Ala. Code
Code of Alabama

Ala. Code § 25-5-50 (2026)

Applicability; Exemptions; Coverage for School Boards, Volunteer Fire Departments, and Rescue Squads; Sports Officials.

✓ official Alabama Legislature (ALISON) text, current July 2026
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(a) This article and Article 2 of this chapter shall not be construed or held to apply to an employer of a domestic employee; an employer of a farm laborer; an employer of a person whose employment at the time of the injury is casual and not in the usual course of the trade, business, profession, or occupation of the employer; an employer who regularly employs less than five employees in any one business, other than the business of constructing or assisting on-site in the construction of new single-family, detached residential dwellings; or a municipality having a population of less than 2,000 according to the most recent federal decennial census. An employer who regularly employs less than five employees in any one business; a farm-labor employer; an employer of a domestic employee; or a municipality having a population of less than 2,000 according to the most recent federal decennial census, may accept and become subject to this article and Article 4 of this chapter by filing written notice thereof with the Department of Labor, a copy thereof to be posted at the place of business of the employer; provided further, that an employer who has so elected to accept this article and Article 4 of this chapter may at any time withdraw the acceptance by giving like notice of withdrawal. Notwithstanding the foregoing, an employer electing not to accept coverage under this article and Article 4 of this chapter shall notify in writing each employee of the withdrawal of coverage. Additionally, the employer shall post a notice in a conspicuous place notifying all employees and applicants for employment that workers’ compensation insurance coverage is not available.

(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), an officer of a corporation or individual limited liability company member may elect to be exempt from coverage by filing written certification of the election with the employer’s insurance carrier. The exemption shall remain in effect at all times, unless properly revoked as provided herein, including subsequent coverage years with the same workers’ compensation carrier.

At the end of any calendar year, a corporate officer or individual limited liability company member who has been exempted, by proper certification from coverage, may revoke the exemption and thereby accept coverage by filing written certification of his or her election to be covered with the employer’s insurance carrier.

The certification for exemption or reinstatement of coverage shall become effective on the first day of the calendar month following the filing of the certification of exemption or reinstatement of coverage with the employer’s insurance carrier.

If the corporate officer or individual limited liability company member elects to be exempt from coverage, the election shall not relieve the employer from continuing coverage for all other eligible employees who may have been covered prior to the election or who may subsequently be employed by the employer. Notwithstanding any election made pursuant to this provision, the election by the corporate officer or individual limited liability company member does not otherwise change his or her status as an employee for the purpose of determining the threshold number of employees necessary to invoke or trigger the applicability of this chapter.

(c) A corporate officer or individual limited liability company member seeking to secure coverage by revoking an existing exemption, at any time other than the end of the calendar year, in addition to complying with the provisions of subsection (b), shall execute an affidavit verifying that he or she has not suffered an employment accident, exposure, or injury from the date of exemption until the date of the written certification of the election to reinstate coverage. Any corporate officer or individual limited liability company member who fails to execute an affidavit or comply with other terms and conditions of the workers’ compensation carrier shall not be entitled to revoke the previous exemption until the end of the calendar year.

The revocation of the exemption and reinstatement of coverage shall become effective on the first day of the calendar month following the written acceptance of the certification of exemption or reinstatement of coverage by the employer’s workers’ compensation insurance carrier.

(d) This section shall not be construed to mandate any school board to provide coverage until sufficient funds are appropriated from the Education Trust Fund to implement the provisions. Nothing contained herein shall prohibit any school board that voluntarily elects to provide such coverage from doing so with local or other available funds.

(e) This section shall provide for voluntary coverage of certified volunteer fire departments as described in Section 9-3-17 and legally organized rescue squads that meet the minimum personnel and equipment standards as established by the Alabama Association of Rescue Squads, that are engaged in fighting a fire or performing other duties involving any emergency incident and while performing any official supervised duties of the organization, including maintaining equipment and attending official training classes, and while traveling to and from an emergency incident.

(f) In all cases where an injury that is compensable under the terms of the Alabama Workers’ Compensation Law is received by a volunteer fire fighter or rescue squad member, the wages for purposes of computing the average weekly wage shall be equal to 66 2/3 percent of what he or she is earning at his or her regular place of employment or 66 2/3 percent of the minimum wage, whichever is greater.

(g) State certified volunteer fire departments and legally organized rescue squads are herein granted the right to purchase workers’ compensation medical or disability insurance, or both, but in no event are they required to do so.

