65-01 General Provisions

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TITLE 65WORKFORCE SAFETY AND INSURANCECHAPTER 65-01GENERAL PROVISIONS65-01-01. Purposes of workforce safety and insurance law - Police power. Thestate of North Dakota, exercising its police and sovereign powers, declares that the prosperity of the state depends in a large measure upon the well-being of its wageworkers, and, hence, for workers injured in hazardous employments, and for their families and dependents, sure and certain relief is hereby provided regardless of questions of fault and to the exclusion of every other remedy, proceeding, or compensation, except as otherwise provided in this title, and to that end, all civil actions and civil claims for relief for those personal injuries and all jurisdiction of the courts of the state over those causes are abolished except as is otherwise provided in this title. A civil action or civil claim arising under this title, which is subject to judicial review, must be reviewed solely on the merits of the action or claim. This title may not be construed liberally on behalf of any party to the action or claim.65-01-01.1. Civil liability for intentional injuries. The sole exception to an employer'simmunity from civil liability under this title, except as provided in chapter 65-09, is an action for an injury to an employee caused by an employer's intentional act done with the conscious purpose of inflicting the injury.65-01-02. Definitions. In this title:1."Acute care" means a short course of intensive diagnostic and therapeutic services provided immediately following a work injury with a rapid onset of pronounced symptoms.2."Adopted" or "adoption" refers only to a legal adoption effected prior to the time of the injury.3."Artificial members" includes a device that is a substitute for a natural part, organ, limb, or other part of the body. The term includes a prescriptive device that is an aid for a natural part, organ, limb, or other part of the body if the damage to the prescriptive device is accompanied by an injury to the body. A prescriptive device includes prescription eyeglasses, contact lenses, dental braces, and orthopedic braces.4."Artificial replacements" means mechanical aids, including braces, belts, casts, or crutches as may be reasonable and necessary due to compensable injury.5."Average weekly wage" means the weekly wages the employee was receiving from all employments for which coverage is required or otherwise secured at the date of first disability. The average weekly wage determined under this subsection must be rounded to the nearest dollar. If the employee's wages are not fixed by the week, they must be determined by using the first applicable formula from the schedule below:a.For seasonal employment, during the first consecutive days of disability up to twenty-eight days the average weekly wage is calculated pursuant to the first applicable formula in subdivisions b through g, and after that are calculated as one-fiftieth of the total wages from all occupations during the twelve months preceding the date of first disability or during the tax year preceding the date of first disability, or an average of the three tax years preceding the date of first disability, whichever is highest and for which accurate, reliable, and complete records are readily available.Page No. 1b.The "average weekly wage" of a self-employed employer is determined by the following formula: one fifty-second of the average annual net self-employed earnings reported the three preceding tax years or preceding fifty-two weeks whichever is higher if accurate, reliable, and complete records for those fifty-two weeks are readily available.c.Hourly or daily rate multiplied by number of hours or days worked per seven-day week.d.Monthly rate multiplied by twelve months and divided by fifty-two weeks.e.Biweekly rate divided by two.f.The usual wage paid other employees engaged in similar occupations.g.A wage reasonably and fairly approximating the weekly wage lost by the claimant during the period of disability.6."Average weekly wage in the state" means the determination made of the average weekly wage in the state by job service North Dakota on or before July first of each year, computed to the next highest dollar.7."Board" means the workforce safety and insurance board of directors.8."Brother" and "sister" include a stepbrother and a stepsister, a half brother and a half sister, and a brother and sister by adoption. The terms do not include a married brother or sister unless that person actually is dependent.9."Child", for determining eligibility for benefits under chapter 65-05, means a legitimate child, a stepchild, adopted child, posthumous child, foster child, and acknowledged illegitimate child who is under eighteen years of age and resides with the employee; or is under eighteen years of age and does not reside with the employee but a duty of support is substantiated by an appropriate court order; or is between eighteen and twenty-two years of age and enrolled as a full-time student in any accredited educational institution and dependent upon the employee for support; or is eighteen years of age or over and is physically or mentally incapable of self-support and is actually dependent upon the employee for support. A child does not include a married child unless actually dependent on the employee as shown on the preceding year's income tax returns.10."Compensable injury" means an injury by accident arising out of and in the course of hazardous employment which must be established by medical evidence supported by objective medical findings.a.The term includes:(1)Disease caused by a hazard to which an employee is subjected in the course of employment. The disease must be incidental to the character of the business and not independent of the relation of employer and employee. Disease includes effects from radiation.