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Independent contractor

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Institution
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Full-Text Articles in Law

Capriole V. Uber Technologies Inc.: The Court Split Over The Interstate Commerce Worker Exemption Of The Federal Arbitration Act, Spencer Sellers Oct 2023

Capriole V. Uber Technologies Inc.: The Court Split Over The Interstate Commerce Worker Exemption Of The Federal Arbitration Act, Spencer Sellers

Golden Gate University Law Review

This case note analyzes Capriole v. Uber Techs., Inc., 460 F. Supp. 3d 919 (N.D. Cal. 2020) aff’d, 7 F.4th 854 (9th Cir. 2021), a case wherein the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that rideshare drivers who are employed as independent contractors do not qualify as interstate commerce workers within the meaning of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). Those who qualify as interstate commerce workers are exempt from certain arbitration requirements under the FAA. Because the court found that rideshare drivers do not qualify for this classification, rideshare drivers who want to complain about …


Staff Matters: Independent Contractor Or Temporary Employee?, Jodi Schafer Sphr, Shrm-Scp Jul 2022

Staff Matters: Independent Contractor Or Temporary Employee?, Jodi Schafer Sphr, Shrm-Scp

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

Determining whether temporary hygienists should be classified as independent contractors or employees requires careful consideration. While treating them as independent contractors offers advantages, such as avoiding payroll taxes and paperwork, it must align with specific IRS criteria. The classification hinges on the degree of control the practice exerts over their work, encompassing behavioral and financial control. If the practice significantly controls aspects like duties, hours, and business aspects, it may be wiser to classify them as employees. The IRS provides a form (SS-8) to assess the relationship in-depth. Additionally, if hygienists request employee status and you cannot definitively prove otherwise, …


A Tale Of Two Societies: The Impact Of "Gig Economy" Laws On Rural America, Timothy W. Conner Aug 2021

A Tale Of Two Societies: The Impact Of "Gig Economy" Laws On Rural America, Timothy W. Conner

Lincoln Memorial University Law Review Archive

In recent years, with the proliferation of online “gig economy” platforms and the growing number of workers relying on such platforms as sources of income, disputes have arisen concerning whether states should mandate that such workers be classified as employees versus independent contractors. This article considers whether such laws have the potential to impact rural populations in different ways than they impact urban populations.


Defining Who Is An Employee After A.B.5: Trading Uniformity And Simplicity For Expanded Coverage, Edward A. Zelinsky Apr 2021

Defining Who Is An Employee After A.B.5: Trading Uniformity And Simplicity For Expanded Coverage, Edward A. Zelinsky

Catholic University Law Review

A.B.5 made a significant but limited expansion of the coverage of California labor law but at a notable cost. Even as A.B.5 broadened the reach of the Golden State’s labor protections, A.B.5 also made the definition of “employee” more complex and less uniform. Those seeking federal or state legislation like A.B.5 confront the same trade-off under which greater coverage is achieved at the expense of more complexity and less uniformity in the definition of who is an employee. The same political forces and policy considerations which molded A.B.5 in California will have similar effects in other states and in the …


Protecting The Little Guys: How To Prevent The California Supreme Court’S New “Abc” Test From Stunting Cash-Strapped Startups, Braden Seibert Oct 2019

Protecting The Little Guys: How To Prevent The California Supreme Court’S New “Abc” Test From Stunting Cash-Strapped Startups, Braden Seibert

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

California startups and independent contractors are in desperate need of a lifeline before they are gone for good. This state has long favored the employee over the employer, but the California Supreme Court’s new “ABC” test tips the scales even further by making it practically impossible for startups to compensate their workers. As a remedy, I propose exemptions to the test for sophisticated contractors who do not need the state’s protection, certified owners who have demonstrated fair play, and small businesses which are still in the developmental stages. Though the Court based its decision largely on a policy of protecting …


Recent Developments, Raelynn J. Hillhouse Jul 2019

Recent Developments, Raelynn J. Hillhouse

Arkansas Law Review

No abstract provided.


