Ind. Code § 22-3-6-1 – Definitions; exemptions

In IC 22-3-2 through IC 22-3-6 , unless the context otherwise requires:

(a) "Employer" includes the state and any political subdivision, any municipal corporation within the state, any individual or the legal representative of a deceased individual, firm, association, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, or corporation or the receiver or trustee of the same, using the services of another for pay. A corporation, limited liability company, or limited liability partnership that controls the activities of another corporation, limited liability company, or limited liability partnership, or a corporation and a limited liability company or a corporation and a limited liability partnership that are commonly owned entities, or the controlled corporation, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, or commonly owned entities, and a parent corporation and its subsidiaries shall each be considered joint employers of the corporation's, the controlled corporation's, the limited liability company's, the limited liability partnership's, the commonly owned entities', the parent's, or the subsidiaries' employees for purposes of IC 22-3-2-6 and IC 22-3-3-31 . Both a lessor and a lessee of employees shall each be considered joint employers of the employees provided by the lessor to the lessee for purposes of IC 22-3-2-6 and IC 22-3-3-31 . If the employer is insured, the term includes the employer's insurer so far as applicable. However, the inclusion of an employer's insurer within this definition does not allow an employer's insurer to avoid payment for services rendered to an employee with the approval of the employer. The term also includes an employer that employs a student as part of a work based learning program to the extent set forth in IC 22-3-2-2.6 . The term does not include a nonprofit corporation that is recognized as tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (as defined in IC 6-3-1-11 (a)) to the extent the corporation enters into an independent contractor agreement with a person for the performance of youth coaching services on a part-time basis.
(b) "Employee" means every person, including a minor, in the service of another, under any contract of hire or apprenticeship, written or implied, except one whose employment is both casual and not in the usual course of the trade, business, occupation, or profession of the employer.
1. (1) An executive officer elected or appointed and empowered in accordance with the charter and bylaws of a corporation, other than a municipal corporation or governmental subdivision or a charitable, religious, educational, or other nonprofit corporation, is an employee of the corporation under IC 22-3-2 through IC 22-3-6 . An officer of a corporation who is an employee of the corporation under IC 22-3-2 through IC 22-3-6 may elect not to be an employee of the corporation under IC 22-3-2 through IC 22-3-6 . An officer of a corporation who is also an owner of any interest in the corporation may elect not to be an employee of the corporation under IC 22-3-2 through IC 22-3-6 . If an officer makes this election, the officer must serve written notice of the election on the corporation's insurance carrier and the board. An officer of a corporation may not be considered to be excluded as an employee under IC 22-3-2 through IC 22-3-6 until the notice is received by the insurance carrier and the board.
2. (2) An executive officer of a municipal corporation or other governmental subdivision or of a charitable, religious, educational, or other nonprofit corporation may, notwithstanding any other provision of IC 22-3-2 through IC 22-3-6 , be brought within the coverage of its insurance contract by the corporation by specifically including the executive officer in the contract of insurance. The election to bring the executive officer within the coverage shall continue for the period the contract of insurance is in effect, and during this period, the executive officers thus brought within the coverage of the insurance contract are employees of the corporation under IC 22-3-2 through IC 22-3-6 .
3. (3) Any reference to an employee who has been injured, when the employee is dead, also includes the employee's legal representatives, dependents, and other persons to whom compensation may be payable.
4. (4) An owner of a sole proprietorship may elect to include the owner as an employee under IC 22-3-2 through IC 22-3-6 if the owner is actually engaged in the proprietorship business. If the owner makes this election, the owner must serve upon the owner's insurance carrier and upon the board written notice of the election. No owner of a sole proprietorship may be considered an employee under IC 22-3-2 through IC 22-3-6 until the notice has been received. If the owner of a sole proprietorship:
  1. (A) is an independent contractor in the construction trades and does not make the election provided under this subdivision, the owner must obtain a certificate of exemption under IC 22-3-2-14.5 ; or
  2. (B) is an independent contractor and does not make the election provided under this subdivision, the owner may obtain a certificate of exemption under IC 22-3-2-14.5 .
