(1) "Employer" means any person, body of persons, corporate or otherwise, and the legal representatives of a deceased employer, all while engaged in this state in any work covered by the provisions of this title, by way of trade or business, or who contracts with one or more workers, the essence of which is the personal labor of such worker or workers. Or as an exception to the definition of employer, persons or entities are not employers when they contract or agree to remunerate the services performed by an individual who meets the tests set forth in RCW 51.08.195 (1) through (6) or the separate tests set forth in RCW 51.08.181 for work performed that requires registration under chapter 18.27 RCW or licensing under chapter 18.106 or 19.28 RCW.
(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1) of this section, and for purposes of this title only, a transportation network company, as defined in RCW 49.46.300, shall have the same rights and obligations of an "employer" under this title with respect to a driver, as defined in RCW 49.46.300, only while the driver is engaged in passenger platform time and dispatch platform time.