While workers’ compensation coverage is generally mandatory for most employers under the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act, there are certain classes of employers who are exempted from providing workers’ compensation insurance. One of these exemptions applies to domestic servants, such as nannies and in-home caregivers, where coverage is optional. In order for a person engaged in domestic services to receive benefits under the act, the employer must either purchase coverage or make an application with and be approved by the Department of Labor and Industry prior to an injury, to come within the provisions of the act. Also, as a general rule, whether or not work constitutes domestic service under the act is a question of law which must be decided on a case-by-case basis.
Last month the domestic service exception to the Workers’ Compensation Act came before the Commonwealth Court in a reported decision, providing a perfect opportunity to revisit the issue. In Van Leer v. Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (Hudson), No. 1127 C.D. 2018, the issue was whether the claimant’s duties as a caretaker for a woman suffering with dementia fell within the domestic service exception. In the course of taking care of the woman with dementia, the claimant sustained serious injuries to her face and head, among other body parts. In a claim petition which was bifurcated on the issue of the domestic service exception, the workers’ compensation judge found that the claimant was, in fact, a “domestic servant” and was therefore, not covered by the Workers’ Compensation Act. Consequently, the WCJ denied the claim petition. The board affirmed the WCJ’s decision.
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