For the purposes of ARM Title 24, chapter 35, the following definitions apply:

(1) "Department" means the Montana Department of Labor and Industry.

(2) "Employment status" means the employment relationship between an individual and a hiring agent.

(3) "Fixed business location" means a principle place of business for any trade, occupation, profession, or business that is designated by the owner as the physical location where customers are directed for any physical contacts with the business and is the actual location where the majority of the business work is regularly performed. More than a place to store inventory or product samples, a fixed business location is where a person engages in work intended for commerce.

(4) "Hiring agent" means the entity that hires an individual to perform services. A hiring agent may be an "employer" as defined in 39-3-201, MCA; 39-51-202, MCA; 39-71-117, MCA; or other legal entity as defined by an "employing unit" in 39-51-201, MCA.

(5) "Incomplete application" means an application submitted for an exemption as an independent contractor that fails to qualify for a minimum of 15 points due to insufficient, missing, unverifiable, or incorrect information; or due to failure to submit an essential component, such as a signed and notarized waiver or required fee.

(6) "Independent Contractor Central Unit" or "ICCU" means the unit located within the department which is responsible for making employment status decisions for the entire department and other agencies that elect to participate in the ICCU. The ICCU evaluates ICEC applications and investigates working relationships identified in complaints and referrals.

(7) "Independent Contractor Exemption Certificate" or "ICEC" means a certificate issued by the department that signifies a person meets the criteria for an exemption from the provisions of the Workers' Compensation Act for a specific trade, occupation, profession, or business.

(8) "Individual" means a person who renders service in the course of a trade, occupation, profession, or business.

(9) "Initial application" means a person's first-time application for exemption as an independent contractor for a particular trade(s), occupation(s), profession(s), or business(es).

(10) "Party" means a person or entity designated by the department as plaintiff or respondent in an ICCU decision-making proceeding. The department, the claimant, employer(s), hiring agent(s), ICEC holders, insurer(s), or agencies of state government may be a party to an ICCU decision-making proceeding or appeal of an ICCU decision to the Workers' Compensation Court.

(11) "Person" means an individual. A person may be a sole proprietor, working member of a partnership, working member of a limited liability partnership, or working member of a member-managed limited liability company. An officer or manager who has elected to apply for an ICEC pursuant to 39-71-417, MCA, is a person for the purposes of these rules.

(12) "Renewal affidavit" means an application for renewal of an existing ICEC held by that person.

(13) "Revoked" and "revocation" mean that an ICEC is no longer in force or effect.

(14) "Similarly situated individuals" means people who render services for an employer under circumstances substantially the same as those under which the subject individual's services were performed.

(15) "Suspended" and "suspension" mean that a person's ICEC is not applicable to a particular job or to a series of jobs for a particular hiring agent.