(a) General rule.— A contract executed by a township or an officer of a township that involves the construction or doing of work involving the employment of labor shall contain a provision that the contractor shall accept, as far as the work covered by the contract is concerned, the provisions of the act of June 2, 1915 (P.L.736, No.338), known as the Workers' Compensation Act, and that the contractor shall insure the contractor's liability under the Workers' Compensation Act and shall file with the township with which the contract is made a certificate of exemption from insurance from the Bureau of Workers' Compensation of the Department of Labor and Industry. The following shall apply:

1. (1) The certificate of exemption from insurance may be issued on the basis of either individual self-insurance or group self-insurance.
2. (2) A contractor shall file with the township with which the contract is made any applications to be excepted by the provisions of the Workers' Compensation Act in respect to certain employees on religious grounds if the applications have been accepted by the Department of Labor and Industry.