5. (5) A partner in a partnership may elect to include the partner as an employee under IC 22-3-2 through IC 22-3-6 if the partner is actually engaged in the partnership business. If a partner makes this election, the partner must serve upon the partner's insurance carrier and upon the board written notice of the election. No partner may be considered an employee under IC 22-3-2 through IC 22-3-6 until the notice has been received. If a partner in a partnership:
  1. (A) is an independent contractor in the construction trades and does not make the election provided under this subdivision, the partner must obtain a certificate of exemption under IC 22-3-2-14.5 ; or
  2. (B) is an independent contractor and does not make the election provided under this subdivision, the partner may obtain a certificate of exemption under IC 22-3-2-14.5 .
6. (6) Real estate professionals are not employees under IC 22-3-2 through IC 22-3-6 if:
  1. (A) they are licensed real estate agents;
  2. (B) substantially all their remuneration is directly related to sales volume and not the number of hours worked; and
  3. (C) they have written agreements with real estate brokers stating that they are not to be treated as employees for tax purposes.
7. (7) A person is an independent contractor and not an employee under IC 22-3-2 through IC 22-3-6 if the person is an independent contractor under the guidelines of the United States Internal Revenue Service.
8. (8) An owner-operator that provides a motor vehicle and the services of a driver under a written contract that is subject to IC 8-2.1-24-23 , 45 IAC 16-1-13, or 49 CFR 376 to a motor carrier is not an employee of the motor carrier for purposes of IC 22-3-2 through IC 22-3-6 . The owner-operator may elect to be covered and have the owner-operator's drivers covered under a worker's compensation insurance policy or authorized self-insurance that insures the motor carrier if the owner-operator pays the premiums as requested by the motor carrier. An election by an owner-operator under this subdivision does not terminate the independent contractor status of the owner-operator for any purpose other than the purpose of this subdivision.
9. (9) A member or manager in a limited liability company may elect to include the member or manager as an employee under IC 22-3-2 through IC 22-3-6 if the member or manager is actually engaged in the limited liability company business. If a member or manager makes this election, the member or manager must serve upon the member's or manager's insurance carrier and upon the board written notice of the election. A member or manager may not be considered an employee under IC 22-3-2 through IC 22-3-6 until the notice has been received.
10. (10) A student who performs services for an employer as part of a work based learning program, either paid or unpaid, is an employee to the extent set forth in IC 22-3-2-2.6 .
11. (11) A person who enters into an independent contractor agreement with a nonprofit corporation that is recognized as tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (as defined in IC 6-3-1-11 (a)) to perform youth coaching services on a part-time basis is not an employee for purposes of IC 22-3-2 through IC 22-3-6 .
12. (12) An individual who is not an employee of the state or a political subdivision is considered to be a temporary employee of the state for purposes of IC 22-3-2 through IC 22-3-6 while serving as a member of a mobile support unit on duty for training, an exercise, or a response, as set forth in IC 10-14-3-19 (c)(2)(B).
13. (13) A driver providing drive away operations is an independent contractor and not an employee when:
  1. (A) the vehicle being driven is the commodity being delivered; and
  2. (B) the driver has entered into an agreement with the party arranging for the transportation that specifies the driver is an independent contractor and not an employee.
(c) "Minor" means an individual who has not reached seventeen
(17) years of age.
(1) Unless otherwise provided in this subsection, a minor employee shall be considered as being of full age for all purposes of IC 22-3-2 through IC 22-3-6 .
