I just want to say that this is not an issue with grad students in Canada, Japan, Germany, UK, France, Italy, etc. They have nationalized health services. If a person gets injured, they are cared for. It doesn't matter if they are injured at home or at work. There's no confusing multiple types of coverage, no coverage gaps, no liability worries, no blame game, no lawyers, etc. I care about everyone's health, and nearly all developed countries have found a university health plan less wasteful, lower cost, more efficient and produce better health outcomes for the entire population. I know it‰??s a crazy idea.

Pete

•ČŔOn 11/7/20, 6:30 AM, "ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety on behalf of Stuart, Ralph" wrote:

> >What is happening is due to the way labor laws classify employees. Employees are either exempt (salary), non-exempt (hourly), or independent contractors. Students are classified as independent contractors. Whether or not the employer issues a W2 is irrelevant to the employee‰??s classification.
>
Unfortunately, because labor laws and workers compensation regulations are administered on a state by state basis and interpreted by employers and relevant insurance companies, this summary is too broad to describe individual cases. In some situations, at some institutions, students may be treated as independent contractors, but in many cases they are considered employees, with the same legal rights and responsibilities as other employees. This can vary by funding source. For example, my son currently has a NSF fellowship for graduate study and is considered an employee of the federal government in some, but not all, respects.

Of course, these rights and responsibilities can be impacted by union contracts for specific groups within the institution. For example at Keene State we have 4 separate union contracts associated with faculty and various segments of the staff.

In sum, there are few general principles that apply across the academic workforce and this situation seems to be spreading with the rise of the gig economy. See
https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftechxplore.com%2Fnews%2F2020-11-gig-economy-california-uber-led-referendum.html&data=04%7C01%7Cpeter.reinhardt%40yale.edu%7Cc36294336c60449eb22008d883107a81%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637403454082150725%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=vmDSifzT1f%2FTkzJA49NA41iYFZNPCg4gxcnH%2BMXl24c%3D&reserved=0
for the latest on this.

- Ralph

Ralph Stuart, CIH, CCHO
Environmental Safety Manager
Keene State College
603 358-2859

ralph.stuart**At_Symbol_Here**keene.edu

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