This past month was the first month we can recall where there were no legal developments of note involving class action independent contractor misclassification lawsuits, which have become increasingly prevalent.  Instead, the two top cases reported below are decisions by federal appellate courts in single plaintiff IC misclassification lawsuits: one where the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit concluded that sales marketers for roofing companies had been misclassified under a Pennsylvania wage payment law, and the other where the Fifth Circuit held that a highly paid legal consultant seeking overtime pay under the federal wage and hour law had been properly classified as an IC.…

While selected states are in the midst of trying to crack down on independent contractor misclassification, the federal government is trying to clear a path and clarify the tests for independent contractor status under various federal laws.  As reported below, New Jersey last month enacted a series of laws that, among other things, increases the penalties for IC misclassification under that state’s current “ABC” test for IC status. The existing “ABC” test in New Jersey was not amended by the Legislature, despite a strong push by some legislators in New Jersey to do so, but it remains a challenging test to meet for some companies using ICs in that state.  Meanwhile, the U.S. Labor Department issued its new joint employer regulation in January 2020, explaining and clarifying that some of the factors previously used by courts and administrative agencies to establish joint employer status are irrelevant to that issue but highly relevant to determinations of IC status.…

Many companies that operate their businesses on an independent contractor model or supplement their workforce with ICs may be wondering if they will be impacted by the U.S. Department of Labor’s final rule on joint employer status, which was informally released today.  They are likely asking, “Does this final rule have any bearing on independent contractors?”  The answer is yes.…

Our combined news update provides guidance for companies that utilize independent contractors on what not to do.  The first lesson involves a company’s waiver of its best argument for compelling arbitration of an IC misclassification claim.  As we pointed out in our blog post analyzing the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision…

Ten years ago, when we began a legal blog dedicated to independent contractor compliance and misclassification, the landscape of the law involving ICs was quite different than today – although a great deal remains unchanged.  We summarize below over 250 comprehensive blog posts published over the past ten years dealing…

“Independent contractor misclassification” is a phrase that is misunderstood, misapplied, and misused – constantly. It is used to cover an array of disparate forms of IC misclassification: unpardonable; uninformed; unprepared; unintentional; and unjust. [1]…

Last month saw large settlements and yet another new lawsuit against companies that have an independent contractor business model, but also success by such companies in obtaining a favorable jury verdict in an IC misclassification lawsuit and compelling arbitration of a lawsuit  and thereby avoiding a class action alleging misclassification…

There were several notable court and administrative cases over the past two months, but they were overshadowed by a legislative matter: the enactment of Assembly Bill 5 in California, which was the subject of our September 11, 2019 blog post entitled “How to Operate in California with Independent Contractors After…

The latest version of Assembly Bill 5, which codifies the California Supreme Court’s Dynamex decision that was issued in April 2018, is about to become law.  Dramatically changing decades of settled law in California, Dynamex created a so-called ABC test requiring companies to satisfy each of three strict criteria in…

The National Labor Relations Board earlier today held that a courier services company misclassified drivers as independent contractors instead of employees protected under the National Labor Relations Act.  The Board also held that the company violated the NLRA when it terminated its relationship with one of the couriers because of…