Category Archives: Tests

02.26.18
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Browning-Ferris Is Back! NLRB Flip-Flops Again, Reinstates 2015 Joint Employment Decision!

989BD1FE-B520-4198-87E3-1A61F3AD50E0Holy smokes, Batman! This morning I wrote that the NLRB’s new joint employment test, from its December 2017 decision in Hy-Brand, was safe.  I was completely wrong.

A few hours ago, the NLRB reversed itself, vacated its order in Hy-Brand, and reinstated Browning-Ferris.  Whaaaaaat?

The NLRB issued this press release today:

The National Labor Relations Board (3-0, Member Emanuel did not participate) today issued an Order vacating the Board’s decision in Hy-Brand Industrial Contractors, Ltd. and Brandt Construction Co., 365 NLRB No. 156 (2017), in light of the determination by the Board’s Designated Agency Ethics Official that Member Emanuel is, and should have been, disqualified from participating in this proceeding. Because the Board’s Decision and Order in Hy-Brand has been vacated, the overruling of the Board’s decision in Browning-Ferris Industries, 362 NLRB No. 186 (2015), set forth therein is of no force or effect.

The sudden self-reversal was prompted Continue reading →

02.26.18
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Is NLRB’s Joint Employment Decision In (“the”) Jeopardy?

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[Note to self & readers, 4:45pm 2/26/18: I spoke too soon. Hours after I published this post, the NLRB reversed itself and vacated the Hy-Brand decision, which means the 2015 Browning-Ferris joint employment standard is back. Read more here.]

Here’s the original post, but sadly my predictions below turned out to be wrong…

There are many inspectors whose names we know for their diligent (and entertaining) crime-fighting exploits. There’s Inspector Clouseau, from the Pink Panther series; Inspector Gadget, from the Inspector Gadget series; and now Inspector David Berry, from the “Office of Inspector General” [sic] at the NLRB. (I do not know what happened to the “the” in such Office’s name, but sources tell me it was stolen by Ohio State University. More on that below.)

On February 9, Inspector Berry released a memo arguing that Continue reading →

02.12.18
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Python vs. Boa: Does the GrubHub Misclassification Ruling Really Matter? (Don’t Believe the Hype!)

Python vs boa - independentr contractor misclassification and grubhubPythons and boa constrictors usually do not fight each other. At least that’s what I learned in herpetology school. The reason they don’t fight each other is that there’s too much risk. The boa risks getting bitten by the python’s lethal fangs. The python risks being constricted to death because that’s how constrictors work.

For roughly the same reason, independent contractor vs. employee disputes rarely go to trial. There’s too much to lose. A company that relies on independent contractors for its business model cannot afford a ruling that all of its contractors are really employees. That’s why these cases almost always settle.

The GrubHub case, however, Continue reading →

02.08.18
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After the NLRB Ruling, Is Joint Employment Still a Concern?

What is joint employment - imageLast month in the Hy-Brand decision, the NLRB raised the bar for determining whether a business is a joint employer. So now what? Is joint employment still a concern for businesses?

To paraphrase Tina Fey paraphrasing Sarah Palin paraphrasing Margie in Fargo, Ya! You betcha!

While the recent NLRB decision dropped the alert to Def-Con 4 in labor relations, the joint employment landscape under wage and hour laws is getting worse for employers, not better, thanks to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. Businesses should Continue reading →

02.05.18
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Is Your Independent Contractor Agreement Like an Emotional Support Peacock?

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Image from The Jet Set

My favorite news story from last week was United Airlines’ decision not to allow a woman to fly with her emotional support peacock. Peacocks are pretty, strutting their feathery stuff to attract the smokin’ hot peafowl ladies, but they’re not cuddly, and they don’t belong in the tight quarters of commercial aircraft.

I did my research here, and I can confirm they’re not even good house pets. According to an Information Leaflet published by the Wrexham County (U.K.) Borough Council, peafowl have not taken well to modern methods of human transport. The Leaflet warns potential peafowl pet owners, “Peafowl for some reason are fond of cars and enjoy standing on them. They will also attack their reflection in cars and cause damage by scratching and pecking them.” They also have a “very loud high-pitched meow like call.”