Gig-Dependence: Finding The Real Independent Contractors Of Platform Work, Keith Cunningham-Parmeter Jul 2019

Gig-Dependence: Finding The Real Independent Contractors Of Platform Work, Keith Cunningham-Parmeter

Northern Illinois University Law Review

Platforms such as Uber and TaskRabbit avoid employment obligations by categorizing their workers as “independent contractors.” Declining to follow overtime, antidiscrimination, and other workplace mandates, these platforms claim to employ no one. Applied on a grand scale, the entire project of platform labor threatens to destabilize our contemporary understanding of employment law. But not all platform workers possess the characteristics of genuine independent contractors, as courts first envisioned that category. Judges did not originally formulate the independent contractor distinction to define the boundaries of workplace protections; rather, the independent contractor classification was designed to limit the liability of masters for …


The Gig Economy: An Annotated Bibliography, Matthew L. Timko Jul 2019

The Gig Economy: An Annotated Bibliography, Matthew L. Timko

Northern Illinois University Law Review

Companies like Uber, Lyft, Postmates, Airbnb, and others have become established within society, to the point that Uber has become a regularly used verb. While the consumer benefits of these companies has been immediate, the legal implications remain far murkier. This emerging market has demonstrated that the twentieth century laws are unable to cope with these twenty-first century businesses in regard to employee rights, employer responsibilities, consumer protections, and federal and state regulations. This bibliography presents the primary and secondary sources which are essential to understanding what has been termed the "gig economy" so that readers have a background of …


Finding The Middle Ground: Establishing A Third, Hybrid Worker Classification, Spencer Bankhead, D. Taylor Petersen Apr 2019

Finding The Middle Ground: Establishing A Third, Hybrid Worker Classification, Spencer Bankhead, D. Taylor Petersen

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

The advent of the gig economy has disrupted the current dichotomy of legal worker classification. Companies such as Uber, GrubHub, and AirBnb hire low-level workers as independent contractors, yet demand that these workers follow a litany of requirements as if they were employees. This apparent crossover between employee and independent contractor has caused serious confusion among workers and led to several class action suits around the country. In this paper we address this issue, as well as proposing that a third worker classification be established, the “dependent contractor,” which would provide protections and rights for those working in the gig …


Employment By Design: Employees, Independent Contractors And The Theory Of The Firm, Richard R. Carlson Sep 2018

Employment By Design: Employees, Independent Contractors And The Theory Of The Firm, Richard R. Carlson

Arkansas Law Review

Employment laws protect “employees” and impose duties on their “employers.” In the modern working world, however, “employee” and “employer” status is not always clear. The status of some workers and the firms they serve can be ambiguous, especially when the workers work as individuals not organized as firms. Individual workers might be “employees,” but they might also be self-employed individuals working as “independent contractors.” Even if it is clear that workers are someone’s “employees,” the identity of the employer can be unclear. If one firm pays “employees” to work mainly or exclusively for another firm that pays the first firm …


Holding Ridesharing Companies Accountable In Texas, Martha Alejandra Salas Aug 2018

Holding Ridesharing Companies Accountable In Texas, Martha Alejandra Salas

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract forthcoming


New Bargaining Order: How And Why Professional Wrestlers In The Wwe Should Unionize Under The National Labor Relations Act, Geoff Estes Jan 2018

New Bargaining Order: How And Why Professional Wrestlers In The Wwe Should Unionize Under The National Labor Relations Act, Geoff Estes

Marquette Sports Law Review

None


Independent Contractor Or Employee: I’M Uber Confused! Why California Should Create An Exception For Uber Drivers And The “On-Demand Economy”, Andre Andoyan Aug 2017

Independent Contractor Or Employee: I’M Uber Confused! Why California Should Create An Exception For Uber Drivers And The “On-Demand Economy”, Andre Andoyan

Golden Gate University Law Review

Part I of this comment details California employment law, how it has been applied to Uber, and how Uber, along with other “On-Demand Economy” companies, are different than other companies. Part II presents the current legal issues in worker classification. Part II also proposes the exception that should apply to Uber drivers and discusses why Uber, and other “On-Demand Economy” companies, should be entitled to this exception, including the practical problems with an employment classification for Uber. Part III concludes that changing our worker-classification laws is a compromise that will benefit drivers, Uber, and reflect the changes in our society.


