Unless you’re a business owner, you probably haven’t paid much thought to acquiring workers’ compensation insurance. However, if you have kids, you may actually be an entity that is obligated to purchase workers’ compensation insurance for your babysitter or nanny. In today’s blog, we take a closer look at whether or not domestic employees are covered by workers’ compensation and when you are required to buy a coverage policy if you employ a babysitter or nanny.
Work Injuries For Babysitters And Nannies
If you have kids, odds are that you have hired a babysitter at some point because you had a prior engagement or because you simply wanted a date night with your spouse. Others employ in-home nannies to provide childcare instead of shipping their kids off to daycare when the parents need to work. But if you pay a babysitter or a nanny, do you also need to carry workers’ compensation insurance in the event that they suffer an injury on your property?
The answer to that question depends on where you live. In Minnesota, you are required to carry workers’ compensation on all domestic employees, including babysitters and nannies, in the event that they make more than $1,000 in a three-month period. That’s because most homeowners’ insurance policies exclude liability coverage for household employees. That means that you could be on the hook for a big bill in the event your babysitter or nanny gets injured while they are on your property.
This sentiment stands even if the injury wasn’t your fault or the fault of your kids. If your babysitter trips going down your stairs or falls off the playset in the backyard, you could be on the hook even though you didn’t directly cause the injury. Workers’ compensation protects employees who are performing their work duties, even if they cause their own injuries, so long as it wasn’t intentional. And because the $1,000 per quarter threshold exists, your babysitter or nannies may be eligible for injury benefits if they are hurt on your property.
If you don’t meet this threshold, your babysitter or nanny may be covered under your homeowner’s insurance policy. You can still purchase workers’ compensation insurance for your domestic employees even if you don’t pay them more than $1,000 a quarter, but you aren’t required to do so.
Odds are the Department of Labor and Industry won’t come knocking on your door and fine you for not carrying workers’ compensation insurance if you sometimes go above that threshold, but it’s less about the potential fine and more about the massive liability you’re opening yourself up to by not carrying a policy if it’s clear that you employ someone who would be classified as a domestic worker.
And if you are a domestic worker like a nanny or babysitter and you were injured on someone’s property, know that you have rights and may be eligible to file a personal injury or workers’ compensation claim. If you have questions about your eligibility or are interested in possibly moving forward with a claim, reach out to the team at Hey Workers today at (844) 439-9675.
