Tag Archives: Independent Contractor Misclassification

04.23.18
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Pink Floyd or The Who?: NLRB Extends Deadline for Public Input on Important Misclassification Decision

pf photo 1 for nlrb post velox

Roger Waters & the boys, smiling pretty for the camera

Pink Floyd or The Who? Tough call for me, but I generally go with Pink Floyd, unless we’re listening to Tommy. Songs from both bands came to mind last week as I read the NLRB’s update on an important issue relating to independent contractor misclassification.

Who Are You (The Who, 1978)? In this post, we discussed a 2017 ruling, in which an ALJ found that the misclassification of independent contractors, by itself, is a violation of the federal labor law. This decision rejected the pickup basketball rule, “no harm, no foul.” Misclassification was deemed to be an unfair labor practice.

Join Together (The Who, 1990). The full Board then decided to reconsider that decision and invited public input on the question. Non-parties were asked to submit briefs to assist the Board in making its decision. Trade associations and labor groups are filing briefs on both sides of the issue.

Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd, 1975). The Board temporarily lost its 3-2 Republican majority after Member Miscimarra stepped down, but earlier this month, the Senate confirmed John Ring as the third Republican member, restoring a majority and a pro-business slant.

Time (Pink Floyd, 1973). Last week the Board extended the deadline for briefing to April 30th. Any business or trade organization that wishes to provide input to the NLRB on this important issue still has an opportunity. Here are instructions for filing.

Careful with that Axe, Eugene (Pink Floyd, 1969). This is an important issue for businesses using independent contractors. If misclassification by itself violates the NLRA — even with no actual harm to the worker — then businesses may face unfair labor practice charges, even where there’s no union and, even stranger, those ULP charges can come from workers you didn’t even think were your employees.

Take It Back (Pink Floyd, 1994). Hopefully for businesses, the full Board will reverse the ALJ and reinstate the pickup basketball rule. I have High Hopes (Pink Floyd, 1994).

© 2018 Todd Lebowitz, posted on WhoIsMyEmployee.com, Exploring Issues of Independent Contractor Misclassification and Joint Employment. All rights reserved.

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03.29.18
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If I Cut My Employee’s Hours, Can I Make Her an Independent Contractor?

Independent contractor part-time worker lizard

This question is best answered with an analogy to everyone’s favorite quadrupedal reptile – the lizard.

The lizard is a squamate reptile. I don’t know what squamate means, but I read it on Wikipedia. Lizards typically have four feet, external ears, and like to climb on the patio screens of retirees’ homes in Florida. Those are the defining characteristics that make them lizards.

Lizards also have tails, but they can shed those tails when in distress. I’m sure this makes the lizard sad, but sacrifices must be made.

The important point here is: Losing a tail doesn’t make a lizard any less of a lizard. (They are taught this by lizard psychotherapists.)

Now let’s get to the point. Today’s post is about what happens when businesses cut their employees’ hours. Workloads sometimes decrease to the point where employees are no longer needed for 40 hours a week. Maybe 10 hours is enough. Or maybe the work needed is sporadic — 5 hours one week, no hours the next week.

Can you convert these part-timers to independent contractors?

No, you can’t. A lizard is still a lizard after losing its tail, and an employee is still an employee after losing some hours. The lizard is not defined by the presence of its tail, and employee status is not determined by the number of hours worked.

It is ok to have an employee whose hours are minimal or occasional. Think of the high schooler who works once a week at the rec center. That’s an employee, not a contractor. The worker is an employee because of the work performed and the control the business has over how the work is done. An independent contractor, in contrast, is someone in business for herself.

What if the employee’s hours are reduced so much that she gets two other occasional jobs? That still doesn’t change the answer. If the work is classified as employment at 40 hours, it’s employment at 3 hours a week. Think of it this way: It’s employment the moment an employee shows up at the worksite. If the employee leaves the worksite after 30 minutes, the work performed for those 30 minutes was still employment.

Employment status doesn’t change based solely on the number of hours worked, and although this next fact is entirely irrelevant to the post, it is worth a quick mention since we have been discussing lizards. The Komodo Dragon is a lizard that has been known to eat mammals as large as a water buffalo (at least according to Wikipedia).

 

© 2018 Todd Lebowitz, posted on WhoIsMyEmployee.com, Exploring Issues of Independent Contractor Misclassification and Joint Employment. All rights reserved.

