AN ACT Relating to student volunteers; and amending RCW 51.12.170.

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

Sec. 1.  RCW 51.12.170 and 1994 c 246 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) An employer covered under this title may elect to include student volunteers as employees or workers for all purposes relating to medical aid benefits under chapter 51.36 RCW. The employer shall give notice of its intent to cover all of its student volunteers to the director prior to the occurrence of the injury or contraction of an occupational disease.

(2) A student volunteer is an enrolled student ((in a public school as defined in RCW 28A.150.010)) who is participating as a volunteer under a program authorized by the ((public)) school. The student volunteer shall perform duties for the employer without wages. The student volunteer shall be deemed to be a volunteer even if the student is granted maintenance and reimbursement for actual expenses necessarily incurred in performing his or her assigned or authorized duties. A person who earns wages for the services performed is not a student volunteer.

(3) Any and all premiums or assessments due under this title on account of service by a student volunteer shall be paid by the employer who has registered and accepted the services of volunteers and has exercised its option to secure the medical aid benefits under chapter 51.36 RCW for the student volunteers.

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