Tag Archives: Independent Contractor vs. Employee

09.10.18
by

“Maybe Later”: California Legislature Declines Business Community’s Request to Fix ABC Test

California ABC Test legiuslative efforts fail 2018

Peter Gabriel’s 1986 album, So, includes the song “Don’t Give Up.” It is a mournful duet with Kate Bush that must not be included on anyone’s workout playlist. The blend of an inspirational title and weepy output, though, seems appropriate for this post.

Today we’re following up on the state of independent contractor misclassification in California, five months after the Dynamex decision and its contractor-hatin’ ABC Test.

This summer, in response to Dynamex, California businesses that rely on independent contractor gig workers engaged in a coordinated effort to persuade the California legislature to suspend the Dynamex ruling and to reinstate a common sense balancing test for determining Independent Contractor vs. Employee.

For now, they have failed.

California’s 2018 legislative session just ended. The Democratically controlled Assembly and Senate declined to consider any legislation that would affect the Dynamex ruling and its new ABC Test.

In a recent interview with California’s Capital Public Radio, three weeks before the legislative session closed, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon admitted that he is a much weaker hitter than the Washington Nationals third baseman who shares his name and has 19 more home runs this year than the Speaker. (Actual quote unavailable.) But, more relevant to this post, Rendon also said that there would be no action this year on legislation to define Who Is My Employee?

“Ultimately, this decision is about the future of the way work looks. And that requires us to be thoughtful and deliberate,“ Rendon said. “And there’s no way we can be thoughtful and deliberate in three weeks.”

Senate President pro tem Toni Atkins, who may or may not have been in the late-80s-early-90s soul/R&B group Tony! Toni! Toné!, expressed similar sentiments: “The California Supreme Court voted unanimously for this new test. I agree with Speaker Rendon that forging any legislative review or response to their decision in just three weeks isn’t workable.”

Let’s break that down.

When my oldest daughter was little and didn’t want to do something, she developed a polite way of saying “no f-ing way.”  She’d say, “Maybe later.”  We all knew what that meant.

I am hearing the same thing from Rendon and Atkins when they say that three weeks wasn’t enough time to draft new legislation. All they had to do was reinstate the status quo before Dynamex, which was a well-established balancing test for determining whether someone is an employee or an independent contractor.

But instead they gave us the legislative equivalent of “maybe later.” I won’t be putting that on my workout playlist either. And it’s not gonna get worked out any time soon. The ABC Test in California is here to stay. (Cue weepy mournful background music.)

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

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

 

09.04.18
by

Arbitration Agreements Can Prevent Discovery of Other Class Members

McGrew independent contractor collective action sixth circuit court of appeals

An old Canadian poem called “The Shooting of Dan McGrew” tells the tale of a Yukon Gold Rush prospector (McGrew), his sweetheart “Lou,” and a stranger who buys drinks for everyone in the saloon, plays a sad song on the piano, then shoots McGrew, who also shoots the stranger, and everyone dies except Lou, who gets McGrew’s gold. You can read a summary here.

This post is about a different McGrew, who doesn’t get any gold.

This McGrew is an exotic dancer in Kentucky. She filed a lawsuit alleging independent contractor misclassification, an issue that was mildly less prevalent during the Yukon Gold Rush. Melissa McGrew had an arbitration agreement but filed a lawsuit anyway, trying at least to get the court to grant conditional certification and require all potential class members to be notified of the lawsuit and their opportunity to bring claims.

No way, said the district court; and no way said the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Court of Appeals, guided by the Supreme Court’s recent decision in the Epic Systems case, ruled that because arbitration agreements are enforceable, a plaintiff can’t first try to take advantage of collective action notice procedures in court. Arbitration means no court, which means no collective action notice procedures.

This is not a surprising ruling, but it’s an important reminder of another benefit to businesses of arbitration agreements with class action waivers.

Not only can businesses prevent class action litigation, but they can also prevent the procedures that would result in notifying all potential class members.

In this case, McGrew got no gold, and her lawyers got no list.

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

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

 

08.30.18
by

Beware of Classwide Arbitration: Instacart Case Might Allow It

Instacart arbitration decision allowing class actions

Did that photo make you want to eat a pumpkin right now? (Probably not.)

🍿🍩🍰🍦🍨 Do these emojis make you hungry?

