Subcontracting as a climber: questions to ask about cover

This is not legal or insurance advice. It describes what official pages say and lists questions a climber can put to a company. Tax status and injury cover are two different systems, and the answer in one does not settle the other. The earlier guide on what tree-work insurance covers explains the kinds of cover named here.

Employee or contractor: what the tax authorities say

Each country's tax office has its own test. None of them says the label in the contract decides it.

United States

The IRS sorts the evidence into three groups, described on its page about independent contractor, self-employed or employee. Behavioral control asks whether the company controls what the worker does and how. Financial control covers how the worker is paid, whether expenses are reimbursed and who provides tools and supplies. The type of relationship covers written contracts, employee-type benefits such as insurance, whether the relationship continues, and whether the work is a key part of the business. If it is still unclear, the page says you may submit Form SS-8 to the IRS. The page says a determination can take at least six months.

Canada

The CRA page for a contract formed outside Quebec uses two steps. First it asks what the worker and the payer intended when they entered into the arrangement, a contract of service or a contract for services. Then it looks at the working relationship: the payer's control over the worker's activities, who provides the tools and equipment, whether the worker can subcontract the work or hire assistants, the worker's financial risk, responsibility for investment and management, and opportunity for profit. A contract formed in Quebec is judged under the Civil Code of Québec, with a different approach. Anyone unsure can ask the CRA for a CPP/EI ruling. The CRA cancelled its older guide on this, RC4110, in January 2026; these web pages replace it.

United Kingdom

GOV.UK describes self-employed and contractor status this way. It says a person is self-employed if they run their business for themselves and take responsibility for its success or failure. It lists signs that someone is probably self-employed, when most are true: they bid or quote for work, are not under direct supervision, send invoices, pay their own National Insurance and tax, and get no holiday or sick pay. The page says a contractor can be self-employed, and it points to the Construction Industry Scheme and the IR35 off-payroll rules as special tax rules. The same page says HMRC may regard someone as self-employed for tax even if they have a different status in employment law. HMRC offers a check employment status for tax tool that anyone can use, including workers.

Australia

The government's business.gov.au page on employee or contractor says employees work in someone else's business under that person's control, while contractors run their own. It says the question is not as simple as whether someone has an ABN or sends invoices, and that wrongly telling an employee they are a contractor is called sham contracting, which is illegal.

Its page on contractor responsibilities says a contractor counts as an employee for superannuation if the contract is mainly for labour (more than 50% of the contract's dollar value), is for the contractor's personal labour or skills rather than a result, and the contractor cannot delegate the work. It also says contractors should get their own income protection insurance, as hirers do not generally cover them for paid sick leave or workers compensation.

New Zealand

Inland Revenue's leaflet Self-employed or an employee says there is no single test and that tax and Accident Compensation laws treat the two groups differently. It says a contract calling you an independent contractor does not make you self-employed, because the working conditions decide. Its questions for self-employment include who controls how, when and where the work is done, who provides the major assets and working equipment, and whether you can get other people to work for you without permission. Its employee questions include whether you must do the work yourself. The leaflet linked is the 2020 edition.

Tree work and the UK Construction Industry Scheme

The UK Construction Industry Scheme makes contractors deduct money from subcontractors' payments and pass it to HMRC. The scheme page says it covers most construction work to a permanent or temporary building or structure, and to civil engineering work like roads and bridges. It does not name tree work, felling or landscaping. Whether a given tree job counts as construction work is not answered by the pages linked here.

Whose injury cover applies

The pages below say how injury cover treats self-employed people and contractors in each place.

United States. No page on how US workers compensation treats a subcontractor is linked here.
New Zealand. ACC says self-employed people, shareholder-employees and contractors pay the Earners levy, the Work levy and the Working Safer levy, and get an invoice after filing a tax return. ACC says you are covered as soon as you start working for yourself. See ACC levies for people who work or own a business. ACC also says self-employed people and contractors are placed automatically on CoverPlus, which pays up to 80% of taxable income from the most recently completed financial year if an accident stops you working, and can choose CoverPlus Extra instead. See ACC cover for the self-employed.
Ontario. The WSIB says an independent operator is not automatically covered by the business they work for. It says an independent operator can choose to be insured, and that work in construction has a different process. See the WSIB page on independent operators.
British Columbia. WorkSafeBC lists contractors and subcontractors, and self-employed proprietors, as groups with their own coverage pages. It also offers a tool to check if a contractor is insured. See WorkSafeBC coverage rules.
United Kingdom. GOV.UK says Employers Liability insurance, for at least £5 million, is needed as soon as you become an employer, to help pay compensation if an employee is injured or ill because of their work for you. It says you can be fined £2,500 every day you are not properly insured, and the page speaks of employees only. See employers liability insurance.
Australia. The business.gov.au page says that if you are an independent contractor you may need your own insurance, and that a business hiring a contractor should check with its state or territory workers compensation regulator. It also says workers compensation insurance does not cover sole traders. See types of business insurance.

Certificates, clearances and additional insured

Companies often show their paperwork with a certificate of insurance or a clearance. The WSIB describes a clearance as a unique number issued to registered businesses that shows a business, contractor or subcontractor is registered and up to date. It says a clearance is valid for up to 90 days. See the WSIB page on clearances. WorkSafeBC lets anyone check whether a contractor is insured.

The term additional insured often appears in subcontract paperwork. No official page linked here defines it.

Questions to ask before the first day

Am I being engaged as an employee or as a contractor, and which tax authority test did you use?
If I am hurt on your job, whose workers compensation, employers liability or ACC cover responds?
Can I see a certificate of insurance or clearance for your company, and when does it run out?
Do I need my own general liability policy, and does the contract say what limit?
Does your policy cover the kinds of work in this job, such as removals near buildings, crane work or storm work?
Who owns and insures the saws, ropes, chipper and truck I will use?
Am I named as an additional insured on anything, and what does that mean in your policy?
Does the contract make me responsible for damage, and does it say who pays the deductible?