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Without you Sir, I would have been a lost case. I will not forget all you have done for me.

B.R., Queens

Off The Record: TRR Workers’ Comp Domestic Workers

Video Transcript

Janet: Hey, Bill. A friend of mine needs to hire a babysitter/housekeeper. She has small kids at home and she asked me, and I don’t know. So I’m going to ask you does she need to carry a workers’ comp policy for that person?

Bill: Well, I hate to sound like a lawyer, but it depends. The workers’ comp was very specific on this. If you have a domestic employee, someone who is either a housekeeper, a nanny, especially, if they are working more than 40 hours per week, you do have to have workers’ compensation coverage for them. And that, by the way, also includes, like, a certified nursing assistant or a home health aide. If you’re going to hire people to work in your home as a domestic, you do have to have workers’ compensation insurance if they’re going to be there more than 40 hours a week. If it, say, someone who’s watching the kids 15 or 20 hours a week, or something like that, you do not have to have worker’s comp insurance, okay?

Janet: Okay.

Bill: But especially if they’re live-ins, then they’re going to be considered full-time, 40-hour employees. So they do have to have policy.

Janet: And what if you go through an agency to get this person, how does that work?

Bill: That’s a good question. You have to be really careful and see what the relationship is. You know, a lot of times the agencies will provide coverage if they’re actually working for the agency and you’re paying the agency, but not always. We’ve seen some situations like that where people think they are hiring someone through an agency and they’re actually not, the person is deemed to be working directly for them, okay? So if that’s the case, you should have coverage for them. And look, you can get coverage, even if they’re not working 40 hours a week, it’s not that expensive and it’s good to have that protection. But, yeah, we’ve handled many, many cases where people get caught in that bind, where they don’t have proper insurance coverage for domestic workers. But if you have any questions about this or anything else related to workers’ compensation insurance, or workers’ comp issues, you can contact us at www.nydisabilitylaw.com. I’m Bill Turley. Thank you.

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