An Act To Clarify the Agricultural Exemption to the Workers' Compensation Laws
Sec. 1. 39-A MRSA §401, sub-§1, ¶C, as amended by PL 2001, c. 235, §2, is further amended to read:
(3) The employer has 6 or fewer full-time agricultural or aquacultural laborers or the employer has more than 6 such laborers but the total number of hours worked by all such laborers in a week does not exceed 240 and has not exceeded 240 at any time during the 52 weeks immediately preceding the injury; and
(4) The employer maintains an employer's liability insurance policy with total limits of not less than $100,000 multiplied by the number of full-time equivalent agricultural or aquacultural laborers employed by that employer and medical payment coverage of not less than $5,000.
For purposes of this paragraph, seasonal and casual workers, immediate family members of unincorporated employers and immediate family members of bona fide owners of at least 20% of the voting stock of an incorporated employer are not considered agricultural or aquacultural laborers. "Immediate family members" means parents, spouses, brothers, sisters and children.
summary
Currently, the laws governing workers' compensation exempt an employer of agricultural or aquacultural laborers from securing the payment of compensation with respect to its employees if the employer has 6 or fewer laborers or if the employer has more than 6 laborers but the total number of hours worked by those laborers in a week does not exceed 240. This bill instead specifies that an employer is exempt if the employer has 6 or fewer full-time agricultural or aquacultural laborers.