(2) If the employee is a minor who, at the time of the accident, is employed, required, suffered, or permitted to work in violation of IC 22-2-18-40 (before its expiration on June 30, 2021) and IC 22-2-18.1-23 , the amount of compensation and death benefits, as provided in IC 22-3-2 through IC 22-3-6 , shall be double the amount which would otherwise be recoverable. The insurance carrier shall be liable on its policy for one-half (1/2) of the compensation or benefits that may be payable on account of the injury or death of the minor, and the employer shall be liable for the other one-half (1/2) of the compensation or benefits. If the employee is a minor who is not less than sixteen (16) years of age and who has not reached seventeen (17) years of age and who at the time of the accident is employed, suffered, or permitted to work at any occupation which is not prohibited by law, this subdivision does not apply.
(3) A minor employee who, at the time of the accident, is a student performing services for an employer as part of an approved program under IC 20-37-2-7 or a work based learning program (as defined in IC 20-20.5-11.5-3 ) shall be considered a full-time employee for the purpose of computing compensation for permanent impairment under IC 22-3-3-10 . The average weekly wages for such a student shall be calculated as provided in subsection (d)(4).
(4) The rights and remedies granted in this subsection to a minor under IC 22-3-2 through IC 22-3-6 on account of personal injury or death by accident shall exclude all rights and remedies of the minor, the minor's parents, or the minor's personal representatives, dependents, or next of kin at common law, statutory or otherwise, on account of the injury or death. This subsection does not apply to minors who have reached seventeen
(17) years of age.
(d) "Average weekly wages" means the earnings of the injured employee in the employment in which the employee was working at the time of the injury during the period of fifty-two (52) weeks immediately preceding the date of injury, divided by fifty-two (52), except as follows:
(1) If the injured employee lost seven (7) or more calendar days during this period, although not in the same week, then the earnings for the remainder of the fifty-two (52) weeks shall be divided by the number of weeks and parts thereof remaining after the time lost has been deducted.
(2) Where the employment prior to the injury extended over a period of less than fifty-two (52) weeks, the method of dividing the earnings during that period by the number of weeks and parts thereof during which the employee earned wages shall be followed, if results just and fair to both parties will be obtained. Where by reason of the shortness of the time during which the employee has been in the employment of the employee's employer or of the casual nature or terms of the employment it is impracticable to compute the average weekly wages, as defined in this subsection, regard shall be had to the average weekly amount which during the fifty-two (52) weeks previous to the injury was being earned by a person in the same grade employed at the same work by the same employer or, if there is no person so employed, by a person in the same grade employed in the same class of employment in the same district.
(3) Wherever allowances of any character made to an employee in lieu of wages are a specified part of the wage contract, they shall be deemed a part of the employee's earnings.
(4) In computing the average weekly wages to be used in calculating an award for permanent impairment under IC 22-3-3-10 for a student employee in an approved training program under IC 20-37-2-7 or a work based learning program (as defined in IC 20-20.5-11.5-3 ), the following formula shall be used. Calculate the product of:
1. (A) the student employee's hourly wage rate; multiplied by
2. (B) forty (40) hours.
  The result obtained is the amount of the average weekly wages for the student employee.
3. (e) "Injury" and "personal injury" mean only injury by accident arising out of and in the course of the employment and do not include a disease in any form except as it results from the injury.
4. (f) "Billing review service" refers to a person or an entity that reviews a medical service provider's bills or statements for the purpose of determining pecuniary liability. The term includes an employer's worker's compensation insurance carrier if the insurance carrier performs such a review.
5. (g) "Billing review standard" means the data used by a billing review service to determine pecuniary liability.
6. (h) "Community" means a geographic service area based on ZIP code districts defined by the United States Postal Service according to the following groupings:
  1. (1) The geographic service area served by ZIP codes with the first three (3) digits 463 and 464.
  2. (2) The geographic service area served by ZIP codes with the first three (3) digits 465 and 466.
  3. (3) The geographic service area served by ZIP codes with the first three (3) digits 467 and 468.
  4. (4) The geographic service area served by ZIP codes with the first three (3) digits 469 and 479.
