82R4571 RWG-F
By: Huffman S.B. No. 1784
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to workers' compensation insurance coverage for certain
workplaces; providing administrative penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 406, Labor Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter I to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER I. COVERAGE FOR CERTAIN WORKPLACES
Sec. 406.181. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "General contractor" has the meaning assigned by
Section 406.121.
(2) "Hiring contractor" means a subcontractor or
independent contractor who, in the course of regular business,
subcontracts to other persons all or part of the work to be
performed at a workplace.
(3) "Independent contractor" has the meaning assigned
by Section 406.121.
(4) "Legal beneficiary" means a person entitled to
receive a death benefit under this subtitle or to recover damages
under other law for a person's death or injury related to employment
at a covered workplace.
(5) "Legal representative" means a person, including
an attorney or agent, authorized to act on behalf of a person.
(6) "Workplace" means a place of employment, job site,
or project location where an employee performs work or a service, at
one geographical location containing one or more work areas, with
or without buildings. The term does not include a farm or ranch.
(7) "Workplace subscriber" means a person, other than
a governmental entity, who elects to provide workers' compensation
insurance coverage for persons, employees, general contractors,
subcontractors, and independent contractors who perform work or a
service at a workplace. The term includes a hiring contractor, a
general contractor, an independent contractor, a subcontractor, a
possessor of a part of the workplace, however that interest is
characterized, and a premises owner.
Sec. 406.182. ELECTION TO PROVIDE WORKPLACE COVERAGE;
ADMINISTRATIVE VIOLATION. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision
of this chapter or other law, a workplace subscriber may elect to
enter into a written agreement to provide workers' compensation
insurance coverage to every person performing work or services at a
specified workplace. A workplace subscriber that elects to enter
into a written agreement described by this subsection shall be
treated as an employer for purposes of this subtitle.
(b) The workplace subscriber shall file a copy of a written
agreement entered into under this section with the subscriber's
workers' compensation insurance carrier not later than the 10th day
after the date on which the contract is executed. If the workplace
subscriber is a certified self-insurer, the copy must be filed with
the division.
(c) Failure to file a copy of a written agreement under this
section is an administrative violation and does not adversely
affect the exclusive remedy provision under Sections 406.183(a) and
(b).
Sec. 406.183. REMEDIES; EXEMPLARY DAMAGES. (a) Recovery
of workers' compensation benefits is the exclusive remedy of a
person covered by workers' compensation insurance coverage, that
person's legal beneficiary, or that person's legal representative,
for a work-related injury or death sustained by the employee at a
covered workplace against:
(1) a workplace subscriber;
(2) an owner or possessor of a part of a covered
workplace, however that interest is characterized;
(3) a person who performs work at the covered
workplace, including a general contractor, a hiring contractor, an
independent contractor, and a subcontractor; and
(4) a legal representative or employee of a workplace
subscriber.
(b) This section does not prohibit the recovery of exemplary
damages by the surviving spouse or heirs of the body of a deceased
employee whose death was caused by an intentional act or omission of
the employer or by the employer's gross negligence. In this
subsection, "gross negligence" has the meaning assigned by Section
41.001, Civil Practice and Remedies Code.
(c) A determination under Section 406.032, 409.002, or
409.004 that a work-related injury is noncompensable does not
adversely affect the exclusive remedy provisions under Subsection
(a).
SECTION 2. Sections 408.001(a) and (b), Labor Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) Recovery of workers' compensation benefits is the
exclusive remedy of an employee covered by workers' compensation
insurance coverage or a legal beneficiary against:
(1) the employer or an agent or employee of the
employer for the death of or a work-related injury sustained by the
employee; or
(2) a workplace subscriber under Subchapter I, Chapter
406.
(b) This section does not prohibit the recovery of exemplary
damages by the surviving spouse or heirs of the body of a deceased
employee whose death was caused by an intentional act or omission of
the employer or workplace subscriber under Subchapter I, Chapter
406, or by the employer's or workplace subscriber's gross
negligence.
SECTION 3. Section 417.001(a), Labor Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) An employee or legal beneficiary may seek damages from a
third party, other than a workplace subscriber under Subchapter I,
Chapter 406, who is or becomes liable to pay damages for an injury
or death that is compensable under this subtitle and may also pursue
a claim for workers' compensation benefits under this subtitle.
SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
an agreement to provide workers' compensation insurance coverage
entered into on or after the effective date of this Act. An
agreement entered into before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect at the time the agreement was entered
into, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.