We hire independant contractors, their work assignments are sent to them over the internet, they return the finished product via the internet, they rarely if ever come to our office. The State of Arizona requires us to carry workmans comp on them, unless they also work for someone else, which those who work for us now all do, we get a form from the state to fill out the employees wages, and the amount we owe, quarterly, we write no employees on it, and send it back.
Yes, we get those to. Always sent back with no employees. My husband is going to quite getting contracts through county. Then we can drop the WC insurance. Will save us a load of money.
You hit the nail on the head. I am a finish carpenter here in NC. I work alone, w/ no employees. The contractors I work for occasionally, (I have a mix of individual clients and general contractors.) require me to have coverage, in order to satisfy their insurance carriers. As a sole proprietor, w/ 2 or less employees, I should not have to carry it according to the statutes. However, if I don't carry it, the gc wants to hit me up for 20% of my bill to pay the premium. Tacking that fee on to my bill won't fly in my neck of the woods. So, I bite the bullet and get my own policy.
Whether the gc actually pays the premium is never really known by me. I know some I have worked for pocketed that money, based on my check stubs. That is bad enough. What is worse, is that the policy I have doesn't actually cover me, personally. It only applies to any employees I may have (temporary subs). It is known in the insurance industry here as a "ghost" policy. Its only purpose is to provide the gc's wc carrier with a certificate of insurance. God only knows if I was ever hurt on a gc's, job. I've been told by the NC Industrial Commission that the contractor would have to ante up, but who knows?
The bottom line is that I see that coverage as extortion money. It is a fee that I have to pay to an insurance carrier, to satisfy another insurance carrier, and does not even cover me for what it was intended.