Does general liability cover independent contractors?

H

hamphouse

Hi - If I have a general liability insurance policy and worker's compensation insurance, are the people on the set who are independent contractors covered by my policy? Someone said they would only be covered if they had their own policies.

I'm wondering if I should just declare everyone - cast and crew- employees so that I'm sure they are covered and more importantly, I'm covered.

Thanks in advance
 
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Ask your lawyer. Declaring all of your contractors employees might be a great way of running afoul of employment laws where you're filming if you aren't in compliance with all the other regulations.
 
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Actually, by state and federal law, crew and cast members are employees - they are not independent contractors since you control the hours and duties of everyone on the set. Your music composer is an independent contractor and if you let your editor work on his/her own, they can be. But an actor or lighting man or PA are employees. On small budget films, people get away with treating everyone like and independent contractor but they can get in trouble for it.
 
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hamphouse said:
Actually, by state and federal law, crew and cast members are employees - they are not independent contractors since you control the hours and duties of everyone on the set. Your music composer is an independent contractor and if you let your editor work on his/her own, they can be. But an actor or lighting man or PA are employees. On small budget films, people get away with treating everyone like and independent contractor but they can get in trouble for it.
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Source please.
 
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hamphouse said:
Hi - If I have a general liability insurance policy and worker's compensation insurance, are the people on the set who are independent contractors covered by my policy? Someone said they would only be covered if they had their own policies.

I'm wondering if I should just declare everyone - cast and crew- employees so that I'm sure they are covered and more importantly, I'm covered.

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...

Do yourself a favor and pay every crewmember who is not an entity (LLC, Corp, DBA) via payroll service. Unless they are an entity they are all employees and can cause you trouble down the line if even one of them files for unemployment benefits. I don't know about Workers Comp specifics for MA, but here in NY the independent contractor who is an entity must have his/her own policy, which you must be able to show to the Workers Comp board should they audit you. If they do not have their own policy you are supposed to cover them.

Check out link to thread here where I posted a more detailed account of my encounter with Workers Comp and employment rules: http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?t=39113
 
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Dejager ... my original source was slapshot's post that he linked above. I also emailed my state tax people and did more research on federal tax law on this issue. Slapshot is right. Thay are employees. If you oversee their work, they are employees.
 
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