Legal Question in Construction Law in California

Re: Liability from accidents at home

You are hiring people (i.e. employees) to work for you, and you want them to release you in advance for damages sustained while on the job?

Good luck. There is no such thing. Employees are entitled to a host of protections, and most of those protections are not waivable, even with an agreement with their employer.

Moreover, employees must be covered by workers compensation, which is also not waivable.

Any agreement between your employee and yourself that you are not responsible for damages which you cause to your employee, or which the employee suffers while on the job, is not enforceable.

The fact that these employees are your friends is not relevant to the analysis. The fact that you might pay these employees in cash is also not relevant.

If you want to limit liability, subcontract out the work.

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Re: Liability from accidents at home

Your proposed arrangement would be subject to a statutory requirement for workers' compensation insurance coverage, which cannot be waived. You cannot avoid liability, but perhaps you can transfer the risk to an insurer. Many homeowner policies will cover ONE employee at a time; I do not know of any that would cover a group. Ask your insurance agent. I'd guess you'll be told to purchase a workers' comp policy.

Re: Liability from accidents at home

Your question is incomplete so is somewhat difficult to respond to. I am assuming that you want some friends to help you put a new roof on your own house.

I agree with Mr. Whipple and Mr. Guerrini. There is no waiver available and, secondly, why would you want to do something like this to your friends?

If you are repairing or maintaining your own house, your homeowner's policy might cover your friends. All homeowner's policies in California are required to have a worker's compensation component that covers domestic employees. For the most part, this means people hired for work that is incidental to home ownership or is personal and not related to your occupation. There is, however, a very big caveat. They won't qualify for this coverage unless they've worked at least 52 hours and earned $100 in the 90 days before being injured.

So, for the first 52 hours, there is no coverage under your homeowner's policy. The only way to avoid liability is to purchase a commercial worker's compensation policy or hire a licensed roofing contractor.

By the way, roofers have one of the highest worker's compensation rates in the entire industry. This means that the work is very dangerous. Studies have shown that inexperienced workers have even higher rates of accidents. This means that your friends, unless they are very experienced, are at high risk.

Another thought: you may be subject to OSHA safety regulations if you hire the roofers yourself.

Re: Liability from accidents at home

A legally effective and binding one, taking into account that you can't avoid liability for on job injuries. That is what insurance is for.