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Independent Contractors Franchisors State Labor Laws

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 -
Foley & Lardner LLP

DOL Alters Enforcement Position on Independent Contractors

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On May 1, 2025, the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a Field Assistance Bulletin stepping back from a restrictive independent contractor rule issued under the Biden administration — a...more

Foley Hoag LLP

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Rules that Independent Contractor Test Applies to Franchisees

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On March 24, 2022, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) ruled in Patel v. 7-Eleven that the test for independent contractor status set forth in the Massachusetts independent contractor statute applies to the...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Employee or Franchisee? Or Both? September 2021 News Update

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In the same month that 7-Eleven prevailed in a federal court trial where convenience store franchisees claimed they were not independent contractors but rather employees entitled to the protections of state labor laws, a...more

Lewitt Hackman

Franchisor 101: Is Matco the Next Jan-Pro?

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A federal court in California certified a class of Matco Tools franchisees who claimed to be misclassified by Matco as independent contractors rather than employees. They claimed Matco did this to avoid obligations owed to...more

Lewitt Hackman

Franchisor 101: AB 5’s Preemptive Strike

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Franchisors faced unprecedented challenges in 2020. Enactment of California’s Assembly Bill 5 on January 1, 2020 was just the tip of an iceberg. As the COVID-19 pandemic upended franchise systems across all industries,...more

Lewitt Hackman

Competing Tests: Employee or Independent Contractor? Saving the Franchise Model

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Download PDF Assembly Bill 5 took effect in California on January 1, 2020 and governs when a business can treat a worker as an employee as opposed to an independent contractor. Under AB5 and its “ABC” test, a hiring entity...more

Lewitt Hackman

Franchisor 101: The Wrong Tools to Avoid California Courts

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The Ninth Circuit ruled that a California Matco Tool franchisee, John Fleming, could bring a class action wage and hour suit in California, even though a forum selection clause in the distribution agreement specified Ohio...more

Lewitt Hackman

Franchise 101: California Assembly Bill 5 (2019)

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California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 5 (“AB-5”). AB-5 codifies into California’s Labor Code the “ABC test” for determining employee or independent contractor status, as adopted by the California...more

BCLP

New California Law Disrupts Franchise Relationships

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Winter is coming for franchisors in California.  Last year, the California Supreme Court decided to hold California businesses liable for the violation of Massachusetts labor statutes when it adopted the ABC test for...more

FordHarrison

Ninth Circuit Applies Dynamex Retroactively

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In 2018, the California Supreme Court adopted the “ABC test” for determining whether workers are independent contractors under California wage orders (the Dynamex decision). For a discussion of that decision....more

Fisher Phillips

January 2019: The Top 16 Labor And Employment Law Stories

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It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. While the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, there have been an unprecedented number of changes for the past few years—and this past month...more

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