Enrolled SB 323: Relating to a subcontractor's, contractor's, and project owner's liability for workers' compensation, to sole proprietors and partnerships without employees, and managers or managing members of limited liability companies, and to the exclusiveness of liability for workers' compensation.
00Enrolled SB 323 01 Relating to a subcontractor's, contractor's, and project owner's liability for workers' 02 compensation, to sole proprietors and partnerships without employees, and managers or 03 managing members of limited liability companies, and to the exclusiveness of liability for 04 workers' compensation. 05 _______________ 06 * Section 1. AS 23.30.045(a) is amended to read: 07 (a) An employer is liable for and shall secure the payment to employees of the 08 compensation payable under AS 23.30.041, 23.30.050, 23.30.095, 23.30.145, and 09 23.30.180 - 23.30.215. If the employer is a subcontractor and fails to secure the 10 payment of compensation to its employees, the contractor is liable for and shall 11 secure the payment of the compensation to employees of the subcontractor. If the 12 employer is a contractor and fails to secure the payment of compensation to its 13 employees or the employees of a subcontractor, the project owner is liable for 14 and shall secure the payment of the compensation to employees of the contractor
01 and employees of a subcontractor, as applicable [UNLESS THE 02 SUBCONTRACTOR SECURES THE PAYMENT]. 03 * Sec. 2. AS 23.30.045(f)(1) is amended to read: 04 (1) "contractor" means a person who undertakes by contract 05 performance of certain work for another but does not include a vendor whose 06 primary business is the sale or leasing of tools, equipment, other goods, or 07 property; and 08 * Sec. 3. AS 23.30.045(f) is amended by adding a new paragraph to read: 09 (3) "project owner" means a person who, in the course of the person's 10 business, engages the services of a contractor and who enjoys the beneficial use of the 11 work. 12 * Sec. 4. AS 23.30.055 is amended to read: 13 Sec. 23.30.055. Exclusiveness of liability. The liability of an employer 14 prescribed in AS 23.30.045 is exclusive and in place of all other liability of the 15 employer and any fellow employee to the employee, the employee's legal 16 representative, husband or wife, parents, dependents, next of kin, and anyone 17 otherwise entitled to recover damages from the employer or fellow employee at law or 18 in admiralty on account of the injury or death. The liability of the employer is 19 exclusive even if the employee's claim is barred under AS 23.30.022. However, if an 20 employer fails to secure payment of compensation as required by this chapter, an 21 injured employee or the employee's legal representative in case death results from the 22 injury may elect to claim compensation under this chapter, or to maintain an action 23 against the employer at law or in admiralty for damages on account of the injury or 24 death. In that action, the defendant may not plead as a defense that the injury was 25 caused by the negligence of a fellow servant, or that the employee assumed the risk of 26 the employment, or that the injury was due to the contributory negligence of the 27 employee. In this section, "employer" includes, in addition to the meaning given 28 in AS 23.30.395, a person who, under AS 23.30.045(a), is liable for or potentially 29 liable for securing payment of compensation.