(D) As used in this section:

1. (1) "Employ" means to suffer or to permit to work.

2. (2) "Employer" means the state of Ohio, its instrumentalities, and its political subdivisions and their instrumentalities, any individual, partnership, association, corporation, business trust, or any person or group of persons, acting in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee, but does not include either of the following:

   1. (a) An employer whose annual gross volume of sales made for business done is less than one hundred fifty thousand dollars, exclusive of excise taxes at the retail level which are separately stated;
   2. (b) A franchisor with respect to the franchisor's relationship with a franchisee or an employee of a franchisee, unless the franchisor agrees to assume that role in writing or a court of competent jurisdiction determines that the franchisor exercises a type or degree of control over the franchisee or the franchisee's employees that is not customarily exercised by a franchisor for the purpose of protecting the franchisor's trademark, brand, or both. For purposes of this division, "franchisor" and "franchisee" have the same meanings as in 16 C.F.R. 436.1.

3. (3) "Employee" means any individual employed by an employer but does not include:

   1. (a) Any individual employed by the United States;
   2. (b) Any individual employed as a baby-sitter in the employer's home, or a live-in companion to a sick, convalescing, or elderly person whose principal duties do not include housekeeping;
   3. (c) Any individual engaged in the delivery of newspapers to the consumer;
   4. (d) Any individual employed as an outside salesperson compensated by commissions or employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity as such terms are defined by the "Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938," 52 Stat. 1060, 29 U.S.C.A. 201, as amended;
   5. (e) Any individual who works or provides personal services of a charitable nature in a hospital or health institution for which compensation is not sought or contemplated;
   6. (f) A member of a police or fire protection agency or student employed on a part-time or seasonal basis by a political subdivision of this state;
   7. (g) Any individual in the employ of a camp or recreational area for children under eighteen years of age and owned and operated by a nonprofit organization or group of organizations described in Section 501(c)(3) of the "Internal Revenue Code of 1954," and exempt from income tax under Section 501(a) of that code;
   8. (h) Any individual employed directly by the house of representatives or directly by the senate;

   9. (i) An individual who operates a vehicle or vessel in the performance of services for or on behalf of a motor carrier transporting property and to whom all of the following factors apply:

      1. (i) The individual owns the vehicle or vessel that is used in performing the services for or on behalf of the carrier, or the individual leases the vehicle or vessel under a bona fide lease agreement that is not a temporary replacement lease agreement. For purposes of this division, a bona fide lease agreement does not include an agreement between the individual and the motor carrier transporting property for which, or on whose behalf, the individual provides services.
      2. (ii) The individual is responsible for supplying the necessary personal services to operate the vehicle or vessel used to provide the service.
      3. (iii) The compensation paid to the individual is based on factors related to work performed, including on a mileage-based rate or a percentage of any schedule of rates, and not solely on the basis of the hours or time expended.
      4. (iv) The individual substantially controls the means and manner of performing the services, in conformance with regulatory requirements and specifications of the shipper.
      5. (v) The individual enters into a written contract with the carrier for whom the individual is performing the services that describes the relationship between the individual and the carrier to be that of an independent contractor and not that of an employee.
      6. (vi) The individual is responsible for substantially all of the principal operating costs of the vehicle or vessel and equipment used to provide the services, including maintenance, fuel, repairs, supplies, vehicle or vessel insurance, and personal expenses, except that the individual may be paid by the carrier the carrier's fuel surcharge and incidental costs, including tolls, permits, and lumper fees.
      7. (vii) The individual is responsible for any economic loss or economic gain from the arrangement with the carrier.
4. (4) "Motor carrier" has the same meaning as in section 4923.01 of the Revised Code.