Does this one 🍺 make you wish the workday was over?

Fortunately for those who like instant gratification, driving services like Instacart promise to connect you with contractors who will go grocery shopping for you and will deliver the bounty to your house. This is not an ad for Instacart, though. This is a post about arbitration.

You see, like many other delivery app companies, Instacart’s drivers are independent contractors. Also like many other delivery app companies, Instacart gets sued for independent contractor misclassification. Wisely, Instacart has all contractors sign arbitration agreements.

One of the most significant benefits of arbitration agreements for companies is the opportunity to insert a clause that waives the right to bring any class/collective action claims. All claims must be brought individually — but only if that waiver language is clearly stated in the contract.

Instacart may have had an Oops!

In a pending case alleging independent contractor misclassification, the arbitrator has ruled (preliminarily) that the driver bringing the claim may bring a class/collective action. Instacart said, Whahhh?, and asked a California court to intervene and to rule that the arbitrator was overstepping his authority.

Arbitrators, though, are pretty well insulated from court review. That’s usually a plus, but it can also be a minus. For Instacart, it’s a minus here.

The California court ruled that it has no jurisdiction to intervene. It cannot review that preliminary decision by an arbitrator. Rather, a court can only review an arbitrator’s decision under very limited circumstances, mainly only after there has been an “award.” Instacart appealed but fared no better. The California Court of Appeals agreed.

The Court of Appeals, like the court below, ruled that the arbitrator’s decision to allow class arbitration is not an “award,” and the court cannot intervene. The arbitration must continue under the jurisdiction of the arbitrator. Only when the case is done will the court take a look.

This decision should serve as a reminder of two important points:

  1. In arbitration agreements with independent contractors, it is important to include a carefully drafted clause that waives the right to file or participate in a class or collective action. The clause should also state that the arbitrator has no jurisdiction to consider a class or collective action. These clauses need to be unambiguous.
  2. When parties agree to arbitrate, the arbitrator has a lot of power, and the preliminary rulings of an arbitrator are generally not subject to court review (except in limited circumstances). When you choose arbitration, you’re all in.

The case is in its very early stages, so we’ll see what happens. But there are some early lessons to be learned here. Congratulations. You made it to the end of the post. Now you can go eat.

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

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

 

07.30.18
by

Lessons from a Reggae Cucumber Song: Draft Benefit Plan Eligibility Language Carefully

ERISA independent contractor misclassification cucumber

Reggae artist Macka B has a song touting the nutritional benefits of the cucumber. The song includes verses like:

Get the cucumber cut it inna slice
Put it inna jug of water overnight
You know what you get for a fraction of the price
Energy drink full of electrolytes

I learned about this song when I asked The Google for songs about benefits. But as much as I like the song (youtube here), this post is about a different kind of benefits.

One of the biggest risks of independent contractor misclassification is having to provide employee benefits to workers you thought were independent contractors. If it turns out those workers were misclassified and are really employees, they may suddenly be eligible for all sorts of employee benefits, including retirement plans like 401(k) match and employee stock ownership. And they’ll be eligible retroactively. This can be expensive. A goof of this type cost one major corporation $97 million back in the late 1990s.

As one recent federal court decision from Georgia reminds us, businesses can avoid this risk with careful drafting in its benefit plan document.

Continue reading →

07.26.18
by

Does California’s ABC Test Violate Federal Law? Truckers Sue, Saying It Does

Trucker Dynamex ABC Test California

The 1976 song, Convoy, is about a fictional trucker rebellion, protesting the 55 mph speed limit, tolls, and mandatory log books to ensure that drivers limit their hours. The song is full of trucker slang and includes CB conversations among Rubber Duck, Pig Pen, and Sodbuster. The truckers crash road blocks and flee the police and reinforcements from the Illinois National Guard. Here’s a fun little article about how this truckers’ protest anthem became a hit single.

The truckers are protesting again.

On July 19, the Western States Trucking Association filed a federal lawsuit, alleging that the California Supreme Court’s new ABC Test (set forth in the Dynamex case) for Continue reading →

07.23.18
by

Court Expands Use of ABC Test in California, Commits Candy Land Party Foul

Dynamex ABC Test Candy Land

Suppose you are dominating an important game of Candy Land, having picked the orange card first, which gave you the privilege of taking Rainbow Trail across half the board to a distant purple square, leaving your toddler opponent in tears, whining, “No Fair!” Well, your toddler would be wrong since that was perfectly fair and within the rules. But you feel bad for young Timmy and so you allow him to change the rules mid-game so that no one can use Rainbow Trail, forcing you to plod slowly across all the regular squares, bored to tears because this stinking game takes forever.

