A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to amend the workers' compensation act concerning the status of truck drivers as employees or independent contractors.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 97‑19.1 reads as rewritten:
"§ 97‑19.1.  Truck, tractor, or truck tractor trailer driver's status as employee or independent contractor.
(a)	An individual in the interstate or intrastate carrier industry who operates a truck, tractor, or truck tractor trailer for a motor carrier as defined in G.S. 20‑4.01(21b) may be an employee or an independent contractor under this Article dependent upon the application of the common law test for determining employment status.
Any principal contractor, intermediate contractor, or subcontractor, irrespective of whether such contractor regularly employs three or more employees, who contracts with an individual in the interstate or intrastate carrier industry who operates a truck, tractor, or truck tractor trailer for a motor carrier as defined by G.S. 20‑4.01(21b) and who has not secured the payment of compensation in the manner provided for employers set forth in G.S. 97‑93 for himself personally and for his employees and subcontractors, if any, shall be liable as an employer under this Article for the payment of compensation and other benefits on account of the injury or death of the independent contractor and his employees or subcontractors due to an accident arising out of and in the course of the performance of the work covered by such contract.
(b)	Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, a principal contractor, intermediate contractor, or subcontractor shall not be liable as an employer under this Article for the payment of compensation on account of the injury or death of the independent contractor if the principal contractor, intermediate contractor, or subcontractor (i) contracts with an independent contractor who owns or leases the vehicle providing service, (ii) the independent contractor personally operates or is responsible for hiring or engaging and paying personnel who operate the vehicle, and (iii) the independent contractor is covered under an occupational accident policy either issued to the independent contractor or motor carrier.

(c)	A motor carrier and an independent contractor meeting the criteria contained in subsection (b) of this section may, if mutually agreed to by the independent contractor and motor carrier in writing, provide that the independent contractor and any of the independent contractor's employees be covered by the motor carriers' workers' compensation insurance policy or self‑insurance and that the independent contractor and any of the independent contractor's employees would be deemed employees of the motor carrier for purposes of workers' compensation only. The motor carrier may charge the independent contractor for any agreed upon premiums or, if self‑insured, for any equitable assessment for such coverage. The agreement shall not affect the independent contractor status of the independent contractor for any purpose other than for workers' compensation.
(d)	For purposes of this section, the term "occupational accident insurance" means the type of insurance policy obtained by independent contractor owner operators in the trucking industry that includes the following benefit categories: (i) temporary total disability type wage replacement benefit, (ii) permanent disability or impairment benefit, (iii) a medical expense payment benefit, and (iv) a death benefit. The occupational accident insurance policy may be issued directly to the independent contractor owner operator or issued as a master policy for which the motor carrier may charge the independent contractor owner operator an equitable sum for the coverage.
(e)	To satisfy the requirements of this section, any occupational accident policy or workers' compensation policy must be purchased from an insurance company having an AM Best "A" rating."
SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.