Category: Independent Contractors
On September 18, 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 5, which clarifies when workers should be considered “employees” under the California Labor Code and the California Unemployment Insurance Code, thereby entitling them to the protections afforded by those laws. The bill codifies the standard set out in last year’s California Supreme Court decision, Dynamex Operations West, Inc....
Question: My company relies on independent contractors, over whom we don’t exert control. They often joke around with each other. I’m not liable for employment discrimination if I terminate one of them after they complain about another, right?
Question: I have always understood that California employers that misclassify workers as independent contractors face potential liability, including compensatory damages, penalties and attorney’s fees. I recently heard a news broadcast that mentioned there were cases suggesting that recent court decisions have approved the use of independent contractors in California. Is that true and what are the takeaways?
Why You Should Re-Evaluate Your Independent Contractor Designations In an uncertain economy, companies are often reluctant to commit to permanent hires and instead choose to rely upon independent contractors to meet their staffing needs. But what might seem like an optimal staffing strategy can pose significant risks to companies. The U.S. government is cracking down on companies that treat workers...
Question: Our company is located in Washington. To limit costs, we turned to use independent contractors in order to avoid paying benefits, limit overhead, and increase flexibility. But when can someone we hired as an “independent contractor” and for whom we expressly retained no “right to control” nonetheless be deemed an employee, exposing the company to unplanned risks under Federal...
Quirky Question #153 Our company has independent-contractor consultants in many states. Our headquarters is in Minnesota. We know that we could be sued in any of the states where we have independent contractors, and that many of those states apply their own legal tests to determine whether an individual is an independent contractor or employee. To get a little predictability,...
Quirky Question # 130: We’ve heard that classification of workers as “independent contractors” instead of “employees” has been coming under increased scrutiny by courts and regulators. Since our company works with a number of independent contractors, we wonder if we should be concerned. Do you have any guidance?
Quirky Question # 86: We run an insurance company. Some members of our workforce are employees; some are independent contractors. Admittedly, some of our independent contractors have held this status for some time. We don’t pay our independent contractors overtime for their efforts – we really don’t even know how many hours they put in. I’ve heard some rumors that...