Uber Drivers: A Disputed Employment Relationship In Light Of The Sharing Economy, Nicholas L. Debruyne Jul 2017

Uber Drivers: A Disputed Employment Relationship In Light Of The Sharing Economy, Nicholas L. Debruyne

Chicago-Kent Law Review

Ride-sharing companies such as Uber Technologies Inc. (“Uber”) have revolutionized the ride-sharing industry. In the realm of employment classification, Uber has a substantial financial motivation to classify its drivers as independent contractors because it frees Uber from financing workers’ compensation programs, payroll taxes, and employee benefit programs. Others argue that Uber should not be able to escape such direct liabilities. In light of this ongoing debate, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has recently denied Uber’s class-action settlement agreement, thereby preserving the issue of whether Uber drivers should be classified as employees or independent contractors. Federal …


Mixed Martial Artists: Challenges To Unionization, Genevieve F.E. Birren, Tyler J. Schmitt Jan 2017

Mixed Martial Artists: Challenges To Unionization, Genevieve F.E. Birren, Tyler J. Schmitt

Marquette Sports Law Review

None


Identity Crisis: The Misclassification Of California Uber Drivers, Benjamin Powell Jan 2017

Identity Crisis: The Misclassification Of California Uber Drivers, Benjamin Powell

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

The Uber ridesharing service is synonymous with the rise of mobile application-based services. This business model has spurred a number of novel legal questions, particularly surrounding the proper identification of Uber drivers. Are they employees, guaranteed the ample protections and workers' rights under California law? Or independent contractors, less subject to employer control, but without the same protections the State provides to employees? With the proliferation of these types of services, answering this question is of critical importance, both to current Uber drivers as well as the countless others who will enter this rapidly-developing field in the coming years. This …


"Dependent Contractors" In The Gig Economy: A Comparative Approach, Miriam A. Cherry, Antonio Aloisi Jan 2017

"Dependent Contractors" In The Gig Economy: A Comparative Approach, Miriam A. Cherry, Antonio Aloisi

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.


Getting Paid In The Naked Economy, Meredith R. Miller Jan 2015

Getting Paid In The Naked Economy, Meredith R. Miller

Hofstra Labor & Employment Law Journal

“It’s the end of work as we know it,” reports consulting firm Accenture in a paper about the “rise of the extended workforce.” (Gartside, Silverstone, Farley & Cantrell, Trends Reshaping the Future of HR: The Rise of the Extended Workforce, at 3 (Accenture 2013). The report predicts that, “[i]n the future, organizations’ competitive success will hinge on...workers who aren’t employees at all.” The legal nature of employment is changing and has been changing for quite some time; fewer and fewer workers are “employees.”

It is not new or novel to recognize that, from a legal perspective, there are many benefits …


Reimagining The Law Of Self-Employment: A Comparative Perspective, Jayesh M. Rathod, Michal Skapski Jan 2013

Reimagining The Law Of Self-Employment: A Comparative Perspective, Jayesh M. Rathod, Michal Skapski

Hofstra Labor & Employment Law Journal

U.S. employment law has traditionally disfavored bright-line rules to distinguish between traditional “employees” and independent contractors, instead relying on more flexible criteria, to be applied on a case-by-case basis. This fluidity has enabled employers to structure these relationships – and the corresponding bundle of worker rights and benefits – in ways that serve their own material and normative interests. Indeed, recent employment law literature has noted a dramatic shift towards independent contracting and contingent worker schemes in the U.S., even when the actual workplace dynamics are more akin to an employer-employee relationship. These same trends are now visible on the …


Applying The Doctrine Of Work For Hire And Joint Works To Website Development, Han Sheng Beh Dec 2012

Applying The Doctrine Of Work For Hire And Joint Works To Website Development, Han Sheng Beh

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.


