contracting party without
incurring liability pursuant to an employment contract or
agreement.
Every person in the service of any independent contractor
or subcontractor who has failed to pay into the state insurance
fund the amount of premium determined and fixed by the
administrator of workers' compensation for the person's employment or
occupation or if a self-insuring employer has failed to pay
compensation and benefits directly to the employer's injured and to
the dependents of the employer's killed employees as required by
section 4123.35
of the Revised Code, shall be considered as the employee of the
person who has entered into a contract, whether written or
verbal, with such independent contractor unless such employees or
their legal representatives or beneficiaries elect, after injury
or death, to regard such independent contractor as the employer.
(2) "Employee" does not mean:
(a) A duly ordained, commissioned, or licensed minister or
assistant or associate minister of a church in the exercise of
ministry; or
(b) Any officer of a family farm corporation.
Any employer may elect to include as an "employee" within
this chapter, any person excluded from the definition of
"employee" pursuant to division (A)(2) of this section. If an
employer is a partnership, sole proprietorship, or family farm
corporation, such employer may elect to include as an "employee"
within this chapter, any member of such partnership, the owner of
the sole proprietorship, or the officers of the family farm
corporation. In the event of an election, the employer shall
serve upon the bureau of workers' compensation written notice
naming the persons to be covered, include such employee's
remuneration for premium purposes in all future payroll reports,
and no person excluded from the definition of "employee" pursuant
to division (A)(2) of this section, proprietor, or partner shall
be deemed an employee within this division until the employer has
served such notice.
For informational purposes only, the bureau shall prescribe
such language as it considers appropriate, on such of its forms
as it considers appropriate, to advise employers of their right
to elect to include as an "employee" within this chapter a sole
proprietor, any member of a partnership, the officers of a family
farm corporation, or a person excluded from the definition of
"employee" under division (A)(2)(a) of this section, that they
should check any health and disability insurance policy, or other
form of health and disability plan or contract, presently
covering them, or the purchase of which they may be considering,
to determine whether such policy, plan, or contract excludes
benefits for illness or injury that they might have elected to
have covered by workers' compensation.
(B) "Employer" means:
(1) The state, including state hospitals, each county,
municipal corporation, township, school district, and hospital
owned by a political subdivision or subdivisions other than the
state;
(2) Every person, firm, and private corporation, including
any public service corporation, that (a) has in service one or
more employees regularly in the same business or in or about the
same establishment under any contract of hire, express or
implied, oral or written, or (b) is bound by any such contract of
hire or by any other written contract, to pay into the insurance
fund the premiums provided by this chapter.
All such employers are subject to this chapter. Any member
of a firm or association, who regularly performs manual labor in
or about a mine, factory, or other establishment, including a
household establishment, shall be considered an employee in
determining whether such person, firm, or private corporation, or
public service corporation, has in its service, one or more
employees and the employer shall report the income derived from
such labor to the bureau as part of the payroll of such employer,
and such member shall thereupon be entitled to all the benefits
of an employee.
(C) "Injury" includes any injury, whether caused by
external accidental means or accidental in character and result,
received in the course of, and arising out of, the injured
employee's employment. "Injury" does not include:
(1) Psychiatric conditions except where the conditions
have arisen from an injury or occupational disease;
(2) Injury or disability caused primarily
by the natural
deterioration of tissue, an organ, or part of the body;
(3) Injury or disability incurred in voluntary
participation in an employer-sponsored recreation or fitness
activity if the employee signs a waiver of the employee's right to
compensation or benefits under this chapter prior to engaging in
the recreation or fitness activity.
(D) "Child" includes a posthumous child and a child
legally adopted prior to the injury.