Sometimes we make exceptions for bratty toddlers, but in real life it’s no fair to change the rules in the middle of the game. You may have built your entire Candy Land strategy around trying to pick the Orange square card first. It’s not fair to block you from Rainbow Trail after the game has started.

The same is true in business. Businesses hire employees or retain independent contractors according to the rules in place when they make those decisions.

An important ruling last week threatens to change the Independent Contractor vs. Employee rules midway through the game — but this is no game.

Continue reading →

07.16.18
by

We’re Blogging about Logging! (I know, lame headline, but true)

Logger Ohio workers compensation independent contractor

The lyrics, “Come fly with me, come fly, come fly away” are instantly associated with Frank Sinatra (although, troublingly, the Michael Buble version appeared higher in my google search for a link to the lyrics). It is a little known fact* that the original version of the song was an ode to woodsmen and forestry workers and went something like this: “Come log with me, come log, come log away.”

In the original* lyric, Ol’ Blue Eyes invites a fellow logger to chop wood with him — not for him. That same distinction (with, not for) made all the difference in a recent court decision denying workers compensation benefits to a logger.

Continue reading →

06.28.18
by

How Best to Describe the Effect of Dynamex? Led Zeppelin Songs

ADDD3D9A-F4D5-4404-8E69-C3BFE2919D3C

A lot has been written about the Dynamex case, but not enough has been written about it using references to Led Zeppelin songs. I am here to fill the void. Here is a musically-themed update. We’re Going to California. You’re welcome.

Dazed and Confused. Last week, a gaggle of California businesses and trade associations sent a letter to Gov. Brown and the Cal. Legislature, asking for relief from the Dynamex decision and its court-created ABC Test for independent contractor misclassification claims. The letter correctly says, “With one judicial opinion, nearly 30 years of established law has been overturned virtually overnight.”

Communication Breakdown. The letter argues that any change in the standard for determining Who Is My Employee? should be made by the legislature, not the courts. The Industrial Wage Commission, which wrote the wage orders at issue in the Dynamex case, was defunded 15 years ago, before mobile apps existed and before the gig economy took off. So why is a new rule applicable to the new economy coming from a court, instead of the legislature? Continue reading →

06.25.18
by

What Do Rabbits, Swedish Massage, and this Misclassification Study Have in Common?

Independent contractor miscalssification study Georgia State UniversityAccording to the DailySignal.com, the National Institute of Health recently spent $387,000 to determine the health effects of Swedish massage on rabbits. I have not read the study, but I independently conclude that the massages were relaxing and helped to decrease some of the daily stresses faced by small burrowing mammals.

And that brings us to a study being conducted at Georgia State University, partially funded by a similarly wasteful $250,000 grant from the Department of Labor. It’s a study on independent contractor misclassification.

The study is examining 12,000 federal court decisions between 2008 and 2015 to try to determine “the ways in which federal district courts draw the line between employee and independent contractors.” Using text mining and big data tools, the study hopes to uncover “the legal tests that courts used [and] the factors that exerted the most influence on judges’ decisions.”

This is dumb.

Continue reading →

06.11.18
by

You can’t pay for English whales (the queen owns those), but you should pay summer interns – as employees, not contractors

Whale summer internships paid unpaid employee independent contractorSome things you can’t pay for. All of the whales and sturgeon that live in English waters, for example, belong to the queen. Under an English statute from 1324, “The king shall have wreck of the sea throughout the realm, whales and sturgeons taken in the sea or elsewhere within the realm, except in certain places privileged by the king.”

So if you wanted to buy an English whale this summer, you may be out of luck. U.S. business should be spending their money elsewhere — like on summer interns! Yes, let’s talk about summer interns. Paid or unpaid? Employee or independent contractor? Have I captured your attention? I knew it. Read on.

Paid or unpaid? The rules have been changing to make it easier to have unpaid interns, provided the internships have educational value and are not for the benefit of the business. This post provides some guidelines. The bottom line, though, is that it’s safest to pay your summer interns. Continue reading →