“雇员”和“雇主”-在审阅工人赔偿申索时必须了解的重要术语

理解《现金网官网》(以下简称《现金网官网》)中“雇员”和“雇主”的含义对于决定该法案是否适用至关重要.  The Act only applies to businesses with three or more employees.  如果受伤工人为少于三名雇员的企业工作, his/her injury is not covered under the Act, and he/she cannot receive workers’ compensation benefits.  因此，某些企业不符合该法案所涵盖的门槛.

Who is an employee?

In assessing the status of a person who performs work for another, 确定该人是否为雇员必须根据具体案件的事实根据完善的弗吉尼亚工人赔偿原则作出.  根据该法案，被雇主雇用在雇主业务的通常过程中工作的人可被视为“雇员”，无论该人被雇用的频率或时间长短. 

一般规则是，如果一个人为工资或薪水工作，那么他就是雇员，雇用他的人保留(1)解雇他的权力和(2)对所完成的工作进行控制的权力.  这种对人的控制权是确定当事人关系的决定性因素.  The power of control not only relates to the work result to be achieved, 而且还涉及到控制实现工作结果的手段和具体方法.  委员会认为，在没有理由或通知的情况下解雇某人的绝对权利包括强迫该人服从工作任务和指示的权力，因此是评估雇主-雇员关系的一个重要考虑因素.

因此，这种控制的性质影响着一个人是被归类为雇员还是独立承包人.   独立承包人是指可以自由地采用手段和方法来完成最终工作结果的人.  Importantly, 仅仅称某人为“独立承包商”或仅仅在纳税年度结束时向他们提供1099税表并不能使他们成为该法案下的独立承包商.  委员会在执行导致最后工作结果的步骤时，期待着控制因素和选择的自由.

Who is not an employee?

《现金网官网》确实指出了一些例外情况，这些例外情况在维吉尼亚州法典§65中明确列出.2-101.

A person who suffers from an injury on/after July 1, 2012, 根据《现金网官网》(33 U.S.C. § 901 et seq.) and or the Merchant Marine Act of 1920 (46 U.S.C. § 30104 et seq.) is not determined to be an employee under the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Act.

Any taxicab or executive sedan driver, 只要向委员会提供证据，证明该个人被《现金网官网》排除在征税之外, is not an employee under the Act.

Casual employees are not employees under the Act.  临时雇员被定义为不是长期或定期工作的雇员.  It is employment which is occasional and by chance.  同样重要的是，这种雇用不能在雇主的贸易或业务的通常过程中进行.  

Farm and horticultural laborers are not employees under the Act unless the employer regularly has in service more than three full-time employees. 

根据该法案，与卡车运输行业的普通承运人或合同承运人租赁的机动车辆的所有者-经营者不属于雇员 only if: (i)业主-经营人根据一项合同为承运人提供现金网官网，该合同规定业主-经营人是独立的承包商，不应被视为《现金网官网》所指的雇员, 26 U.S.C. § 3101 et seq., Social Security Act of 1935, P.L. 74-271, federal unemployment tax laws, and federal income tax laws AND (ii) each of the following factors is present:

(1) The owner-operator is responsible for the maintenance of the vehicle;

(二)车辆运营成本的主要负担由车主经营者承担;

(3) The owner-operator is the driver;

(4) The owner-operator's compensation is based on factors related to the work performed and not on the basis of hours or time expended; and

(5) The owner-operator determines the method and means of performing the service.

What is an employer?

Under VA Code §65.2-101, an employer is “(i) any person, the Commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof and any individual, firm, association or corporation, or the receiver or trustee of the same, or the legal representative of a deceased employer, (ii)任何志愿消防公司或志愿紧急医疗现金网官网机构选择作为本标题下的雇主纳入并维持其保险范围. If the employer is insured, it includes his insurer so far as applicable.”  Importantly, there is no exception made for family relationship between an employer and an employee; this means that if a husband was the employer, a claimant is not barred from compensation based on their familial relationship.  When determining the employer-employee relationship, 如果不是全年营业，委员会可以分析雇主在“旺季”如何运作，以确定该企业的雇员人数和该企业的通常性质.

当企业发生事故时，当向弗吉尼亚工人赔偿委员会提出索赔时，有许多项目需要考虑, this article highlights just a few such considerations.  企业在进行初步调查和随后的工人赔偿索赔辩护时，应寻求律师的建议.

Kerry Stolz is a Pender & Coward attorney focusing her practice on workers’ compensation matters.