Nota Bene Episode 82: How Congress is Meeting the Pandemic: Stimulus, Relief, and Recovery with Elizabeth Frazee and Jonathan Meyer
Employment Law Now IV-67- Today's U.S. DOL Phone Briefing re: Federal Coronavirus Initiatives
Minnesota employers need to prepare for a number of changes beginning this fall, including increased financial penalties for misrepresenting unemployment benefits information. The changes are the result of amendments to...more
The EDD is aggressively pursuing unemployment tax audits aimed at evaluating potential independent contractor misclassification. Presumably due to the overwhelming financial burden the pandemic imposed, the EDD is pursuing...more
There are two Georgia employment laws effective this summer that employers should be aware of in reviewing their policies. Act 823: Protecting Georgia Businesses and Workers Act - The Protecting Georgia Businesses...more
In a decision that further clarifies Massachusetts law with regard to employee classification, the Massachusetts Appeals Court recently held that home inspectors working on behalf of an inspectional services company were...more
Business - Short-term Rental Registry – The Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs took testimony on S.210, a Rental Registry bill intended to replace last year’s S.79 which was vetoed by...more
Although New York Governor Hochul’s first State of the State address focused on efforts to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, she still managed to provide insight on a few key areas of labor and employment law that will...more
I have written a few times on the new, very aggressive, enforcement measures that the New Jersey legislature has recently taken on the issue of misclassification. On this troubling note, I just read an article where other...more
When a worker is classified as an employee, a panoply of local, state, and federal laws regulate many facets of the relationship between the worker and the person or entity the worker serves. When a worker is not an...more
For most employers, it is important to own the intellectual property rights in written and/or graphic work commissioned from independent contractors. But including a Work Made for Hire Clause (“WMFH Clause”) in an...more
In what will surely be an important decision for “gig” economy businesses, the Third Department recently upheld two decisions of the Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board finding that Uber is an employer and therefore required...more
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill (AB) 5 into law on Sept. 18, 2019, codifying the strict "ABC" test for employee versus independent contractor classification adopted by the California Supreme Court in Dynamex...more
On September 18, 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law a bill that attempts to settle some of the ambiguity that remained surrounding the California Supreme Court’s decision in Dynamex and its “ABC Test.”...more
This month's key California employment law cases involve the Dynamex case and the effect of prior administrative hearing on a civil lawsuit....more
The confusion surrounding worker classification is not a new topic for any gig economy employer. Whether gig workers are classified as employees or independent contractors is a constant battle businesses face both in the...more
On June 22, New York’s Third Department appellate court – which has jurisdiction over all state Unemployment Division appeals – issued a significant decision for “gig” economy companies with operations in New York. In Matter...more
Sure, there have been some high-profile legal setbacks for gig economy businesses in the area of misclassification lately; the Dynamex case was a punch in the gut for California businesses, and the Pimlico Plumbers case is a...more
On March 21, 2017, the Connecticut Supreme Court issued an important ruling, finding that an individual may be still considered an independent contractor under the state’s Unemployment Insurance Act even if he/she only...more
One of the recurring themes in workplace law in 2016 was the continued crackdown on independent contractor misclassification. Both federal and state agencies, as well as the plaintiffs’ bar, invested significant resources to...more
The New York State Court of Appeals and New York City recently provided additional guidance for – and imposed additional requirements on – New York employers that use independent contractors. In In re Yoga Vida NYC, Inc....more
Littler's Workplace Policy Institute Insider Report details key labor, employment, and benefits news and events at the federal, state, local, and global levels. The November edition of the Insider Report turns a spotlight on...more
On October 25, 2016, the New York Court of Appeals – New York’s highest court – ruled that non-staff instructors at a yoga studio were properly classified as independent contractors, and were not employees. The Court of...more
Earlier this week, the New York State Court of Appeals in Yoga Vida NYC, Inc. v. Commissioner of Labor., No. 130 (N.Y. Oct. 25, 2016), issued a rare decision concerning an unemployment determination, reversing the Appellate...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The New York Court of Appeals recently rejected the narrow view of the Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board and found that substantial evidence did not support a finding that certain yoga instructors were...more
The heightened focus on misclassification of workers as independent contractors should cause concern for employers. At least 30 states have partnered with the federal government to target worker misclassification, with...more
This Update covers the two-month period of December 2015 and January 2016. The headnote for this period is: don’t classify drivers as ICs unless you do it right! Eight of the nine cases reported below involve drivers....more