None of this sounds like what I want in a seatmate on a commuter flight out of Newark.

Anyway, the point here is that looking pretty isn’t enough. Continue reading →

02.01.18
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Like a Drunken Possum, NEW GIG Act Fails Again.

NEW GIG act possum

Screenshot from DailyDot.com, 12/3/2017

I feel bad for this little guy. This possum apparently broke into a Florida liquor store, knocked over a bottle of bourbon, and got sauced. Wildlife rescue picked him up and checked him into rehab (no, not that kind). Full coverage here at DailyDot.com.

I applaud the critter’s effort, though.

He probably feels a little like Senator John Thune (R-SD), who has repeatedly introduced a bill called the NEW GIG Act — designed to simplify tax law for independent contractor misclassification scufflaws. Every time he gets close, though, someone knocks him over the head with a bottle. Or something like that.

The NEW GIG Act has been introduced in Congress several times. If passed, it would Continue reading →

01.29.18
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Joint Employment Tests Will Remain a Mess, Thanks to an Indecisive Supreme Court

Joint employment tests are messy FLSA

Is your business a joint employer?

This sounds like a straightforward question. Unfortunately, it’s not. The test for whether a business is a joint employer varies depending on which law is being considered and where the business is located.

Let’s focus on that last part, because it is pretty ridiculous. The federal law covering overtime and minimum wage requirements is the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).  The FLSA is a federal law, so it should mean the same thing all around the country, right? Right. It should. But it doesn’t.

As we saw in this map, the test for joint employment under the FLSA varies depending on what state your business is located in.

Continue reading →

01.25.18
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Bad News for Businesses: California May Rewrite Test for Independent Contractor vs. Employee

Shark california independent contractor misclassification

California businesses already have to cope with the threat of earthquakes, wildfires, Sharknados, and the craziest employment laws in all the land. The California Supreme Court may be about to make things even harder for businesses that use independent contractors.

For years, disputes over whether someone is an independent contractor or employee under California wage and hour law have been analyzed under the test used in S.G. Borello & Sons, which is a hybrid test combining elements of the Right to Control Test with elements of the Economic Realities Test. It is a multi-factor balancing test.

That may be about to change.

[Note 4/30/18: It did change. Read more here.]

Continue reading →

01.08.18
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Free Bird! Dep’t of Labor Rewrites Test for Unpaid Internships

chicks-2965846_1920Lots of things are free in the world of music. There’s Free Bird (Lynyrd Skynyrd), Free Money (Patti Smith), and according to Dire Straits, you can get your money for nothin’ and your chicks for free.

For the most part, though, you’ve got to pay for your interns. Or do you?

On Friday, the DOL announced it was reversing its 2010 guidance on Internship Programs under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Since 2010, the DOL had been taking the position that unpaid interns are employees and must be paid unless each of six factors were present. Here’s the old DOL fact sheet and six-factor test.

The DOL has now changed course, after four U.S. Court of Appeals decisions rejected the DOL’s test as too strict. The DOL now opted for a balancing test. The balancing test asks whether the intern or the business is the “primary beneficiary” of the internship.

The DOL’s new guidance adopts the same balancing test recently favored by the courts.

Continue reading →

12.14.17
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Ding-Dong, the Witch is Dead! NLRB Overrules Browning-Ferris

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Remember the good old days, way back in 2014? You recall the time — back when David Letterman was still on the air and it was not yet illegal in New York to take a selfie with a tiger.

Yes, that was life before 2015, when the NLRB waved its magic wand, rewrote the definition of joint employment, and forced several of the planets to spin out of orbit. The Board’s decision in Browning-Ferris erased decades of precedent and caused bloggers everywhere to vomit profuse amounts of text and doomsday predictions.

For those of you who missed the news in 2015 (understandable if you spent the year focused on following the saga of Winston, the Aussie python who swallowed salad tongs), allow me to offer this quick refresher: The 2015 Browning-Ferris decision declared that, under federal labor law, a business would be considered a joint employer if it retained the right to exercise even a teeny tiny bit of control, and even if it never actually exercised that control.

Good news, citizens of earth! The planets realigned on Thursday, when the Board reversed its 2015 decision and reverted back to the old standard. The new standard is the old standard. (Got it?)

Continue reading →