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Independent Contractors Employee Definition Employment Litigation

Independent contractors are individuals or entities that perform work for other individuals or entities, but are not employees of those individuals or entities. Whether a worker is an employee or an independent... more +
Independent contractors are individuals or entities that perform work for other individuals or entities, but are not employees of those individuals or entities. Whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor is not always an easy determination. However, due to differences in tax and liability treatment, misclassifying an employee as an independent contractor can have serious consequences. Autonomy is the defining feature of independent contractor arrangements. Independent contractors control the manner and method of how work is performed while payers control the desired result. Control over schedule and number of hours worked, ownership of equipment or tools, permanency of relationship, and acceptance of jobs from multiple entities are all possible factors in determining whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor.   less -
Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Fourth Circuit Says Use of Noncompetes Indicates Employment Instead of Contractor Relationship

In recent years, state courts have questioned whether independent contractors can be placed under enforceable post-engagement noncompetition agreements. ...more

Cranfill Sumner LLP

We Can Work It Out: U.S. Department of Labor Pauses Reliance on 2024 Independent Contractor Rule in its Enforcement of Independent...

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The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is again signaling changes in how it will evaluate independent contractor relationships in its enforcement actions. In 2024, the department issued a final rule that revised the standards...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Republican-Backed Congressional Proposal in Congress Seeks to Allow Companies to Offer Benefits to Independent Contractors: April...

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Last month, the most significant legal development in the area of independent contractor (IC) compliance and misclassification was on Capitol Hill. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a Senate Republican who chairs the Senate Health,...more

BCLP

HK Court Rules That Gig Delivery Driver Was Not an Employee

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With the continued prevalence of the “gig economy”, a common question that arises is whether “gig workers” are employees or independent contractors of the digital platform. ...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Artificial Intelligence Industry Faces Independent Contractor Misclassification Claim: December 2024 IC Legal News Update

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As the business of artificial intelligence is expanding, it seemed it was only a matter of time before the AI industry became the subject of an independent contractor misclassification lawsuit. Last month, one of the leading...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Newest State Independent Contractor Pay Protection Law Creates Uncertainties: October 2024 ‎IC Legal News Update

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The most significant legal development in the past month in the area of independent contractor compliance was the enactment of California’s Freelance Worker Protection Act, which goes into effect on January 1, 2025. We have...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Appellate Courts Restore a Measure of Sanity to Independent Contractor Classification Under Massachusetts’ Wage Law

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In a refreshing break for business in the Bay State, two recent appellate court decisions have confirmed that legitimate independent contractor relationships are alive and well in Massachusetts. Those decisions are Patel, et...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Upholds 7-Eleven Franchise System in Denying Franchisees’ Challenge to Their Independent...

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On September 5, 2024, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) answered a second certified question in Patel, et al. v. 7-Eleven, Inc., et al. (“Patel II”), a long-running case where 7-Eleven franchisees claimed they...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Independent Contractor Misclassification Lawsuits Involve Record Label Artists, Imam, ‎and Recyclable Sorters: August 2024 IC...

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The legal developments in the area of independent contractor misclassification and compliance last month include cases against a record label company, an Islamic Center, and a waste recycling company. Lawsuits for IC...more

PilieroMazza PLLC

Call It What It Is: D.C. Cracks Down on Employee Misclassification in Construction

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Employee misclassification is an area of employment law that has steadily become a prominent subject of litigation in recent years. The decision of whether a specific worker is properly identified as an employee or...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Jurors Disagree on Whether Ride Share Drivers Are Independent Contractors or ‎Employees: June 2024 IC Legal News Update ‎

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Lawyers representing ride share drivers have argued for years that their clients are being misclassified as independent contractors under federal and state laws. They have attained little success, however, obtaining...more

Cranfill Sumner LLP

Exception for “Transportation Workers” Under the Federal Arbitration Act Grows Larger

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The courts will generally enforce employee arbitration agreements via the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”). However, a “transportation workers” exemption exists under the FAA. On April 12, 2024, the United States Supreme Court...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Employment Flash - March 2024

In this issue of Employment Flash: the new DOL rule on independent contractors, SCOTUS’s unanimous Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower ruling, plus labor law developments in California, Delaware, D.C., New York, the EU, Germany and...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Can Last-Mile and Logistics Companies Compel Arbitration of Independent Contractor ‎Misclassification Cases? July 2023 IC Legal...