(E) "Family farm corporation" means a corporation founded
for the purpose of farming agricultural land in which the
majority of the voting stock is held by and the majority of the
stockholders are persons or the spouse of persons related to each
other within the fourth degree of kinship, according to the rules
of the civil law, and at least one of the related persons is
residing on or actively operating the farm, and none of whose
stockholders are a corporation. A family farm corporation does
not cease to qualify under this division where, by reason of any
devise, bequest, or the operation of the laws of descent or
distribution, the ownership of shares of voting stock is
transferred to another person, as long as that person is within
the degree of kinship stipulated in this division.
(F) "Occupational disease" means a disease contracted in the course of
employment, which by its causes and the characteristics of its manifestation
or the condition of the employment results in a hazard which distinguishes the
employment in character from employment generally, and the employment creates
a risk of contracting the disease in greater degree and in a different manner
from the public in general.
(G) "Self-insuring employer" means any of the following
categories of employers if granted the privilege of paying
compensation and benefits directly under section 4123.35 of the
Revised Code:
(1) Any employer mentioned in division (B)(2) of this
section;
(2) A board of county hospital trustees;
(3) A publicly owned utility;
(4) A board of county commissioners for the sole purpose of constructing a
sports facility as defined in section 307.696 of the Revised Code, provided that the electors
of the county in which the sports facility is to be built have approved
construction of a sports facility by ballot election no later than
November 6, 1997.
Sec. 4123.46. The (A)(1) EXCEPT AS PROVIDED IN DIVISION
(A)(2) OF THIS SECTION, THE bureau of workers' compensation shall
disburse the state insurance fund to employees of employers who
have paid into the fund the premiums applicable to the classes to
which they belong when the employees have been injured in the
course of their employment, wherever the injuries have occurred,
and provided the injuries have not been purposely self-inflicted,
or to the dependents of the employees in case death has ensued.
(2) THE BUREAU SHALL DISBURSE THE
SURPLUS FUND CREATED UNDER SECTION 4123.34 OF THE
REVISED CODE TO OFF-DUTY PEACE
OFFICERS, FIREFIGHTERS, EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIANS, AND FIRST RESPONDERS
WHO ARE
INJURED WHILE RESPONDING TO INHERENTLY DANGEROUS SITUATIONS THAT
DEMAND AN IMMEDIATE RESPONSE ON THE PART OF THE PERSON,
REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THE PERSON WAS WITHIN THE LIMITS
OF THE PERSON'S JURISDICTION WHEN RESPONDING, PROVIDED THE INJURIES
HAVE NOT BEEN PURPOSEFULLY SELF-INFLICTED, OR TO THE DEPENDENTS
OF THE PERSON IN CASE DEATH HAS ENSUED.
AS USED IN DIVISION (A)(2) OF THIS SECTION, "PEACE OFFICER,"
"FIREFIGHTER," "EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIAN," "FIRST RESPONDER," AND
"JURISDICTION" HAVE THE SAME MEANINGS AS IN SECTION 4123.01 of the Revised Code.
(B) All self-insuring employers, in compliance with this
chapter, shall pay the compensation to injured employees, or to
the dependents of employees who have been killed in the course of
their employment, unless the injury or death of the employee was
purposely self-inflicted, and shall furnish the medical,
surgical, nurse, and hospital care and attention or funeral
expenses as would have been paid and furnished by virtue of this
chapter under a similar state of facts by the bureau out of the
state insurance fund if the employer had paid the premium into
the fund.
If any rule or regulation of a self-insuring employer
provides for or authorizes the payment of greater compensation or
more complete or extended medical care, nursing, surgical, and
hospital attention, or funeral expenses to the injured employees,
or to the dependents of the employees as may be killed, the
employer shall pay to the employees, or to the dependents of
employees killed, the amount of compensation and furnish the
medical care, nursing, surgical, and hospital attention or
funeral expenses provided by his THE SELF-INSURING EMPLOYER'S
rules and regulations.
(C) Payment to injured employees, or to their dependents in
case death has ensued, is in lieu of any and all rights of action
against the employer of the injured or killed employees.
Section 2. That existing sections 4123.01 and 4123.46 of the Revised Code are
hereby
repealed.
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