The past 3-4 years of efforts from the Vt Homebuilders has aidied in providing all Small Buisnesses in VT favorable new Guidelines regarding Workers' Comp requirments. 

You can view the Guidelines Here. 

The press release below has been released this week.

Vermont Builders Association Welcomes New State Workers’ Comp Guidelines

Burlington, Vt. –– The Home Builders & Remodelers Association of Northern Vermont (HBRANV) is celebrating new state guidelines issued to help employers understand the difference in workers’ compensation coverage requirements for employees and those for independent contractors.

The new “guidance,” as the document is called, follows a major victory for the association – and all small businesses in Vermont – embodied in a June 2017 ruling by the state Supreme Court. In that ruling, the court voted unanimously that a worker with a Limited Liability Company (LLC) could not legally be considered an individual, and therefore could not be an employee.   That decision applied to unemployment insurance for contract employees. The new guidance, which was jointly issued by the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Department of Financial Regulation (DFR), extends the court’s decision to apply to workers’ compensation for contract employees.

The DOL ensures employers have coverage for their employees and adjudicates disputes between injured workers and workers’ comp insurers. The DFR regulates workers’ comp policies and rates.

“The collaborative work of DOL and DFR, and the guidance we authored, will go a long way to providing clarity in the often-complex area of independent contractors,” said Michael Pieciak, Commissioner of DFR.

DOL Commissioner Lindsay Kurrle said the new guidance would help businesses understand a “confusing and cumbersome” law. “The department believes it is important that workers who ought to be covered are covered, without discouraging the use of true independent contractors and entrepreneurs,” she said.

Maureen Cregan Connolly, executive officer for the HBRANV, said that the Association, with the help of the Legal Action Fund of the National Association of Homebuilders, has taken the lead on the independent contractor issue. “We are proud to work to protect Vermont's small businesses, which makeup a vast majority of HBRANV membership.