Employment Tax Issues In Home Health Care Contracts, Ben A. Neiburger Aug 2012

Employment Tax Issues In Home Health Care Contracts, Ben A. Neiburger

Marquette Elder's Advisor

Seniors may receive care for which they pay the provider without realizing the tax implications if they are deemed the employer of the provider. Neiburger discusses the sometimes confusing differences between and independent contractor and an employee, and the various taxes and penalties, both federal and state (Illinois as an example) for which employers are responsible.


Creating A Workable Legal Standard For Defining An Independent Contractor, Karen R. Harned, Georgine M. Kryda, Elizabeth A. Milito Jan 2012

Creating A Workable Legal Standard For Defining An Independent Contractor, Karen R. Harned, Georgine M. Kryda, Elizabeth A. Milito

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

No abstract provided.


Health Law—Negligent Credentialing And You: What Happens When Hospitals Fail To Monitor Physicians, Whitney Foster Jan 2009

Health Law—Negligent Credentialing And You: What Happens When Hospitals Fail To Monitor Physicians, Whitney Foster

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.


Texas Rule Of Evidence 503: Defining Scope Of Employment For Corporations Comment., Craig W. Saunders Jan 1999

Texas Rule Of Evidence 503: Defining Scope Of Employment For Corporations Comment., Craig W. Saunders

St. Mary's Law Journal

The attorney-corporate client privilege should be regarded as encompassing only communications made to the corporation’s counsel by employees in the scope of their employment. The Supreme Court of Texas and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ordered the merger of the Civil and Criminal Rules of Evidence. The merger became effective on March 1, 1998 and is now known as the Texas Rules of Evidence. Although the civil and criminal rules often mirror each other, one monumental change is in the new version of Rule 503. This new version significantly alters the analysis used in a corporate context and determines …


O'Hare Truck Service, Inc. V. City Of Northlake: Further Limiting The Spoils Of The Victor, Jaimie Johnson Mar 1998

O'Hare Truck Service, Inc. V. City Of Northlake: Further Limiting The Spoils Of The Victor, Jaimie Johnson

Georgia State University Law Review

No abstract provided.


Labor And Industrial Relations Workers' Compensation: Owner-Operators Of Vehicles Leased To Carriers Become Independent Contractors For Workers' Compensation Purposes, Pamela G. Nathan Jan 1992

Labor And Industrial Relations Workers' Compensation: Owner-Operators Of Vehicles Leased To Carriers Become Independent Contractors For Workers' Compensation Purposes, Pamela G. Nathan

Georgia State University Law Review

The Act provides that an owner-operator, which is an equipment lessor who leases her vehicular equipment with driver to a carrier, is deemed an independent contractor for purposes of workers' compensation.


The Status Of The Workers' Compensation System In Georgia And Proposed Changes: Remedies For The Remedy, Roy E. Barnes Sep 1990

The Status Of The Workers' Compensation System In Georgia And Proposed Changes: Remedies For The Remedy, Roy E. Barnes

Georgia State University Law Review

No abstract provided.


Liability To Employees Of Independent Contractors Engaged In Inherently Dangerous Work: A Workable Workers' Compensation Proposal , Edward J. Henderson Jan 1980

Liability To Employees Of Independent Contractors Engaged In Inherently Dangerous Work: A Workable Workers' Compensation Proposal , Edward J. Henderson

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.


Labor Law-Independent Contractor Status-Extension Of The Right Of Control Test, F. Bruce Kulp Jr. Nov 1963

Labor Law-Independent Contractor Status-Extension Of The Right Of Control Test, F. Bruce Kulp Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner, a large independent oil company, owned a gasoline service station which it leased to an individual operator, reserving the right to determine certain aspects of the lessee's operations. During the lease period, a majority of the station attendants signed union authorization cards, and the union requested a meeting with the lessee for the purpose of negotiating a contract. The lessee refused to negotiate, discharged the attendants, and hired replacements. The trial examiner found that petitioner, as an employer of his lessee, had violated section 8(a)(5) of the National Labor Relations Act by refusing to bargain. On appeal, held, …


Case Notes Jan 1960

Case Notes

South Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.