What do you think?
Townsend, DE (WorkersCompensation.com) – In Delaware, employers are generally not required to provide workers’ compensation benefits to “farmworkers.” But what is a farmworker? You might think of someone who spends all day in the field loading hay or operating a tractor or other farm equipment.
A Delaware case involving a truck driver for a sharecropping company is addressing how broadly courts can interpret the “farmworker” exemption. In that case, the driver was driving one of his employer’s trucks when he was injured in a car accident.
The driver’s job mainly consisted of delivering farm equipment and crops, such as hay bales, for his employer. He also used the farm equipment to load straw and pre-baled hay onto the truck for transport. He also sometimes worked as a mechanic in his employer’s workshop.
The Industrial Accident Board denied the driver’s claim for benefits on the grounds that he was a farm worker. The worker challenged this decision in court, pointing out that he was a CDL-licensed driver with 24 years of experience and spent 90 percent of his work time driving a truck.
Delaware’s workers’ compensation law does not apply to farmworkers. An exception to this rule applies if the employer has insurance that guarantees the payment of compensation to those workers or their dependents.
Was the employee a “farm worker”?
A. NOHe drove a truck instead of working on the farm.
B. Yes. Its function was essential for the agricultural operation.
If you selected B, you agree with the court in Bailey v. RNJ Farms, LLC, No. N24A-02-003 JRJ. (Del. 7/24/24), which found that the plaintiff falls into the category of farmworker.
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The court pointed out that whether someone is a “farm worker” depends on the role or work they perform for an employer. It was true that the driver spent most of his time driving the truck. However, he was transporting agricultural produce; most of his time was spent transporting crops for the farm, which often included bales of hay.
The court found that the trucks operated by the driver belonged to the employer’s agricultural holding because they were the property of the employer and were used exclusively for the transport of agricultural products.
“(W)as the worker was employed by the farm, loaded crops onto the farm’s trucks, and drove the trucks to the farm’s customers to deliver the crops, the worker’s employment was an integral part of the operation of the farm and the worker met the requirements of the job title of farmworker,” the court wrote.
The court confirmed the panel’s decision.