(2)An injury to artificial members.(3)Injuries due to heart attack or other heart-related disease, stroke, and physical injury caused by mental stimulus, but only when caused by the employee's employment with reasonable medical certainty, and only when it is determined with reasonable medical certainty that unusual stress is at least fifty percent of the cause of the injury or disease as compared with all other contributing causes combined. Unusual stressPage No. 2means stress greater than the highest level of stress normally experienced or anticipated in that position or line of work.(4)Injuries arising out of employer-required or supplied travel to and from a remote jobsite or activities performed at the direction or under the control of the employer.(5)An injury caused by the willful act of a third person directed against an employee because of the employee's employment.(6)A mental or psychological condition caused by a physical injury, but only when the physical injury is determined with reasonable medical certainty to be at least fifty percent of the cause of the condition as compared with all other contributing causes combined, and only when the condition did not preexist the work injury.b.The term does not include:(1)Ordinary diseases of life to which the general public outside of employment is exposed or preventive treatment for communicable diseases, except that the organization may pay for preventive treatment for a health care provider as defined in section 23-07.5-01, firefighter, peace officer, correctional officer, court officer, law enforcement officer, emergency medical technician, or an individual trained and authorized by law or rule to render emergency medical assistance or treatment who is exposed to a bloodborne pathogen as defined in section 23-07.5-01 occurring in the course of employment and for exposure to rabies occurring in the course of employment.(2)A willfully self-inflicted injury, including suicide or attempted suicide, or an injury caused by the employee's willful intention to injure or kill another.(3)Any injury caused by the use of intoxicants or the illegal use of controlled substances.(4)An injury that arises out of an altercation in which the injured employee is an aggressor.This paragraph does not apply to public safetyemployees, including law enforcement officers or private security personnel who are required to engage in altercations as part of their job duties if the altercation arises out of the performance of those job duties.(5)An injury that arises out of an illegal act committed by the injured employee.(6)An injury that arises out of an employee's voluntary nonpaid participation in any recreational activity, including athletic events, parties, and picnics, even though the employer pays some or all of the cost of the activity.(7)Injuries attributable to a preexisting injury, disease, or other condition, including when the employment acts as a trigger to produce symptoms in the preexisting injury, disease, or other condition unless the employment substantially accelerates its progression or substantially worsens its severity.(8)A nonemployment injury that, although acting upon a prior compensable injury, is an independent intervening cause of injury.Page No. 3(9)A latent or asymptomatic degenerative condition, caused in substantial part by employment duties, which is triggered or made active by a subsequent injury.(10)A mental injury arising from mental stimulus.11."Date of first disability" means the first date the employee was unable to work because of a compensable injury.12."Date of maximum medical improvement" or "date of maximum medical recovery" means the date after which further recovery from, or lasting improvement to, an injury or disease can no longer reasonably be anticipated based upon reasonable medical probability.13."Director" means the director of the organization.14."Disability" means loss of earnings capacity and may be permanent total, temporary total, or partial.15."Doctor" means doctor of medicine or osteopathy, chiropractor, dentist, optometrist, podiatrist, or psychologist acting within the scope of the doctor's license.16."Employee" means a person who performs hazardous employment for another for remuneration unless the person is an independent contractor under the common-law test.a.The term includes:(1)All elective and appointed officials of this state and its political subdivisions,includingmunicipalcorporationsandincludingthemembers of the legislative assembly, all elective officials of the several counties of this state, and all elective peace officers of any city.(2)Aliens.(3)County general assistance workers, except those who are engaged in repaying to counties moneys that the counties have been compelled by statute to expend for county general assistance.(4)Minors, whether lawfully or unlawfully employed; a minor is deemed sui juris for the purposes of this title, and no other person has any claim for relief or right to claim workforce safety and insurance benefits for any injury to a minor worker, but in the event of the award of a lump sum of benefits to a minor employee, the lump sum may be paid only to the legally appointed guardian of the minor.b.The term does not include:(1)Any person whose employment is both casual and not in the course of the trade, business, profession, or occupation of that person's employer.