Arkansas: Carrier's Requirement that Premiums Be Based on Worker's Earnings Did Not Mean He Was an Employee

An Arkansas appellate court held that while the payment (and collection) of workers' compensation insurance premiums based upon a particular worker's earnings was one factor to be considered in determining whether that worker was an employee or an independent contractor, it was not the determining factor. Accordingly, the court said the Arkansas Commission did not err when it denied a serious injury claim on the basis that the injured worker was an independent contractor even when, following two state audits of the purported employer, the insurer had required premiums to be collected based on the worker's earning. The appellate court weighed the other relevant factors and said substantial evidence supported the Commission's findings.

Thomas A. Robinson, J.D., the Feature National Columnist for the LexisNexis Workers’ Compensation eNewsletter, is co-author of Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law (LexisNexis).

LexisNexis Online Subscribers: Citations below link to Lexis Advance.

See Davis v. Ed Hickman, P.A., 2020 Ark. App. 188, 2020 Ark. App. LEXIS 200 (Mar. 18, 2020)

See generally Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 63.04.

Source: Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, the nation’s leading authority on workers’ compensation law

For a more detailed discussion of the case, see

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