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Independent Contractors Gig Economy 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 -
Troutman Pepper Locke

Health Care Industry Under Attack for Independent Contractor Misclassification: July 2025 IC Legal News Update

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Unless you were in the health care industry, July 2025 was a relatively slow month for judicial developments in the law of independent contractor (IC) misclassification and compliance. Only two significant IC cases came to...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Artificial Intelligence Industry Targeted for Independent Contractor Misclassification Lawsuits: May 2025 IC Legal News Update

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Five months ago, we reported about a class action lawsuit against an artificial intelligence (AI) company that engages workers to perform data labeling and content creation and classifies them as independent contractors (ICs)...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

Troutman Pepper Locke

Trump Administration Reissues 2019 Opinion Letter on Independent Contractors and Virtual Marketplace Companies

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The U.S. Department of Labor re-issued an Opinion Letter on the issue of independent contractor (IC) status of an on-demand virtual marketplace company (VMC) that refers end-market consumers to service providers who offer...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

The Legal Landscape of Independent Contractor Misclassification May Be About to Change: March 2025 IC Legal News Update

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The most significant development last month in the law of independent contractors was not one of the four cases we summarize below but rather a bill passed by the New York Senate. ...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

Federal Government’s Ping Pong Match on Independent Contractor Rule Is Distraction From Enhancing IC Compliance: January 2025 IC...

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Few federal regulations over the past five years have produced more needless concern by stakeholders than the independent contractor rules under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) issued by the different...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

Fisher Phillips

Workplace Law Update: 10 Essential Items on Your July To-Do List

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It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law, especially since the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace. In order to ensure you stay on top of the latest changes and have an action plan...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Industries Counteract Class Action Independent Contractor Misclassification Claims: May ‎‎2024 IC Legal News Update‎

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Class action independent contractor misclassification cases continue to be filed and most seem to settle, often for large sums, as we have reported in our blog posts on legal developments each month. But some industries have...more

Stikeman Elliott LLP

Meal Delivery Service’s Mandatory Arbitration Clause for Couriers Unconscionable: Manitoba Court of Appeal

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The Manitoba Court of Appeal (the “Court”) in Pokornik v. SkipTheDishes Restaurant Services Inc., 2024 MBCA 3, recently upheld a lower court decision dismissing a large online meal delivery service’s motion to stay a class...more

BCLP

UK HR Two Minute Monthly: November 2023

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Our November update includes a Supreme Court decision on employment status and the right to join a trade union, whether a bonus clawback clause can be an unlawful restraint of trade, and how to deal with a “heat of the...more

Quarles & Brady LLP

NLRB Takes Aim at Employers that Classify Workers as Independent Contractors

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In recent action, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) has demonstrated a clear intention to closely scrutinize employers that classify workers as independent contractors. Specifically, in June, 2023, the...more

Ius Laboris

Labour Tribunal rules on gig workers’ status

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The Labour Tribunal of Hong Kong has provided welcome guidance on determining the employment status of platform workers, in a case brought by sham-self-employed couriers....more

Littler

Ontario, Canada Appeal Court Finds Independent Contractors Have Duty to Mitigate Damages When Fixed-Term Contract is Terminated...

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In Monterosso v. Metro Freightliner Hamilton Inc., 2023 ONCA 413, the Ontario Court of Appeal (OCA) found that independent contractors have a duty to mitigate their damages upon the early termination of a fixed-term agreement...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

Littler Lightbulb – March Employment Appellate Roundup

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This Littler Lightbulb highlights some of the more significant employment and labor law developments at the U.S. Supreme Court and federal courts of appeal over the last month....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

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

Eleventh Circuit Serves a Whopper of a Ruling on Franchisor’s ‘No-Poach’/‘No-Hire’ Agreement With Franchisees

​​​​​​​Over the last several years, business-to-business “no-hire” and “no-poach” agreements have come under legal attack, including through enforcement actions by the Federal Trade Commission and criminal prosecutions by the...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Massachusetts Food Delivery Drivers Not Exempt From Arbitration

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One issue that continues to be debated in state and federal courts is whether delivery drivers who deliver takeout food and other prepackaged goods from restaurants, delicatessens and convenience stores fall into the class of...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

Fisher Phillips

The Top 14 Workplace Law Stories from July 2022

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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

Fisher Phillips

The Top 17 Workplace Law Stories from May 2022

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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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