(2)Any person who is engaged in an illegal enterprise or occupation.(3)The spouse of an employer or a child under the age of twenty-two of an employer. For purposes of this paragraph and section 65-07-01, "child" means any legitimate child, stepchild, adopted child, foster child, or acknowledged illegitimate child.Page No. 4(4)Any real estate broker or real estate salesperson, provided the person meets the following three requirements:(a)The salesperson or broker must be a licensed real estate agent under section 43-23-05.(b)Substantially all of the salesperson's or broker's remuneration for the services performed as a real estate agent must be directly related to sales or other efforts rather than to the number of hours worked.(c)A written agreement must exist between the salesperson or broker and the person or firm for whom the salesperson or broker works, which agreement must provide that the salesperson or broker will not be treated as an employee but rather as an independent contractor.(5)The members of the board of directors of a business corporation who are not employed in any capacity by the corporation other than as members of the board of directors.(6)Any individual delivering newspapers or shopping news, if substantially all of the individual's remuneration is directly related to sales or other efforts rather than to the number of hours worked and a written agreement exists between the individual and the publisher of the newspaper or shopping news which states that the individual is an independent contractor.(7)An employer.c.Persons employed by a subcontractor, or by an independent contractor operating under an agreement with the general contractor, for the purpose of this chapter are deemed to be employees of the general contractor who is liable and responsible for the payments of premium for the coverage of these employees until the subcontractor or independent contractor has secured the necessary coverage and paid the premium for the coverage. This subdivision does not impose any liability upon a general contractor other than liability to the organization for the payment of premiums which are not paid by a subcontractor or independent contractor.17."Employer" means a person who engages or received the services of another for remuneration unless the person performing the services is an independent contractor under the common-law test. The term includes:a.The state and all political subdivisions thereof.b.All public and quasi-public corporations in this state.c.Every person, partnership, limited liability company, association, and private corporation, including a public service corporation.d.The legal representative of any deceased employer.e.The receiver or trustee of any person, partnership, limited liability company, association, or corporation having one or more employees as herein defined.f.The president, vice presidents, secretary, or treasurer of a business corporation, but not members of the board of directors of a business corporation who are not also officers of the corporation.Page No. 5g.The managers of a limited liability company.h.The president, vice presidents, secretary, treasurer, or board of directors of an association or cooperative organized under chapter 6-06, 10-12, 10-13, 10-15, 36-08, or 49-21.i.The clerk, assessor, treasurer, or any member of the board of supervisors of an organized township, if the person is not employed by the township in any other capacity.j.A multidistrict special education unit.k.An area career and technology center.l.A regional education association.18."Fee schedule" means the payment formulas established in the organization publication entitled "Medical and Hospital Fees".19."Fund" means the workforce safety and insurance fund.20."Hazardous employment" means any employment in which one or more employees are employed regularly in the same business or in or about the establishment except:a.Agricultural or domestic service.b.Any employment of a common carrier by railroad.c.Any employment for the transportation of property or persons by nonresidents, where, in such transportation, the highways are not traveled more than seven miles [11.27 kilometers] and return over the same route within the state of North Dakota.d.All members of the clergy and employees of religious organizations engaged in the operation, maintenance, and conduct of the place of worship.21."Health care provider" means a doctor or any recognized practitioner providing skilled services pursuant to the prescription of, or under the supervision or direction of, a doctor.22."Organization" means workforce safety and insurance, or the director, or any department head, assistant, or employee of workforce safety and insurance designated by the director, to act within the course and scope of that person's employment in administering the policies, powers, and duties of this title.23."Parent" includes a stepparent and a parent by adoption.24."Permanent impairment" means the loss of or loss of use of a member of the body existing after the date of maximum medical improvement and includes disfigurement resulting from an injury.25."Permanent total disability" means disability that is the direct result of a compensable injury that prevents an