Two of our highly regarded aviation
publications,
AIN and
BCA, reported
in the last couple months on maintenance
technician errors and accidents, and
technician personal injury and death.
A maintenance technician has been
ordered to stand trial for manslaughter
for negligence in improperly installing
a titanium strip that subsequently fell
onto the runway which triggered the
fatal Concorde crash that killed 113
people in July 2000.
In July 2008 two "contractors" were
injured-one critically-during an
explosion while performing leak tests on
oxygen bottles.
A technician was killed in April
2008 when he was hit in the head by
the aircraft entry door while trying
to enter the aircraft to
troubleshoot a problem unrelated to
the door.
These recent events all too
tragically demonstrate the very real
exposure maintenance technicians and
the companies that hire them have
should their acts, errors or
omissions cause an accident or
incident, damage to the aircraft,
injury or death to others, or their
own personal injury or death.
Coinciding with these reports
another publication produced an
article on "moonlighting" mechanics
and addresses varying types of
exposures to both the mechanics and
to the companies that hire them, in
the context of either an employee or
an "independent contractor" (IC).
The author states the No. 1
consideration is insurance coverage.
Do the mechanics you hire as IC's
either directly or, indirectly
through a 3rd party, carry
appropriate insurance for the work
they're asked to do? The specific
type of coverage for aircraft
technicians is Aviation
Products-Completed Operations
Liability Insurance. The specific
type of coverage for a technician's
personal injury or death is Workers'
Compensation.
It's highly predictable the IRS and
DOL consider these moonlighting
mechanics to be employees, not
independent contractors, who are to
be paid as W-2 workers, and who are
not exempt from overtime. (To view
DOL State ABC Tests,
click here.)
The next time you're flight
department is considering bringing
in additional help to supplement
your technician staff, ask yourself
this - Am I exposing my company to
litigation and monetary damages when
there is no liability coverage or
Workers Comp insurance provided on
behalf of my IC? Do I really want
the risk of an IRS or DOL audit and
the potential employment cost of
back taxes, SS and Medicare, and
Workers Comp penalties for
misclassifying these workers?
Don't get caught on this important
issue! Subscribe to Corporate
Aviators, Inc. Employer of Record
Payroll Service at
www.corporateaviators.com. Our
innovative online service
compensates your supplemental
maintenance technicians (and pilots
and flight attendants) as our W-2
Employees, provides the appropriate
aviation liability insurance and
Workers' Comp coverage, and pays
mandated overtime. Step through our
portal of compliance to peace of
mind!
