Business owners -- Election to be included as employees -- Qualified partners and members, nonqualified partners and members, and limited liability company defined -- Provision of partnership agreement or articles of organization upon request
KRS 342.012
in effect342.012. Business owners -- Election to be included as employees -- Qualified partners and members, nonqualified partners and members, and limited liability company defined -- Provision of partnership agreement or articles of organization upon request
(1) For the purposes of this chapter, an owner or owners of a business, including qualified partners of a partnership owning a business, or qualified members of a limited liability company, whether or not employing any other person to perform a service for hire, shall be included within the meaning of the term employee if the owner, owners, qualified partners, or qualified members of a limited liability company elect to come under the provisions of this chapter and provide the insurance required thereunder. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the responsibilities of the owners, partners, or members of a limited liability company to provide coverage for their employees, nonqualified partners, or nonqualified members, if any, required under this chapter.
(2) When an owner, owners, qualified partners, or qualified members of a limited liability company have elected to be included as employees, this inclusion shall be accomplished by the issuance of an appropriate endorsement to a workers' compensation insurance policy.
(3) For the purpose of this section, "qualified partner" or "qualified member or members" means, respectively, a partner who has entered into a meaningful partnership agreement or a member who has entered into meaningful articles of organization or a meaningful operating agreement of a limited liability company, which document shows on its face that the partner will substantially participate in the profit or loss of the business engaged in by the partnership or limited liability company and that the partner or member has made some contribution to the partnership or limited liability company which entitles him or her to participate in the profits of the business as well as to participate in the decision-making process of the partnership or limited liability company.
(4) For the purposes of this section, "nonqualified partner" or "nonqualified member" means, respectively, a person who has entered into a partnership agreement, or articles of organization or operating agreement of a limited liability company, which document shows on its face that this person will receive regular payments in exchange for work for the business engaged in by the partnership or limited liability company; that the person will not participate in the decision-making of the partnership or limited liability company and will not participate in the profits and losses of the business engaged in by the partnership or limited liability company.
(5) Every partnership and limited liability company shall provide, upon the request of the commissioner or his or her representative, a copy of its partnership agreement or articles of organization for purposes of demonstrating compliance with this section and KRS 342.340. With particular reference to employers engaged in coal mining, the commissioner shall promptly report the failure to comply with the provisions of this subsection to the Energy and Environment Cabinet, Department for Natural Resources, Division of Mine Safety, so that appropriate action may be undertaken pursuant to KRS 351.175.
(6) For purposes of this section, a "limited liability company" means an entity defined in KRS 275.015 and organized under the provisions of KRS Chapter 275.
Effective: June 24, 2015
History: Amended 2015 Ky. Acts ch. 87, sec. 6, effective June 24, 2015. -- Amended 2014 Ky. Acts ch. 16, sec. 1, effective July 15, 2014. -- Amended 2010 Ky. Acts ch. 24, sec. 1779, effective July 15, 2010. -- Amended 2005 Ky. Acts ch. 123, sec. 43, effective June 20, 2005. -- Amended 1998 Ky. Acts ch. 341, sec. 45, effective July 15, 1998. -- Amended 1996 Ky. Acts ch. 332, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1996. -- Amended 1994 Ky. Acts ch. 181, Part 14, sec. 67, effective April 4, 1994. -- Amended 1990 Ky. Acts ch. 20, sec. 1, effective July 13, 1990. -- Amended 1987 (1st Extra. Sess.) Ky. Acts ch. 1, sec. 4, effective October 26, 1987. -- Created 1976 Ky. Acts ch. 219, sec. 1.
Source: Kentucky Legislative Research Commission (legislature.ky.gov)URL: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=44523Fetched: 10/20/2026