September included three court cases that have attracted considerable attention in the area of independent contractor misclassification: an $8.75 million settlement in the nationwide class action against Postmates by its couriers ; the riveting non-jury trial before a federal judge in California in what is believed to be the first…

Tomorrow, October 2, the Supreme Court will hear argument on what many commentators are calling one of the biggest issues affecting companies in the past decade – whether mandatory arbitration clauses with class action waivers in the employment context violate the National Labor Relations Act and are therefore unenforceable, or…

This past month was unusually “slow” in terms of developments in the law of independent contractor misclassification and compliance.  There was no blockbuster court decision or lawsuit filed, although one interesting development is an effort by some FedEx drivers who were not included in prior settlement agreements between the company…

The most notable legal developments during the June/July  period were appellate decisions: one by the Vermont Supreme Court holding that a construction company did not misclassify a carpentry contractor under that state’s unemployment insurance law; the other by the California Court of Appeal, an intermediate level appellate court, affirming a…

Yesterday, the lawyers representing drivers who have sued Uber in California commenced another lawsuit on behalf of drivers alleging that the company misclassified them as independent contractors instead of employees. This lawsuit, though, is not against the company itself; rather, it is against Travis Kalanick, the former CEO and a…

This update of May 2017 developments in the area of independent contractor misclassification and compliance highlights three key legislative developments: the enactment of two new laws (one in New York City and the other in Florida) and the introduction of a bill in Congress.  As discussed below, these legislative initiatives…

Earlier today, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a short, 3-sentence News Release where the recently-confirmed Labor Secretary, Alexander Acosta, announced that he has withdrawn the Labor Department’s formal guidance on two key issues facing businesses: joint employment and independent contractors.  The first guidance on joint employment, which was issued…

Independent contractors and other contingent workers are not currently eligible for workers’ compensation, disability benefits, health insurance coverage, and pension benefits under federal and most state laws. This may well change if the two Democratic sponsors of a bill introduced today in Congress are able to get bipartisan support for…