In no event shall the regular employer of a volunteer fire fighter or rescue squad member be liable for a compensable injury under this section.

(h) A licensed real estate agent operating under a licensed broker shall not be considered an employee for the purposes of this chapter.

(i) An individual who performs services as a product demonstrator shall not be considered an employee for purposes of this chapter. The term product demonstrator shall mean any individual who satisfies both of the following requirements:

(1) Is engaged in the trade or business of demonstrating, exhibiting, or soliciting the purchase of food, food-related products offered for sale, or other consumer products offered for sale to any buyer on the premises of a grocery store, dry good store, or similar retail establishment, or trade show;

(2) Who performs those services pursuant to a written contract between the individual and a person whose principal business is providing demonstrators to third parties for such purposes and the contract provides that the individual will not be treated as an employee with respect to the services for federal tax purposes.

(j)(1) For purposes of this subsection, sports official means an individual who is a neutral participant in a sports event, including, without limitation, an umpire, a referee, judge, linesman, scorekeeper, or timekeeper. Sports official does not include any person, otherwise employed by an organization or entity sponsoring a sports event, who performs services as a sports official as a part of his or her regular employment.

(2) A person who performs services as a sports official for an entity sponsoring an interscholastic or intercollegiate sports event or if such person performs services as a sports official for a public entity or a private, nonprofit organization which sponsors an amateur sports event shall be an independent contractor and not an employee.

(3) Any sports official who officiates a sports event at any level of competition in Alabama shall not be liable to any person or entity in any civil action for injuries or damages claimed to have arisen by virtue of actions or inaction related in any manner to officiating duties at a sports event, provided the official does not act willfully, maliciously, fraudulently, or in a manner that is contrary to how a reasonably prudent official would act under the same or similar circumstances.

(Code 1923, §7543; Acts 1939, No. 661, p. 1036, §2; Code 1940, T. 26, §263; Acts 1971, No. 667, p. 1376, §3; Acts 1973, No. 1062, p. 1750, §5; Acts 1975, No. 565, p. 1299, §2; Acts 1975, 4th Ex. Sess., No. 86, p. 2622, §3; Acts 1979, No. 79-325, p. 488; Acts 1983, No. 83-592, p. 925, §1; Acts 1984, No. 84-322, p. 741, §2; Acts 1992, No. 92-537, p. 1082, §10; Acts 1993, No. 93-649, p. 1121, §1; Acts 1996, No. 96-260, p. 289, §1; Act 2008-395, p. 764, §1; Act 2012-523, p. 1549, §1; Act 2017-390, §1.)