  5. (5) The geographic service area served by ZIP codes with the first three (3) digits 460, 461 (except 46107), and 473.
  6. (6) The geographic service area served by the 46107 ZIP code and ZIP codes with the first three (3) digits 462.
  7. (7) The geographic service area served by ZIP codes with the first three (3) digits 470, 471, 472, 474, and 478.
  8. (8) The geographic service area served by ZIP codes with the first three (3) digits 475, 476, and 477.
7. (i) "Medical service provider" refers to a person or an entity that provides services or products to an employee under IC 22-3-2 through IC 22-3-6 . Except as otherwise provided in IC 22-3-2 through IC 22-3-6 , the term includes a medical service facility.
8. (j) "Medical service facility" means any of the following that provides a service or product under IC 22-3-2 through IC 22-3-6 and uses the CMS 1450 (UB-04) form or the CMS 1500 (HCFA-1500) form for Medicare reimbursement:
  1. (1) An ambulatory outpatient surgical center (as defined in IC 16-18-2-14 ).
  2. (2) A hospital (as defined in IC 16-18-2-179 ).
  3. (3) A hospital based health facility (as defined in IC 16-18-2-180 ).
  4. (4) A medical center (as defined in IC 16-18-2-223.4 ).
9. (k) "Pecuniary liability" means the responsibility of an employer or the employer's insurance carrier for the payment of the charges for each specific service or product for human medical treatment provided under IC 22-3-2 through IC 22-3-6 , as follows:
  1. (1) This subdivision applies before July 1, 2014, to all medical service providers, and after June 30, 2014, to a medical service provider that is not a medical service facility. Payment of the charges in a defined community, equal to or less than the charges made by medical service providers at the eightieth percentile in the same community for like services or products.
  2. (2) Payment of the charges in a reasonable amount, which is established by payment of one (1) of the following:
    1. (A) The amount negotiated at any time between the medical service facility and any of the following, if an amount has been negotiated:
      1. (i) The employer.
      2. (ii) The employer's insurance carrier.
      3. (iii) A billing review service on behalf of a person described in item (i) or (ii).
      4. (iv) A direct provider network that has contracted with a person described in item (i) or (ii).
    2. (B) Two hundred percent (200%) of the amount that would be paid to the medical service facility on the same date for the same service or product under the medical service facility's Medicare reimbursement rate, if, after conducting the negotiations described in clause (A), an agreement has not been reached.
10. (l) "Service or product" or "services and products" refers to medical, hospital, surgical, or nursing service, treatment, and supplies provided under IC 22-3-2 through IC 22-3-6 .
  Formerly: Acts 1929, c.172, s.73; Acts 1933, c.243, s.1; Acts 1955, c.337, s.1; Acts 1969, c.94, s.7. As amended by Acts 1979, P.L.228, SEC.1; Acts 1981, P.L.199, SEC.2; P.L.37-1985, SEC.31; P.L.28-1988, SEC.47; P.L.95-1988, SEC.11; P.L.106-1992, SEC.11; P.L.8-1993, SEC.282; P.L.75-1993, SEC.5; P.L.1-1994, SEC.110; P.L.110-1995, SEC.33; P.L.216-1995, SEC.4; P.L.2-1996, SEC.265; P.L.258-1997(ss), SEC.12; P.L.235-1999, SEC.5; P.L.31-2000, SEC.6; P.L.202-2001, SEC.7; P.L.1-2005, SEC.182; P.L.201-2005, SEC.5; P.L.1-2006, SEC.339; P.L.180-2009, SEC.1; P.L.168-2011, SEC.11; P.L.71-2013, SEC.10; P.L.275-2013, SEC.11; P.L.99-2014, SEC.3; P.L.225-2015, SEC.1; P.L.204-2018, SEC.10; P.L.63-2019, SEC.1; P.L.147-2020, SEC.17; P.L.160-2022, SEC.5; P.L.51-2026, SEC.5; P.L.145-2026, SEC.307.