A delivery driver for gig economy company DoorDash has been ordered by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to take his misclassification case to a private arbitrator instead of court pursuant to a valid arbitration agreement he...more
4/30/2018
/ American Arbitration Association ,
Appeals ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Arbitrators ,
Class Certification ,
Collective Actions ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Employment Contract ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Wage and Hour
According to a recently released study by American Express and Institutional Investor, we can expect to see a slight increase in the use of freelancers and contract workers in the year ahead. “After a strong 2017, economies...more
In another victory for gig economy companies reliant upon the independent contractor business model, a Pennsylvania federal court ruled on April 11th that a collection of UberBLACK drivers were properly classified as...more
4/13/2018
/ Class Action ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Gig Economy ,
GrubHub ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Ridesharing ,
Right to Control ,
Uber ,
Wage and Hour
With the Senate’s confirmation of John Ring to the National Labor Relations Board on April 11 and the administration’s subsequent announcement on April 12 that he will be designated as the agency’s Chair, the Board is once...more
In a landmark decision that will accelerate the growing pay equity movement, especially for employers on the west coast, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals today became the latest federal court of appeals to rule that employers...more
At the forefront of mind of every gig economy company is the troublesome question of whether its workers are properly classified as independent contractors. Just search our blog for cases involving “misclassification” and...more
3/23/2018
/ 1099s ,
ABC Test ,
Appeals ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Economic Realities Test ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Right to Control ,
W-2
If you work for a certain large company, at any of its many operations across the country, you have the opportunity to enter to win $1 million dollars each year for life when you fill out a March Madness bracket. To hit the...more
We knew we hadn’t heard the end of this case, but yesterday it’s official: the worker who lost what is believed to be the nation’s first-ever gig economy misclassification trial last month has filed an appeal with the 9th...more
Imagine one of your worst corporate nightmares comes true: a government body has determined that you have misclassified your workers, and they should be considered employees and not contractors. The ramifications could be...more
A short policy memorandum quietly issued by the U.S. Department of Justice’s No. 3 official late last month could end up having positive implications for employers defending claims brought by the federal government. The...more
2/20/2018
/ Attorney General ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employment Litigation ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Memorandum of Guidance ,
OFCCP ,
OSHA ,
Policy Memorandums ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Trump Administration
A unanimous block of attorneys general from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, not to mention several U.S. territories, sent a letter to Congress on February 12th asking federal lawmakers to prohibit the use of...more
According to a report in today’s Washington Examiner, we may be on the verge of getting some hard data that would show just exactly how big the gig economy really is. Reporter Sean Higgins says that the Bureau of Labor...more
By now, you’ve probably heard the good news: a federal judge yesterday ruled in favor of Grubhub and pronounced that a delivery driver who was challenging the independent contractor classification model was not, in fact, an...more
In what is believed to be the first time in our nation’s history that a trial court has reached a judicial merits determination in a gig economy misclassification case, a federal judge in California ruled in favor of the...more
2/9/2018
/ Class Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Employees ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gig Economy ,
GrubHub ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Right to Control
Early last month, we told you that a critical trial ruling in a gig economy misclassification case could be put on hold because a separate court was mulling whether to loosen the test to make it easier for workers to succeed...more
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals heard argument today over a proposal that would permit ride-sharing drivers who work for companies such as Uber and Lyft to organize and form unions. Given what could be at stake—the potential...more
2/7/2018
/ Appeals ,
Chamber of Commerce ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Local Ordinance ,
Lyft ,
Oral Argument ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Ridesharing ,
State Action Doctrine ,
Uber ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions
For the first time, a large, publicly traded company—Japanese web-business GMO Internet—has announced that it will soon offer its employees the chance to receive their pay in the world’s most popular cryptocurrency: bitcoin....more
2/2/2018
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
Compensation ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Fair Market Value ,
IRS ,
Minimum Wage ,
Over-Time ,
Popular ,
Wage and Hour
Last week was a big week when it comes to shining the spotlight on sexual harassment in the gig economy arena. On Thursday, Nathan Heller wrote a piece for the New Yorker that garnered a lot of attention entitled, “The Gig...more
A state appellate court in Pennsylvania issued a ruling yesterday that should further aid the growth of the gig economy in the state, and if its reasoning is followed by courts in other states, could offer another helping...more
If Congress cannot approve a budget by this Friday at midnight, the federal government will shut down. What will this mean for employers across the country? A look back at the most recent government shutdown will provide...more
1/18/2018
/ Budget Reconciliation ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
E-Verify ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Government Shutdown ,
Green Cards ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRB ,
OSHA ,
PERM ,
Small Business ,
Trump Administration ,
US State Departments ,
USCIS ,
Visas ,
Wage and Hour ,
Work Visas ,
Workplace Safety
Among my list of “must-read” workplace law summaries is the weekly “Punching In” column put out by Chris Opfer and Ben Penn over at Bloomberg Law’s Labor and Employment Blog every Monday morning. This week’s edition contains...more
1/9/2018
/ Association Health Plans ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Entrepreneurs ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gig Economy ,
Health Insurance ,
Income Taxes ,
Independent Contractors ,
Small Business ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Rates ,
Tax Reform
The first few days of 2018 might not be going to plan for those gig economy businesses hoping that the new year might bring some relief in the seemingly never-ending misclassification struggle. As we sit on pins and needles...more
You are probably familiar with the concept of transgender status and, even if you haven’t already addressed such a situation at your workplace, you probably have a rough idea of how you would handle a situation involving an...more
1/2/2018
/ Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Birth Certificates ,
Dress Codes ,
Driver's Licenses ,
EEO-1 ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Gender Identity ,
Gender Neutral ,
LGBTQ ,
Title VII ,
Transgender
We recently ran an article about some major developments that will impact all employers as a result of the recently passed tax reform bill. But now you might be asking what specific changes might be in store for gig economy...more
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1), passed by Congress on December 20 and expected to be signed into law by President Trump in the coming days, contains several provisions that will directly impact employers and workplace...more
12/22/2017
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Business Ownership ,
Confidentiality Agreements ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fringe Benefits ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Individual Mandate ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Paid Leave ,
Repeal ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Tax Credits ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Incentives ,
Tax Reform ,
Trump Administration ,
Wage and Hour