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 37 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1978–2025 · leading case: Hooks v. Coastal Stone Works, Inc., 164 So. 3d 592 (Ala. Civ. App. 2014).
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Hooks v. Coastal Stone Works, Inc., 164 So. 3d 592 (Ala. Civ. App. 2014). · cites it 19× “On appeal, Hooks contends that relief premised on Coastal’s second motion for a summary judgment is barred by the law-of-the-case doctrine and that he should be entitled to coverage under the Act because § 25-5-50 required him to renew his certification of exemption each year.”
JWM, INC. v. Raines, 779 So. 2d 247 (Ala. Civ. App. 2000). · cites it 9× “In other words, it is the nature of the work the employee does that determines whether he is a `farm laborer' for purposes of Ala.Code § 25-5-50 (1975). Therefore, generally speaking, the employer's business can be agricultural, but if the employee's work is nonagricultural or…”
Patrick v. Miller, 440 So. 2d 1096 (Ala. Civ. App. 1983). · cites it 5× “The employer moved for summary judgment on the grounds that the employee was a “farm laborer” at the time of his injury and as such is exempted from workmen’s compensation coverage by Ala.Code § 25-5-50 (1975). The employer submitted an affidavit stating that the employee’s job…”
Ward v. Check Into Cash of Alabama, LLC, 981 So. 2d 434 (Ala. Civ. App. 2007). · cites it 2× “This presumption may be overcome by evidence indicating that the employer has elected not to accept coverage by notifying its employees in writing and posting a notice to its employees and applicants that workers' compensation insurance coverage is not available.”
Birmingham Hockey Club, Inc. v. NCCI, INC., 827 So. 2d 73 (Ala. 2002). “See § 25-5-8 and § 25-5-50 et seq., Ala.Code 1975. Generally, employers purchase workers' compensation insurance policies in the "voluntary market" from an insurer who voluntarily agrees to underwrite the employer's risk.”
J.C. Hudson, Jr. v. Renosol Seating, LLC, 73 So. 3d 1267 (Ala. Civ. App. 2011). · cites it 3× “Article 3 of the Act, subject to certain exceptions involving smaller employing entities that are exempted by statute (see generally Ala.Code 1975, § 25-5-50), mandates that “compensation .”
Cason v. Miller, 202 So. 3d 669 (Ala. 2016). “] Code 1975, § 25-5-50.” The Casons did not argue below, nor do they argue on appeal, that their Employer’s Liability Act claim comes under any of the exemptions from coverage under the Workers’ Compensation Act.”
Ex Parte Am. Color Graphics, Inc., 838 So. 2d 385 (Ala. 2002). “Analysis Initially, we note that the Alabama Workers' Compensation Act, § 25-5-50 et seq., Ala.Code 1975, provides that an appellate court's review of the proof and consideration of other legal issues in a *388 workers' compensation case shall be without a presumption of…”
Smith v. Thrower Nursery, Inc., 360 So. 2d 741 (Ala. 1978). · cites it 6× “The trial court held that under § 25-5-50, Code of Ala.1975 (formerly Tit.”
Williams v. Valley View Health & Rehab., LLC, 64 So. 3d 638 (Ala. Civ. App. 2010). · cites it 2× “, specifically, Ala.Code 1975, §§ 25-5-50 through 25-5-93, which Code sections apply to personal injuries that result from an accident arising out of and in the course of a worker’s employment.”
Ohio Cas. Ins. Co. v. Bailey, 814 So. 2d 889 (Ala. Civ. App. 2001). · cites it 6× “Beverly argued that under § 25-5-50, Ala.Code 1975, such a waiver had to filed annually, and that no waiver had been filed under FAS or Vinyl Mark’s policies in 1999.”
Treadwell v. A-O Mach. Co., Inc., 749 So. 2d 1265 (Ala. Civ. App. 1998). · cites it 5× “Following an ore tenus proceeding, the court, on October 1, 1997, entered an order finding that A-0 Machine employed fewer than five employees and that it was, therefore, exempt from the Workers’ Compensation Act, pursuant to § 25-5-50, Ala.Code 1975. The court entered a…”
Show all 37 citing cases →
Ala. Code § 25-5-50(a): 7 cases
Ward v. Check Into Cash of Alabama, LLC, 981 So. 2d 434 (Ala. Civ. App. 2007). “This presumption may be overcome by evidence indicating that the employer has elected not to accept coverage by notifying its employees in writing and posting a notice to its employees and applicants that workers' compensation insurance coverage is not available.”
JWM, INC. v. Raines, 779 So. 2d 247 (Ala. Civ. App. 2000). “In other words, it is the nature of the work the employee does that determines whether he is a `farm laborer' for purposes of Ala.Code § 25-5-50 (1975). Therefore, generally speaking, the employer's business can be agricultural, but if the employee's work is nonagricultural or…”
Gordon v. West Weaver Baptist Church, 777 So. 2d 734 (Ala. Civ. App. 2000).
Treadwell v. A-O Mach. Co., 749 So. 2d 1268 (Ala. 1999).
Derrick Crenshaw, as parent & next friend of Iyana Crenshaw, a minor v. Sonic Drive In of Greenville, Inc. (Appeal from Butler Circuit Court: CV-23-900074). (Ala. 2024).
Ala. Code § 25-5-50(b): 3 cases
Hooks v. Coastal Stone Works, Inc., 164 So. 3d 592 (Ala. Civ. App. 2014). “On appeal, Hooks contends that relief premised on Coastal’s second motion for a summary judgment is barred by the law-of-the-case doctrine and that he should be entitled to coverage under the Act because § 25-5-50 required him to renew his certification of exemption each year.”
Ohio Cas. Ins. Co. v. Bailey, 814 So. 2d 889 (Ala. Civ. App. 2001). “Beverly argued that under § 25-5-50, Ala.Code 1975, such a waiver had to filed annually, and that no waiver had been filed under FAS or Vinyl Mark’s policies in 1999.”
Derrick Crenshaw, as parent & next friend of Iyana Crenshaw, a minor v. Sonic Drive In of Greenville, Inc. (Appeal from Butler Circuit Court: CV-23-900074). (Ala. 2024).
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