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
Pros and Cons of “IC-Neutral” and “IC-Minus” Legislation
California Joins Growing Number of States to Enact Independent Contractor Misclassification Legislation: State adds new, costly penalties for willful misclassification, but protects the right of businesses to continue to legitimately use independent contractors
California joins a growing list of states that have enacted independent contractor misclassification legislation in the past four years. This new law, signed by Governor Jerry Brown on October 9, 2011, adds harsh financial penalties for companies and persons who engage in “willful misclassification” of employees as independent contractors,…
Maine Governor Takes Positive Step to Clarify State Independent Contractor Laws
According to an article published in the Bangor Daily News on January 23, 2011, Maine Governor Paul LePage has abolished a task force created by his predecessor to examine independent contractor misclassification in Maine and instead has taken a step that Congress may also wish to consider: using the federal…
Congress Misfires with Double-Barreled Approach to Misclassification of Employees as Independent Contractors
Commentary:
As noted previously in prior articles and postings on this blog, Congress is poised to pass a labor and a tax bill that will discourage businesses from misclassifying employees as independent contractors and end the issuance of Form 1099s to workers who are not legitimate independent contractors. Both bills…
Congressional Passage of Misclassification Legislation Is Likely to End the Flood of State Laws Governing Independent Contractors
In the absence of federal legislation addressing the issue of misclassification of employees as independent contractors, no less than 16 states have passed their own laws seeking to curtail misclassification of employees as independent contractors, including five states so far in 2010: Connecticut, Nebraska, New York, Vermont, and Wisconsin.
While Federal Bills Would Crack Down on Misclassification, They Would Not Curtail the Use of Legitimate Independent Contractors For Those Who Make Timely Use of Compliance Alternatives
As noted in the preceding blog post on this site (see below), Congress has now introduced in this session of Congress two bills seeking to crack down on misclassification of employees as independent contractors: the Employee Misclassification Prevention Act (EMPA) and the Fair Playing Field Act of 2010. Although those two bills, if enacted, would dramatically change the landscape of federal IC legislation, neither should end the use of legitimate independent contractors. Rather, businesses would be able to continue to use ICs provided that the legal tests are satisfied for independent contractor status under federal and state laws. This blog post discusses the ways by which businesses can enhance their compliance with existing and proposed IC laws, including two alternatives to the costly and often unacceptable alternative of reclassifying independent contractors as employees.
FedEx Ground Suffers a Setback in Illinois: Court Finds FedEx Misclassified Its Illinois Drivers as Independent Contractors
The first decision on the merits has been issued in the FedEx Ground class action “independent contractor” cases. . . . On May 28, 2010, Judge Robert L. Miller, Jr., the judge assigned to hear and decide all of these Fed Ex Ground cases, granted summary judgment in favor of the Illinois plaintiffs on their wage claims under the Illinois Wage Act. . . . The decision by Judge Miller is limited to the statutory claims under a single state’s wage law. He expressly noted in his decision that he was not deciding the common law claims brought by the Illinois plaintiffs. Nonetheless, this decision by Judge Miller is a partial setback for Fed Ex, which has experienced mixed results in the courts to date.…