H-3252

AN ACT Relating to out-of-state contractors; amending RCW 51.12.120; and adding a new section to chapter 51.12 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 51.12 RCW to read as follows:

An employer registered as a contractor under chapter 18.27 RCW or licensed under chapter 19.28 RCW not domiciled in this state shall open an account with the department or qualify as a self-insurer in order to provide coverage for all employees.

Sec. 2. RCW 51.12.120 and 1977 ex.s. c 350 s 23 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) If a worker, while working outside the territorial limits of this state, suffers an injury on account of which he or she, or his or her beneficiaries, would have been entitled to compensation under this title had such injury occurred within this state, such worker, or his or her beneficiaries, shall be entitled to compensation under this title: PROVIDED, That if at the time of such injury:

(a) His or her employment is principally localized in this state; or

(b) He or she is working under a contract of hire made in this state for employment not principally localized in any state; or

(c) He or she is working under a contract of hire made in this state for employment principally localized in another state whose workers' compensation law is not applicable to his or her employer; or

(d) He or she is working under a contract of hire made in this state for employment outside the United States and Canada.

(2) The payment or award of compensation under the workers' compensation law of another state, territory, province, or foreign nation to a worker or his or her beneficiaries otherwise entitled on account of such injury to compensation under this title shall not be a bar to a claim for compensation under this title: PROVIDED, That claim under this title is timely filed. If compensation is paid or awarded under this title, the total amount of compensation paid or awarded the worker or beneficiary under such other workers' compensation law shall be credited against the compensation due the worker or beneficiary under this title.

(3) Except as provided under section 1 of this act, if a worker or beneficiary is entitled to compensation under this title by reason of an injury sustained in this state while in the employ of an employer who is domiciled in another state and who has neither opened an account with the department nor qualified as a self-insurer under this title, such an employer or his or her insurance carrier shall file with the director a certificate issued by the agency which administers the workers' compensation law in the state of the employer's domicile, certifying that such employer has secured the payment of compensation under the workers' compensation law of such other state and that with respect to said injury such worker or beneficiary is entitled to the benefits provided under such law. In such event:

(a) The filing of such certificate shall constitute appointment by the employer or his or her insurance carrier of the director as its agent for acceptance of the service of process in any proceeding brought by any claimant to enforce rights under this title;

(b) The director shall send to such employer or his or her insurance carrier, by registered or certified mail to the address shown on such certificate, a true copy of any notice of claim or other process served on the director by the claimant in any proceeding brought to enforce rights under this title;

(c)(i) If such employer is a self-insurer under the workers' compensation law of such other state, such employer shall, upon submission of evidence or security, satisfactory to the director, of his or her ability to meet his or her liability to such claimant under this title, be deemed to be a qualified self-insurer under this title;

(ii) If such employer's liability under the workers' compensation law of such other state is insured, such employer's carrier, as to such claimant only, shall be deemed to be subject to this title: PROVIDED, That unless its contract with said employer requires it to pay an amount equivalent to the compensation benefits provided by this title, the insurer's liability for compensation shall not exceed its liability under the workers' compensation law of such other state;

(d) If the total amount for which such employer's insurer is liable under (c)(ii) above is less than the total of the compensation to which such claimant is entitled under this title, the director may require the employer to file security satisfactory to the director to secure the payment of compensation under this title; and

(e) If such employer has neither qualified as a self-insurer nor secured insurance coverage under the workers' compensation law of another state, such claimant shall be paid compensation by the department;

(f) Any such employer shall have the same rights and obligations as other employers subject to this title and where he or she has not provided coverage or sufficient coverage to secure the compensation provided by this title to such claimant, the director may impose a penalty payable to the department of a sum not to exceed fifty percent of the cost to the department of any deficiency between the compensation provided by this title and that afforded such claimant by such employer or his or her insurance carrier if any.

(4) As used in this section:

(a) A person's employment is principally localized in this or another state when (i) his or her employer has a place of business in this or such other state and he or she regularly works at or from such place of business, or (ii) if clause (i) foregoing is not applicable, he or she is domiciled in and spends a substantial part of his or her working time in the service of his or her employer in this or such other state;

(b) "Workers' compensation law" includes "occupational disease law" for the purposes of this section.

(5) A worker whose duties require him or her to travel regularly in the service of his or her employer in this and one or more other states may agree in writing with his or her employer that his or her employment is principally localized in this or another state, and, unless such other state refuses jurisdiction, such agreement shall govern as to any injury occurring after the effective date of the agreement.

(6) The director shall be authorized to enter into agreements with the appropriate agencies of other states and provinces of Canada which administer their workers' compensation law with respect to conflicts of jurisdiction and the assumption of jurisdiction in cases where the contract of employment arises in one state or province and the injury occurs in another, and when any such agreement has been executed and promulgated as a regulation of the department under chapter 34.05 RCW, it shall bind all employers and workers subject to this title and the jurisdiction of this title shall be governed by this regulation.