Relates to exemption of certain participants in a supervised collegiate summer baseball league from workers' compensation coverage

BILL NUMBER:S2357

Title of bill

An act to amend the insurance law and the workers' compensation law, in relation to exempting members of supervised collegiate summer baseball leagues from the definition of employees for purposes of workers' compensation insurance

Purpose

To exempt collegiate summer baseball leagues from workers' compensation requirements, except those deemed to be employees pursuant to the National Labor Relations Act.

Summary of provisions

Section 1 of the bill amends section 3443-a of the insurance law to provide that an insurer shall not be required to provide coverage to members of collegiate summer baseball leagues operating on a for-profit basis, except those players determined to be employees pursuant to the National Labor Relations Act.

Section 2 of the bill amends section 2 (4) of the workers' compensation law to provide an exemption for members of supervised collegiate summer baseball leagues operating on a for-profit basis, except those players determined to be employees pursuant to the National Labor Relations Act.

Existing law

Currently, section 2 (4) of the workers' compensation law provides an exemption for all supervised amateur athletic activities that are operated on a non-profit basis.

Justification

Currently, the workers' compensation law provides an exemption for members of supervised amateur athletic activities that are operated on a non-profit basis. However, the current statute is unclear as to the treatment of amateur athletic activities that are operated on a for-profit basis The State Insurance Fund has recently interpreted the law to require summer collegiate baseball league teams to pay worker's compensation insurance for their players as "employees."

Players do not receive any compensation for joining a collegiate summer baseball league and, as such, should not be considered employees. In fact, each of the players on these teams is currently prohibited by the NCAA, or similar collegiate regulatory agency, from receiving any type of monetary payment, or other form of financial compensation. Players join summer collegiate baseball teams for baseball instruction by highly qualified coaches, to give them an opportunity to hone their skills for the future playing seasons. The present interpretation of the law by the State Insurance Fund is analogous to requiring children who pay to come to a summer camp to be covered by worker's compensation insurance. No collegiate league player has ever filed a worker's compensation claim with the State Insurance Fund and could not do so because, currently, it would impact his or her eligibility under NCAA regulations. Per the NCAA

regulations, student-athletes are not considered to be employees. However, in the event that the National Labor Relations Board deems these collegiate level players to be employees at some point in the future, the legislation does provide an exception.

Requiring the teams to pay worker's compensation insurance will lead to financial hardships, as most are not highly profitable to begin with. It may cause a number of them to relocate to different states, or to cease doing business altogether. This modification of the law is intended to encourage the further development of summer collegiate baseball teams, which contribute significantly to economic development and tourism activities across the state.

Legislative history

S.6646-A of 2014.

Fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

Immediately.