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Committee approves optional option letting contractors or premises owners assume workers’ compensation for subcontractors
Summary
Senate Bill 642 allows a general contractor or premises owner to contractually assume workers’ compensation coverage for contractor and subcontractor employees on a job site and receive the same exclusive‑remedy protection as for their own employees.
Senator Daniels explained Senate Bill 642 as an optional contractual mechanism allowing a general contractor or a premises owner to assume responsibility for workers’ compensation coverage for employees of contractors or subcontractors working on the contractor’s job or on the premises. The sponsor said the change would let the party assuming coverage obtain the same exclusive‑remedy protection that applies to regular employees under the Oklahoma Workers' Compensation Act.
Why it matters: The sponsor and supporters said the provision would reduce the risk of so‑called “double recovery” when an uninsured subcontractor’s workers are covered through a general contractor’s policy, and would allow the general contractor or premises owner to ensure workplace safety procedures are applied to temporary workers. Senator Daniels told the committee the change is an “opt in” contractual allocation of risk and not a mandatory shift of coverage.
Committee questions and clarifications: Committee members asked numerous operational and legal questions: whether the bill was a request bill tied to a recent court decision (the sponsor said yes and also that the measure had been under consideration for years); how premiums and policy amendments would be handled in practice (the sponsor said he did not have operational answers but expected implementation details to be worked out with insurers); what would happen to remedies for catastrophically injured workers (the sponsor said workers remain covered by the workers’ compensation act and the bill is not intended to remove remedies); and whether taking on coverage would improve safety (the sponsor said it should, because those workers would be subject to the same safety protocols as regular site employees).
Vote and outcome: The committee passed the bill. Clerk roll call produced a tally of 9 ayes and 2 nays; the chair declared the bill passed.
Ending: Sponsor Daniels waived closing remarks. The committee forwarded the bill as passed.
