Glossary Check: Wash. Contractor, Electrician Exclusions to ‘Worker’

Tacoma, WA (WorkersCompensation.com) -- Knowing who a "worker" is can be an important part of a workers' compensation claim and, by a flip of the coin, so can knowing who is not.

In the State of Washington, there are some exclusions that cover registered contractors and electricians, as follows.

In Washington, any person performing services for remuneration under an independent contractor is not a worker:

--> The individual has been, and will continue to be, free from control or direction over the performance of the service, both under the contract of service and in fact.

--> The service is either outside the usual course of business for which the service is performed, or the service is performed outside all of the places of business of the enterprise for which the service is performed, or the individual is responsible, both under the contract and in fact, for the costs of the principal place of business from which the service is performed.

--> The individual is customarily engaged in an independently established: 1) trade; 2) occupation; 3) profession; or 4) business, of the same nature as that involved in the contract of service, or the individual has a principal place of business for the business the individual is conducting that is eligible for a business deduction for federal income tax purposes other than that furnished by the employer for which the business has contracted to furnish services.

--> On the effective date of the contract of service, the individual is responsible for filing at the next applicable filing period, both under the contract of service and in fact, a schedule of expenses with the internal revenue service for the type of business the individual is conducting.

--> On the effective date of the contract of service, or within a reasonable period after the effective date of the contract, the individual has an active and valid certificate of registration with the department of revenue, and an active and valid account with any other state agencies as required by the particular case, for the business the individual is conducting for the payment of all state taxes normally paid by employers and businesses and has registered for and received a unified business identifier number from the State of Washington.

--> On the effective date of the contract of service, the individual is maintaining a separate set of books or records that reflect all items of income and expenses of the business which the individual is conducting.

--> On the effective date of the contract of service, the individual has a valid contractor registration, a plumbing contractor license, or an electrical contractor license.

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