Having previously prevailed in two prior challenges by agents who claim they were not  independent contractors (ICs) but rather employees, an insurer wins for a third time in a lawsuit by a Washington State insurance agent.

Claiming he was misclassified as an IC instead of an employee, the agent brought…

“Misclassification of employees as independent contractors” is now a common phrase uttered by state and federal legislators and regulators. State task forces have been formed to crack down on businesses that do not pay unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation premiums or withhold taxes for workers whom the states believe…

Editors’ Note: The court decision by a federal district court that was the subject of this blog post was appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, which asked the New Jersey Supreme Court to articulate what test federal courts should use in determining the independent contractor…

On March 1, 2012, 33 co-sponsors in the House introduced the Fair Playing Field Act of 2012 (H.R. 4123), a bill that appears to be identical to the Fair Playing Field Act of 2010 (H.R. 6128), which was never acted upon by Congress.  This is the…

An IRS official noted that it is a valid business position to classify workers as independent contractors, so long as the business follows the law in making the classification.  Anita Bartels, Program Manager for the IRS’s Employment Tax Compliance Policy section, speaking at the IRS’s Worker Classification webinar…

The Fiscal Year 2013 Budget was announced by President Obama on Monday, February 13.  It once again includes special funding for the Labor Department to “detect and deter” companies from misclassifying employees as independent contractors.  Specifically, on page 146 of the Budget for the  Labor Department, President Obama commits $14…

In a news release issued earlier today, February 9, 2012, the California Labor Commissioner co-hosted a press teleconference with the Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Department of Labor during which they announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two agencies focused on misclassification of employees as independent…

The Massachusetts Delivery Association (MDA) has succeeded in its appeal of a federal district court’s dismissal of its lawsuit to invalidate the Massachusetts Independent Contractor Law as an impermissible law “related to a price, route, or service of any motor carrier . . . with respect to the transportation of…

Last Friday, October 14, a group of 17 “agency operators” for jointly-owned Avis Rent a Car and Budget Rent a Car filed a class action class action complaint in California alleging that the rental car agencies misclassified them as independent contractors (ICs) instead of employees.  Although the agency operators acknowledge…

Following on the heels of aggressive new measures announced by the U.S. Department of Labor and IRS in the past month and the recent enactment of a new California law to crack down on willful misclassification of employees as independent contractors, Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D. Calif.) reintroduced, as H.R. 3178…