Is Workers' Compensation Coverage Required?
Household employees include certain types of casual labor and domestic workers.
Casual Labor
- Workers' Compensation coverage is not required for individuals, including minors, doing yard work or occasional chores in and around a one-family, owner-occupied dwelling.
- Workers' Compensation coverage is required if a minor handles power-driven machinery, including a power lawnmower.
- Workers' Compensation coverage is also required if the chores or jobs are regularly scheduled.
Domestic Workers
Domestic workers are defined as chauffeurs, nannies, home health aides, nurses, babysitters, au pairs, maids, cooks, housekeepers, laundry workers, butlers, companions, and gardeners in a private household (12 NYCRR §355).
Workers' Compensation coverage is required if the domestic worker is employed forty or more hours per week by the same employer. Time spent at the residence including sleeping and eating and any additional time spent off premises running errands and performing other duties for the employer count towards the total hours worked per week. Also included in the calculation of hours worked per week are all hours where the employer requires the domestic worker's presence. For example, if the employer goes away for two full days and requires the domestic worker's presence, this counts as 48 hours worked.
Note: Domestic/household workers are not covered under your homeowner's insurance policy's workers' compensation insurance rider. Insurance Law §3420(j)
Workers' Compensation coverage is not required if the only people who work for the household are domestic workers in a private household who individually work less than 40 hours per week for that household and they do not live on premises.