(1)
(a) (I) Any person, company, or corporation operating or engaged in or conducting
any business by leasing or contracting out any part or all of the work thereof to any
lessee, sublessee, contractor, or subcontractor, irrespective of the number of
employees engaged in such work, shall be construed to be an employer as defined
in articles 40 to 47 of this title and shall be liable as provided in said articles to pay
compensation for injury or death resulting therefrom to said lessees, sublessees,
contractors, and subcontractors and their employees or employees' dependents,
except as otherwise provided in subsection (3) of this section.
(II) Notwithstanding subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (a) and any other
provision of law to the contrary, it is presumed that a buyer of goods is not liable as
a statutory employer when a lessee, sublessee, contractor, or subcontractor, or
their employee who is delivering the goods to the buyer injures himself or herself
while not on the buyer's premises. The presumption may be overcome by a showing
that the lessee, sublessee, contractor, or subcontractor, or their employee was
performing a job function that would normally be performed by an employee of the
buyer of the goods being delivered. Nothing in this subparagraph (II) creates a
presumption of a statutory employer-employee relationship when an injury occurs
on the buyer's premises.
(III) For the purposes of this section, a statutory employer is an employer
who is responsible to pay workers' compensation benefits pursuant to
subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (a).
(a.5) The general assembly hereby finds and determines that the decision of
the Colorado court of appeals in the case of Newsom v. Frank M. Hall & Co., No.
02CA1375 (February 26, 2004), in which the court held that an independent
contractor may be an entity other than a natural person, did not accurately reflect
the intent of the general assembly when it passed Senate Bill 93-132 and Senate
Bill 95-072. The general assembly hereby declares that the term individual, as
used in this section and in section 8-40-202, means a natural person.
(b) The employer, before commencing said work, shall insure and keep
insured against all liability as provided in said articles, and such lessee, sublessee,
contractor, or subcontractor, as well as any employee thereof, shall be deemed
employees as defined in said articles. The employer shall be entitled to recover the
cost of such insurance from said lessee, sublessee, contractor, or subcontractor
and may withhold and deduct the same from the contract price or any royalties or
other money due, owing, or to become due said lessee, sublessee, contractor, or
subcontractor.
(2) If said lessee, sublessee, contractor, or subcontractor is also an employer
in the doing of such work and, before commencing such work, insures and keeps
insured its liability for compensation as provided in articles 40 to 47 of this title,
neither said lessee, sublessee, contractor, or subcontractor, its employees, or its
insurer shall have any right of contribution or action of any kind, including actions
under section 8-41-203, against the person, company, or corporation operating or
engaged in or conducting any business by leasing or contracting out any part or all
of the work thereof, or against its employees, servants, or agents.
(3) Notwithstanding any provision of this section or section 8-41-402 to the
contrary, any individual who is excluded from the definition of employee pursuant
to section 8-40-202 (2), or a working general partner or sole proprietor who is not
covered under a policy of workers' compensation insurance, or a corporate officer
or member of a limited liability company who executes and files an election to
reject coverage under section 8-41-202 (1) shall not have any cause of action of any
kind under articles 40 to 47 of this title. Nothing in this section shall be construed
to restrict the right of any such individual to elect to proceed against a third party in
accordance with the provisions of section 8-41-203. The total amount of damages
recoverable pursuant to any cause of action resulting from a work-related injury
brought by such individual that would otherwise have been compensable under
articles 40 to 47 of this title shall not exceed fifteen thousand dollars, except in
any cause of action brought against another not in the same employ.
(4) (a) Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, any
person, company, or corporation who contracts with a landowner or lessee of a farm
or ranch to perform a specified farming or ranching operation shall, prior to
entering into such contract, provide for and maintain, for the period of such
contract, workers' compensation coverage pursuant to articles 40 to 47 of this title
covering all the employees and laborers to be utilized under such contract. Proof of
such coverage on forms or certificates issued by the insurer shall be provided to the
person, company, or corporation contracting for the labor prior to performing such
contract.
(b) Any person, company, or corporation contracting with a landowner or
lessee of a farm or ranch to provide a specified farming or ranching operation who
fails to provide coverage pursuant to subsection (1) of this section or who fails to
maintain such coverage for the term of the contract commits a class 2
misdemeanor.
(c) Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, no person,
company, or corporation contracting with a landowner or lessee of a farm or ranch
operation to perform a specified farming or ranching operation nor any employee of
such person, company, or corporation required to be covered by workers'
compensation pursuant to this subsection (4) shall have any right of contribution
from, or any action of any kind, including actions under section 8-41-203, against,
the person, company, or corporation contracting to have such agricultural labor
performed.
(d) (I) If any person, company, or corporation contracting to provide labor to
perform specified farming or ranching operations and required to provide workers'
compensation coverage pursuant to articles 40 to 47 of this title fails to provide
such coverage and the person, company, or corporation for whom the labor is
provided incurs any liability thereby, the person, company, or corporation providing
the labor shall be subject to a cause of action for said liability and for reasonable
attorney fees.
(II) If the person, company, or corporation for whom the labor for the
performance of a specified farming or ranching operation is provided is sued by the
injured employee, said person, company, or corporation may join the person,
company, or corporation providing the labor as a third-party defendant in lieu of
filing an independent action.
(5) The provisions of this section shall not apply to licensed real estate
brokers and licensed real estate sales agents, as regulated in article 10 of title 12,
who are excluded from the definition of employee pursuant to section 8-40-301 (2).
(6) Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, any person,
company, or corporation operating a commercial vehicle as defined in section 42-4-235 (1)(a), C.R.S., who holds oneself or itself out as an independent contractor only
to perform for-hire transportation, including loading and unloading, and who
contracts to perform a specific transportation job, transportation task, or
transportation delivery for another person, company, or corporation is not entering
into an employee and employer relationship for purposes of workers' compensation
coverage pursuant to articles 40 to 47 of this title. Nothing in this subsection (6)
shall be construed to prohibit a determination that an individual is excluded from
the definition of employee pursuant to section 8-40-202 (2) if such individual is
operating a commercial vehicle as defined in section 42-4-235 (1)(a), C.R.S.
(7) This section shall not apply to any person excluded from the definition of
employee pursuant to section 8-40-301 (5) or (7).