A federal agency last week accused the companies that created and produce the Netflix reality television series “Love is Blind” of misclassifying the contestants on the show as independent contractors (ICs) instead of...more
The most compelling news involving independent contractor compliance and misclassification last month was not a class action lawsuit or a government investigation but rather a government study released by the Bureau of Labor...more
Private equity firms regularly conduct due diligence of legal risks that could impact potential investments. Yet when considering whether to invest in a target company structured in whole or in part on an independent...more
We can learn quite a lot from a legal challenge faced by other business organizations in the same industry. In September, we noticed that a large health care system operating in seven states west of the Mississippi had been...more
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
Many commentators will likely suggest that the law involving independent contractor misclassification will become more favorable to businesses and less favorable to workers with a change in the White House. While things will...more
A recent decision by the National Labor Relations Board in a case involving workers who were classified by a company as independent contractors has provided a clear signal that the NLRB is likely to reverse its current law...more
Is independent contractor misclassification, standing alone, a violation of the National Labor Relations Act? Last month, the National Labor Relations Board issued a decision in a case involving workers who were found to be...more
One of the most important legal developments last month is a new lawsuit filed by registered nurses against a leading health care system alleging that they have been misclassified as independent contractors instead of...more
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
7-Eleven has been defending its position for years that individuals operating as franchisees of its retail stores in Massachusetts are not employees under that state’s strict Independent Contractor Law but rather are exempt...more
On June 12, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) issued a new Determination Pursuant to Section 1 (a)(ii) of Executive Order 14071 (the “Determination”) that prohibits U.S....more
Last month, two key legal developments in the area of independent contractor misclassification and compliance highlighted the risks posed to customer service companies that use an independent contractor business model. The...more
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
Reminder - As of July 1, 2024, all employers in New York City are required by Local Law 161 (2023) to provide a multi-lingual “Know Your Rights at Work” poster to all employees, and thereafter to all new hires. The one-page...more
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
We are frequently asked by businesses about workers’ compensation coverage for independent contractors. Clients ask us: Can our company cover independent contractors with workers’ compensation insurance? Is it safer for us if...more
Is an independent food distributor exempt from an arbitration agreement under the interstate transportation worker exemption in the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA)? That was the question that the U.S. Supreme Court addressed in...more
Two court cases we summarize below, decided in March 2024, demonstrate that while some companies may prevail in an IC misclassification lawsuit, others do not. Why? As a starting point, the legal test for IC status under the...more
Independent contractors can pose safety and security risks as much as employees. Some go into customer homes. Others have access to personally identifiable information and proprietary business information. Some independent...more
Two cases reported below in our review of legal developments in February 2024 address reclassification of independent contractors. The first case is one in which a state and county sought enforcement of California’s strict...more
On January 9, 2024, the same day the U.S. Department of Labor issued its final rule on independent contractor status, we published a comprehensive blog post analyzing and commenting on the new regulation, which goes into...more
As discussed in our QuickStudy of January 9, the U.S. Department of Labor has issued its long-awaited final rule setting forth its version of the test for independent contractor status under the federal Fair Labor Standards...more
In early 2015, New Jersey borrowed the state’s strict ABC test under its unemployment law and adopted it as the new test for independent contractor status under its wage laws. That change in the law was not an act by the...more
It has been well over a year since the U.S. Department of Labor issued its proposed rule entitled “Employee or Independent Contractor Classification under the Fair Labor Standards Act.” The regulation was expressly intended...more
1/9/2024
/ Administrative Interpretation ,
Class Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Economic Realities Test ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Final Rules ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Wage and Hour