Affordable Benefits for Owner-Operators and Other Contract Workers

You may be personally part of a growing segment of contract workers or a business owner who uses contract workers in your organization.
 
If so, the information in this website on benefits planning will be of interest to you.
 
Why is Benefits Planning Important?
 
For business owners, covering a contract worker properly is critical to protect your company’s risk of liability in the event a contract worker has a work-related accident. And while you are not obligated legally to provide protection if they have an illness or injury at home that prevents them from working, many business owners feel a moral obligation to continue earnings through at least a short term period. This can affect your business financially – even though you don’t plan to continue wages, when the time comes and you are asked to do so by a loyal long-term disabled contract worker, you may feel you can’t say no.
 
If you employ drivers, or are a fleet owner/manager in the trucking industry, their status with WSIB is determined by the nature of the relationship between the two of you. This status impacts your company’s liability. To learn more about this risk, click here.
 
For contract workers and owner-operators, your income not only provides today’s basic necessities, but also serves as the foundation of your future plans. An interruption due to an accident or an illness can result in missed payments on rent or mortgage, or having to cash in savings to pay medical bills.
 
Disability Income helps by providing the income when you can’t. Many people would purchase a lottery ticket if they knew their chances of winning were 1 in 5. Pretty good odds, don’t you agree? Well you may be surprised to learn that 1 in 5 people have some kind of disability according to the U.S. Bureau of the Census.
 
So what are your possible sources of income?
 
Borrow money –
but bankers don’t like to lend to people who have no income
 
Spouse –
if you are a two-income household, chances are your living expenses are based on both your income
 
Group Benefits – as a contract worker or owner-operator, you are most likely not covered under a typical employer-provided benefits plan. If you are, this could risk your status with WSIB and the Canada Revenue Agency. However, it is possible to create your own plan of protection.
 
Government Benefits - as a contract worker or owner-operator, you are not eligible for disability benefits through Employment Insurance (E.I.) if you are truly considered to be self-employed. W.S.I.B. also pays disability benefits, but only for work-related injuries and some work-related diseases. Whether you would qualify depends on your status with the WSIB.