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Who is an employee

Find out the definition of an employee under the Workers' Compensation law.
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Who is considered an employee?

MGL c. 152, § 1(4) states that an employee is "every person in the service of another under any contract of hire, express or implied, oral or written." Exceptions include, but are not limited to:

  • Seamen engaged in interstate/foreign commerce;
  • Salesmen of real estate or consumer good who works on a commission, or buy/sell basis, other than in a retail establishment, (with a written contract stating they are not treated as an employee under federal tax law);
  • Taxi drivers who lease their cabs on a fee basis not related to fares collected (and who are not treated as an employee under federal tax law);
  • Persons engage in interstate/foreign commerce that is covered by federal law for compensation for injury or death.

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