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New York State’s Freelancer Pay Protection Bill Signed Despite Prior Veto and Continuing Defects

In the waning days of 2022, New York Governor Kathy Hochul vetoed the New York State Freelance Isn’t Free Act bill (S 8369B) that had been awaiting her action for over six months. In early June 2023, the New York legislature...more

Hoopla Over Arbitration of IC Misclassification Cases Makes Little Sense: October 2023 ‎IC Legal News Update

Companies can use two independent grounds to compel arbitration of independent contractor misclassification lawsuits: the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) and state arbitration laws. The FAA, however, includes an exemption for...more

Proliferating Pay Protection Laws Favoring Independent Contractors Create Perils for ‎Businesses

Companies using independent contractors have been worried that class action lawyers or a workforce agency will challenge their classification of workers as independent contractors. For the past dozen years, we have advised...more

‎“Unlawyering” Can Avoid Joint Employer Status Under the New NLRB Rule

The highly controversial joint employer regulation just issued by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on October 26 is not so different than the standard that has historically been applied in determining whether a group...more

Mega-Settlements in Independent Contractor Misclassification Lawsuits: September 2023 IC Legal News Update

Every so often a large settlement of a class action lawsuit reverberates in the independent contractor world – but last month there were two mega-settlements. The first was between Flowers Foods, a large nationwide baked...more

Spoiler Alert on Upcoming Labor Department Regulation on Independent Contractor ‎Status: A Big Splash in the News But Not Legally...

It’s been almost a full year since the U.S. Department of Labor issued its proposed regulation entitled “Employee or Independent Contractor Classification under the Fair Labor Standards Act.” The proposed regulation was fully...more

New State Law Protecting Independent Contractors in Fee Disputes Can Lead To Hefty Damages: August 2023 IC Legal News Update

Last month, Illinois became the first state to enact legislation requiring companies using independent contractors to offer contracts to ICs with prescribed terms and to pay such freelance contractors all of their fees within...more

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

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

Illinois Is the Focus of Last Month’s Independent Contractor Misclassification Cases: June ‎‎2023 IC Legal News Update‎

We report below on four case developments during June 2023 in the area of independent contractor misclassification: two of which are centered on Illinois. That state has one of the most stringent statutory tests for...more

New York Governor About to Sign ‎Flawed Non-Compete Legislation?

On June 20, 2023, the New York State Assembly passed Assembly Bill 1278, which was passed by the New York State Senate earlier this month, prohibiting certain non-compete agreements and restrictive covenants in New York. The...more

NLRB Yet Again Seeks to Alter Test for Independent Contractor Status, But Does It Really ‎Make a Difference?‎

Yesterday, June 13, 2023, the NLRB issued a lengthy decision in its Atlanta Opera case dealing with the applicable test for independent contractor status under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). This decision reversed...more

Does “Frequent” Driving Exempt Independent Contractors from Arbitration Under the ‎FAA? May 2023 IC Legal News Update

The lead case in our review of last month’s legal developments in the area of independent contractor compliance and misclassification is a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, in which it addresses the...more

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

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

California’s Prop 22 Stands Tall, And A.B. 5 Is Dealt Another ‎Setback: March 2023 IC Legal News Update

Three of the five court cases of note in this monthly update involve California’s Assembly Bill 5, which has exponentially increased litigation involving independent contractor misclassification in that state. That...more

New Jersey is Becoming the Next California: February 2023 Independent Contractor Legal News Update

Ever since the New Jersey Supreme Court issued its 2015 decision in the Sleepy’s case, establishing an ABC test for wage and hour lawsuits, class action lawyers have targeted companies operating in that state for IC...more

Tips for Complying With New Pay Transparency Laws Requiring Disclosure of Pay Ranges

Over 20 states and local jurisdictions have enacted pay transparency laws that are intended to address gender and other forms of bias in the pay received by women and minorities. Some jurisdictions require that companies...more

Independent Contractor Misclassification Cases Proliferate: January 2023 IC Legal News Update

Case developments last month involved independent contractor misclassification lawsuits in the Southwest, Southeast, and Mid-Atlantic states. While more IC misclassification lawsuits have been brought in California than any...more

Significant Changes Are Coming to the ‎New Jersey WARN Act – ‎What Large Employers ‎Need to Know

Most employers are generally familiar with the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (“WARN”), which offers protection to workers by requiring employers to provide notice sixty (60) days in advance of...more

Sports Industry Continues To Be Target For Independent Contractor Misclassification Class ‎Actions: December 2022 IC Legal News...

Half of the court cases that we report on below from last month involve legal proceedings related to the sports industry: golf caddies, tennis pros, and sports editors. Misclassification within the multi-faceted sports and...more

Now What? Update on Pay ‎Transparency Laws and Tips on Compliance

This is an important update to the QuickStudy we published on November 9, 2022, shortly after New York City enacted a law requiring the posting of minimum and maximum salary or hour rate range for positions that can be...more

App-Based Local Delivery Couriers are not Exempt From Arbitration: November 2022 Independent Contractor Legal News Update

The most publicized legal development in the area of independent contractor law last month involved an opinion issued by a federal appellate court in a gig economy case that generated national attention. In a decision...more

52,644: The Number Of Comments Submitted To Labor Department On Proposed Rule Governing Independent Contractor Classification

In response to the U.S. Department of Labor’s proposed regulation released to the public on October 11, 2022 entitled “Employee or Independent Contractor Classification under the Fair Labor Standards Act,” an unprecedented...more

Now What? Tips for Avoiding Liability ‎Under NYC, CA and Other ‎Pay Transparency Laws

If your company operates on a national basis or if you are seeking any remote workers in the U.S., you are probably wondering, how can we possibly comply with the New York City pay transparency law and the hodgepodge of...more

Is It Becoming Easy To Certify Collective Action Lawsuits Alleging Independent Contractor Misclassification? October 2022 IC Legal...

Among the legal developments we report on below from October is a decision by a federal district court in California certifying a lawsuit for independent contractor misclassification as a collective action under the federal...more

Who’s an Independent Contractor? Even More Regulatory Ping-Pong That Doesn’t Change the Law

Earlier today, the Biden Administration’s Labor Department issued a proposed regulation that seeks to define the worker classification test for independent contractor or employee status under the Fair Labor Standards Act...more

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