employee from performing any work and results from any one of the following conditions:a.Total and permanent loss of sight of both eyes;b.Loss of both legs or loss of both feet at or above the ankle;Page No. 6c.Loss of both arms or loss of both hands at or above the wrist;d.Loss of any two of the members or faculties in subdivision a, b, or c;e.Permanent and complete paralysis of both legs or both arms or of one leg and one arm;f.Third-degree burns that cover at least forty percent of the body and require grafting;g.A medically documented traumatic brain injury affecting cognitive and mental functioning which renders an employee unable to provide self-care and requires supervision or assistance with a majority of the activities of daily living; orh.A compensable injury that results in a permanent partial impairment rating of the whole body of at least twenty-five percent pursuant to section 65-05-12.2.If the employee has not reached maximum medical improvement within one hundred four weeks, the employee may receive a permanent partial impairment rating if a rating will assist the organization in assessing the employee's capabilities. Entitlement to a rating is solely within the discretion of the organization.26."Rehabilitation services" means nonmedical services reasonably necessary to restore a disabled employee to substantial gainful employment as defined by section 65-05.1-01 as near as possible.The term may include vocational evaluation,counseling, education, workplace modification, vocational retraining including training for alternative employment with the same employer, and job placement assistance.27."Seasonal employment" includes occupations that are not permanent or that do not customarily operate throughout the entire year.Seasonal employment isdetermined by what is customary with respect to the employer at the time of injury.28."Spouse" includes only the decedent's husband or wife who was living with the decedent or was dependent upon the decedent for support at the time of injury.29."Temporary total disability" means disability that results in the inability of an employee to earn wages as a result of a compensable injury for which disability benefits may not exceed a cumulative total of one hundred four weeks or the date the employee reaches maximum medical improvement or maximum medical recovery, whichever occurs first.30."Utilization review" means the initial and continuing evaluation of appropriateness in terms of both the level and the quality of health care and health services provided a patient, based on medically accepted standards.The evaluation must beaccomplished by means of a system that identifies the utilization of medical services, based on medically accepted standards, and which refers instances of possible inappropriate utilization to the organization to obtain opinions and recommendations of expert medical consultants to review individual cases for which administrative action may be deemed necessary.31."Wages" means an employee's remuneration from all employment reportable to the internal revenue service as earned income for federal income tax purposes. For purposes of chapter 65-04, "wages" means all gross earnings of all employees. The term includes all pretax deductions for amounts allocated by the employee for deferred compensation, medical reimbursement, retirement, or any similar program, but may not include dismissal or severance pay.65-01-03. Individual performing service for remuneration presumed an employee.Page No. 71.Each individual who performs services for another for remuneration is presumed to be an employee of the person for which the services are performed, unless it is proven that the individual is an independent contractor under the common-law test. The person that asserts that an individual is an independent contractor under the common-law test, rather than an employee, has the burden of proving that fact.2.In the case of commercial motor vehicles whose gross vehicle weight rating is more than twenty-six thousand pounds [11793.40 kilograms], with an individual operating a licensed truck or licensed tractor for a motor carrier of property, the presumption in subsection 1 is successfully rebutted if all of the following factors are present:a.The individual owns, leases, or enters a purchase agreement to purchase a truck or tractor. The lease or purchase agreement must represent reasonably the value of the lease or purchase of the truck or tractor.The lease orpurchase agreement may be with the carrier of property. An unreasonable lease or purchase agreement with a third party, unaffiliated with the carrier, does not affect this factor.b.The individual is responsible for the maintenance and repair of the truck or tractor.c.The individual bears the principal burden of operating costs, including fuel, supplies, vehicle insurance, and personal expenses.d.The individual is responsible for supplying the necessary personal services to operate the truck or tractor.e.Income taxes are not withheld from the individual's compensation.f.The individual generally determines the details and means of performing the services, in conformance with statutory or regulatory requirements, operating procedures of the carrier, and specifications of the shipper.g.The individual enters a written agreement with the motor carrier outlining the nature of the relationship.65-01-04. Computation of weekly wages in compensation matters. 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65-01 General Provisions