Kansas Statutes Annotated

K.S.A. § 44-543 (2026)

Election by certain employees

✓ current as of May 2026

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44-543. Election by certain employees. (a) As used in this section:

(1) "Nonprofit organization" means those nonprofit organizations exempt from federal income tax pursuant to section 501(c) of the internal revenue code of 1986, as in effect on the effective date of this act.

(2) "Compensation" does not include actual and necessary expenses that are incurred by a volunteer officer, director or trustee in connection with the services that the volunteer performs for a nonprofit organization and that are reimbursed to the volunteer or otherwise paid.

(3) "Volunteer officer, director or trustee" means an officer, director or trustee who performs services for a nonprofit organization but does not receive compensation, either directly or indirectly, for those services.

(b) Any employee of a corporate employer who owns 10% or more of the outstanding stock of such employer, may file with the director, prior to injury, a written declaration that the employee elects not to accept the provisions of the workers compensation act, and at the same time, the employee shall file a duplicate of such election with the employer. Such election shall be valid only during the employee's term of employment with such employer. Any employee so electing and thereafter desiring to change the employee's election may do so by filing a written declaration to that effect with the director and a duplicate of such election with the employer. Any contract in which an employer requires of an employee as a condition of employment that the employee elect not to come within the provisions of the workers compensation act, shall be void. Any written declarations filed pursuant to this section shall be in such form as may be required by regulation of the director.

(c) Any noncompensated volunteer officer, director or trustee of a nonprofit corporation as defined in clause 3 of subsection (a) may elect to be covered by the provisions of the workers compensation act by filing with the director, prior to injury, a written declaration that the officer, director or trustee elects to accept the provisions of the workers compensation act, and at the same time, the person shall file a duplicate of such election with the employer and the employer's insurance company or qualified group-funded workers compensation pool.

History: L. 1927, ch. 232, § 51; L. 1959, ch. 221, § 1; L. 1961, ch. 243, § 11; L. 1974, ch. 203, § 38; L. 1996, ch. 79, § 11; April 4.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 3 cases, 1933–2012 · leading case: Hall v. Knoll Bldg. Maint., Inc., 285 P.3d 383 (Kan. Ct. App. 2012).

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Hall v. Knoll Bldg. Maint., Inc., 285 P.3d 383 (Kan. Ct. App. 2012). ““A corporate employer’s payroll for purposes of determining whether the employer is subject to the workers’ compensation act shall be determined by the total amount of payroll paid to all corporate employees even when a corporate employee has elected out of the workers’…”

Shields v. K.A.T. Transp., 53 P.3d 1242 (Kan. Ct. App. 2002). · cites it 2× “In support, he cites K.S.A. 44-543(b), which states, in part: “Any contract in which an employer requires of an employee as a condition of employment that the employee elect not to come within the provisions of the workers compensation act, shall be void.”

Schmeling v. F. W. Woolworth Co., 26 P.2d 265 (Kan. 1933). · cites it 2× “Section 44-543 concerns the election by the employee.”

— K.S.A. § 44-543(b) — 1 case

Shields v. K.A.T. Transp., 53 P.3d 1242 (Kan. Ct. App. 2002). “In support, he cites K.S.A. 44-543(b), which states, in part: “Any contract in which an employer requires of an employee as a condition of employment that the employee elect not to come within the provisions of the workers compensation act, shall be void.”

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