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03.15.18
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Strip Clubs Nailed for $8.5 Million in Settlement of Independent Contractor Misclassification Claims

Independent contractor misclassification settlement $8.5 million spearmint rhinoI learned there’s a chain of strip clubs called the Spearmint Rhino. I didn’t know that was an option for rhinos. The rhinos I’ve seen at the zoo smell nothing like spearmint.

This club was paying its dancers as independent contractors. As we’ve seen in other “exotic dancer” cases, that can be an expensive decision.

This time it cost The Rhino $8.5 million. A class of 8,000 ladies reached a deal after claiming they should have been treated as employees under Caliufornia and federal wage and hour laws. The class members claimed they were denied overtime, denied a minimum wage, denied meal and rest breaks, and had their tips misappropriated.

In other words, they didn’t feel like they had much to dance about.

What happens now to The Rhino? Does it reclassify its dancers as employees? Who knows. Who cares.

I will, however, be asking the zoo if there’s anything they can do about the rhino smell. It seems there may be a minty version of the beast.

 

For more information on independent contractor issues and other labor and employment developments to watch in 2018, join me in Cincinnati on March 28 for the 2018 BakerHostetler Master Class on Labor Relations and Employment Law: A Time for Change. Attendance is complimentary, but advance registration is required. Please email me if you plan to attend, tlebowitz@bakerlaw.com, and list my name in your RSVP so I can be sure to look for you.

© 2018 Todd Lebowitz, posted on WhoIsMyEmployee.com, Exploring Issues of Independent Contractor Misclassification and Joint Employment. All rights reserved.

02.19.18
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NLRB Smells Something Rotten, Seeks Input on Major Misclassification Decision

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Screenshot from metro.co.uk

A flight from Dubai to Amsterdam made an emergency landing last week after a fight broke out over a passenger’s excessive flatulence. The two Dutchmen sitting next to the flatulator asked him to cut it out, but he wouldn’t (or couldn’t) stop spreading his perfumery around the cabin. A fist fight broke out and the pilot diverted the flying stinkship to Vienna, where several passengers were removed. Read more here.

Something smells rotten to the NLRB as well, four months after an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ruled that independent contractor misclassification, by itself, can be an unfair 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 →

02.01.18
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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 →

01.25.18
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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 →

01.22.18
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Will Changes to the Tax Code Reduce Claims of Independent Contractor Misclassification?

Unicorn independent contractor misclassification

Ha ha. Wishful thinking.

By now, we’ve all heard that the new tax code provides a 20% tax deduction for many small businesses, including potentially independent contractors. (More info here.) As a result, some workers might prefer to be called contractors instead of employees to take advantage of the new deduction. Contractor status may be particularly appealing to workers who don’t need health insurance or other employee benefits. But, as we covered here, it doesn’t matter what a worker wants. The facts of the relationship determine a worker’s classification, no matter what the parties want it to be.

Don’t expect this change in the tax law to mean that independent contractor misclassification claims are going away. They’re not. Continue reading →

01.11.18
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Is Independent Contractor Misclassification, By Itself, an Unfair Labor Practice? (2018 update)

Clock independent contractor misclassificationAs Bob Dylan would say, The times they are a-changin’.  Upon being sworn in as new General Counsel of the NLRB, Peter Robb issued a Memorandum indicating his intent to reconsider a broad range of controversial positions taken by the Board and by his predecessor, Richard Griffin.

Among these positions is an issue we wrote about here, just a couple of months ago. The issue is whether the act of misclassifying a worker as an independent contractor could, by itself, be deemed an unfair labor practice. As explained in that blog post, an Administrative Law Judge had ruled that misclassification alone could be considered an unfair labor practice. The ALJ’s explanation went like this:

Continue reading →

01.02.18
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School’s Back in Session: How Much Training Can You Give to Independent Contractors?

“We don’t need no education / We don’t need no thought control,” are the opening lines to Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall (Part II). “Teachers, leave them kids alone!”

The same advice can be given when retaining independent contractors. Contractors are supposed to be in business for themselves. They are expected to be competent in performing the types of activities they are being retained to perform. In several of the Independent Contractor vs. Employee tests applied to federal and state laws, the amount and type of training is a factor that can tilt the scales toward a finding of misclassification.

But sometimes, some training is needed. The key questions to ask yourself are, What type? And How much?

Continue reading →