Independent Contractors Archives - Page 2 of 2

Uber Hit With $650M in Employment Taxes in NJ

Frank Kollman

12/02/2019

Uber claims that its drivers are independent contractors. New Jersey, on the other hand, says that they are employees. What’s the difference? At least $650 million in unpaid unemployment and state disability taxes, according to New Jersey. This tax bill should remind you that there are serious penalties for misclassifying employees as independent contractors. In addition to NJ, the federal and most state governments are becoming more...

Kollman & Saucier

05/10/2019

Employment Discrimination, Independent Contractors

To build on my colleague Vince Jackson’s recent post about the Department of Labor’s distinction between independent contractors and employees, teasing out whether an individual is (or was) a company’s employee who is generally covered by equal employment opportunity laws, or an independent contractor who is not covered, is an often difficult but critically important issue in handling employment litigation. This week, a federal court of...

Vincent Jackson

05/03/2019

Agency Activity, Independent Contractors, Wage & Hour

On April 29, 2019, the Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) Wage and Hour Division issued an opinion letter (FLSA2019-6) stating that workers in the “gig” or “sharing” economy should be considered as independent contractors rather than employees. This opinion letter, while limited to the specific facts of the anonymous company who requested it, has potentially wide-ranging consequences for the sharing economy as a whole. The DOL’s letter...

Kollman & Saucier

01/29/2019

Independent Contractors, Labor Law

This past Friday, the National Labor Relations Board, in 3-1 decision, revitalized the importance of “entrepreneurial opportunity” in the analysis of whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor for purposes of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). SuperShuttle DFW, Inc., 367 NLRB No. 75 (Jan. 25, 2019). The distinction between employee and independent contractor status is important, because the former is protected by the NLRA...

Kollman & Saucier

05/12/2016

Independent Contractors

Well, not really. But I just couldn’t resist the title. Uber did, however, suffer another blow against it in the intensifying efforts to classify its drivers as employees. This time, the venue was a federal court in California and the plaintiffs were two women who allege they were sexually assaulted by two of Uber’s drivers. In Jane Doe, et al. v. Uber Technologies, Inc., No. 3:15-cv-04670 (N.D. Calif.; decided May 4, 2016), the plaintiffs...

Kollman & Saucier

07/16/2015

Agency Activity, Independent Contractors

On July 15, 2015, the Department of Labor (DOL), through its Wage and Hour Division, issued its first Administrator’s Interpretation (AI) of the year, and in more than a year (2015-1). AI 2015-1 focuses on the always complex issue of independent contractor versus employee classification under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The DOL has not held back, at all. This AI makes clear the DOL has little tolerance for the concept of independent...

Kollman & Saucier

07/10/2015

Independent Contractors, Wage & Hour

The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently established a new test to determine whether an individual should be classified as an intern, and thus not subject to the FLSA and local wage and hour law. Rejecting the test employed by the Department of Labor (which filed an amicus brief with the appellate court), the Second Circuit’s new test is less rigid and seems, at least at first blush, to give more weight to the educational...

Kollman & Saucier

12/16/2014

Independent Contractors

Time and time again, employers get dinged for improperly classifying employees as independent contractors. Whether it is unpaid taxes or employees seeking unpaid wages, these cases are increasing. Ruiz v. Affinity Logistics Corp., 754 F.3d 1093 (9th Cir. 2014) is no different. Here, the Supreme Court decided it would not reconsider the employer's argument that its furniture delivery drivers were independent contractors, and not employees, and...

Kollman & Saucier

05/16/2013

Independent Contractors, Wage & Hour

In today’s workplace, most employers rely upon outside vendors to supply security services. What employers may not know is that the fact that the security guards are not their own employees does not necessarily mean that the employer is not liable for violations of employment laws. The answer to the liability question turns in large part on how much control the employer has over the terms of employment for the guards. On May 14, 2013, a federal...

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Uber Hit With $650M in Employment Taxes in NJ

Surgeon Is Not Hospital Employee For Title VII Purposes, Seventh Circuit Holds

Department of Labor Opines That Gig Workers are Independent Contractors

NLRB Restores Independent Contractor Analysis

Uber Gets Taken for a Ride

New DOL Guidance Makes The Independent Contractor A Rare Breed Indeed

Second Circuit Adopts New Intern Test

The Supreme Court Will Not Review "The Truck Drivers Are Employees" Decision

Bank is Not Joint Employer of Security Guards Under FLSA

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Category: Independent Contractors

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