Senate Bill 614 Affects Rights of Truck Drivers in NC

NC Senate Bill 614, filed April 4, 2013, would affect the ability of truck drivers injured at work to obtain workers’ compensation benefits.  The Bill would make it much harder for drivers to prove that they are “employees” rather than “independent contractors.”   Employees are covered by workers’ compensation but independent contractors generally are not covered.  This bill appears to be an effort to reduce trucking company costs by minimizing their responsibilities to their drivers.  The Bill tries to shift the responsibility to an “occupational accident insurance policy” that the driver may have to pay for himself.  This Bill is sponsored by two Republican Senators, Harry Brown of Jacksonville and Brent Jackson of Autryville.  Here is a link to the Bill:   http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/Sessions/2013/Bills/Senate/HTML/S614v1.html