Myrtle Beach, SC asked in Employment Law, Workers' Compensation and Business Law for South Carolina

Q: I'm a subcontractor in S.C. If I hire me (1) helper and pay him a flat salary, do I have to carry worker's comp. on him?

2 Lawyer Answers

A: If you only have one employee, in South Carolina you do not need to have workers' compensation insurance.

Ilene Stacey King agrees with this answer

A: With less than 4 employees in South Carolina, you are not legally required to have workers' compensation insurance. However, as a sub-contractor, the general contractor on jobs you are contracted to do might require you to carry workers' comp coverage. Also, you might want to consider coverage, not only for your employee but also for yourself, to protect yourself if something happens. Without workers' compensation coverage, your employee could bring a civil law suit against you if you were negligent in some way. Also, if you ever get hurt yourself, you might benefit from having coverage on yourself. But, no, it is not required.

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