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We report on three case developments during July 2023 that raise the question whether last-mile, logistics, and delivery companies alleged to have misclassified drivers as independent contractors can compel arbitration of...more

Butler Snow LLP

Atlanta Opera: The NLRB Faces the Independent Contractor Music Once More

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On June 13, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) released a decision, referred to as Atlanta Opera Inc. (372 NLRB No. 95), that marks a shift in the applicable test for whether a worker qualifies as an independent...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Another Unemployment Setback for Gig Economy Companies Using Independent ‎Contractors: April 2023 IC Legal News Update

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We reported in our October 10, 2022 blog post that Uber had agreed to pay $100 million in back unemployment taxes to the New Jersey Department of Labor for having classified drivers as independent contractors. Another state...more

Littler

Dutch Supreme Court Finds On-Demand Deliverers Are Not Self-employed

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The Dutch Supreme Court has just ruled that Deliveroo meal deliverers are not self-employed, but rather “regular” employees. With this decision the Supreme Court confirms the earlier judgments of the Cantonal Court and the...more

CDF Labor Law LLP

California Court Of Appeal Holds That App-Based Driver And Delivery Businesses Can Properly Classify Workers As Independent...

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On March 13, 2023, in Castellanos v. State of California, the California Court of Appeal handed down a pink unicorn decision in favor of app-based driver and delivery businesses that permits them to properly classify workers...more

BakerHostetler

You Can Contract If You Want To: California Appellate Court Leaves Prop 22 Largely Intact

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On March 13, a California Court of Appeal reversed most of a lower court ruling invalidating Proposition 22, the state’s 2020 voter-approved gig economy law allowing giant app-based ride-hailing and delivery companies, like...more

Genova Burns LLC

Appellate Division Concludes that ABC Test Does Not Apply in Determining Real Estate Agent Employment Status

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In a recent decision in Kennedy v. Weichert Co., the New Jersey Appellate Division concluded that the “ABC Test” under the Unemployment Compensation Law is inapplicable in determining a real estate salesperson status an...more

Lathrop GPM

Ninth Circuit Affirms Decision that Franchisees Are Not Employees of Franchisor

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The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed a decision that a group of franchisees are not employees of their franchisor, even though the trial court failed to apply the correct test. Haitayan v. 7-Eleven, Inc., 2022...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Federal Court Finds In-Home Caregivers Were Employees, Not Independent Contractors, Under ‘Economic Realities/Control’ Test

Issues related to whether individuals are independent contractors or employees receive significant attention by employers and governmental entities because of the critical impact of misclassification. The U.S. Department of...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Trucker Protest Over California Independent Contractor Law Shuts Down Port of Oakland

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The U.S. Supreme Court recently denied the California Trucking Association's (CTA) petition for certiorari related to a case involving federal preemption of California Assembly Bill 5 (AB-5), a law that changed the legal...more

Littler

New Jersey High Court Says Separate Corporate Structure Not Enough to Establish Independent Contractor Status

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On August 2, 2022, the Supreme Court of New Jersey handed down a key ruling that significantly impacts how companies across the state should classify workers as independent contractors. In East Bay Drywall, LLC. v. Department...more

Littler

U.S. Court of Appeals Offers Guidance on Applicability of Massachusetts Wage and Hour Laws to Out-of-State Workers

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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit recently affirmed a district court finding that the Massachusetts Wage Act did not apply to a person who mostly lived and worked in Florida. While the court’s decision in...more

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