§ 142.001.Definitions

Two definitions, and together they set who the chapter protects an employer against claims about.

"Employee" means a person other than an independent contractor who, for compensation, performs services for an employer under a written or oral contract for hire, whether express or implied.

"Independent contractor" takes its meaning from the Labor Code provision on that term.

The exclusion of independent contractors is the consequential part. The chapter’s protection is confined to claims about employees, so a business sued over the conduct of a contractor it engaged gets nothing from it.

That is a real gap, because a great deal of work reaching into homes and workplaces is done by contractors rather than employees — and the line between the two is itself frequently litigated.

"For compensation" excludes volunteers, who are dealt with by the charitable immunity chapter instead.

"Whether express or implied" and "written or oral" between them reach the informal arrangement, so an employer cannot claim the protection was unavailable because nothing was signed — nor lose it for the same reason.

Note that the operative section extends beyond employers to a general contractor, premises owner, or other third party, so the protection is wider than the employment relationship even though the definition is not.