From JDSupra, Bill Wright recommends that companies keep appropirate records of who is doing the work and the hours that they keep. Bill writes: The Department of Labor successfully stated a claim for record-keeping violations against a franchisor, because the franchisor failed to keep records on the hours worked by the specific individuals actually performing work…
From The National Law Review, Christopher G. Ward warns that despite some indications that the risks of misclassification are diminishing, employers should still be careful to properly classify workers as employees or independent contractors. Christopher writes: One might be excused for thinking (from an employer-biased point of view) that the independent contractor minefield might be settling…
From The National Law Review, Leonard V. Feigel discusses a recent case which, despite the Trump’s administration’s efforts limit a company’s exposure as a joint employer, found that a company was a joint employer and liable for labor law violations. Leonard writes: as we previously wrote about, federal agencies under Trump’s administration have taken steps…
From CCJDigital.com, Jill Dunn reports that the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development proposes making the ABC test the test for determining if a worker is eligible for paid sick leave. The Department will have a hearing on November 13. Jill writes: New Jersey wants to only use the so-called ABC test to determine employment…
PYMNTS.com reports that Uber is considering offering portable benefits to its drivers: Uber’s CEO revealed that the company is looking into offering its drivers health insurance and other benefits through a “portable” system that would cover contractors from job to job. “For the first time, I think we are now listening to our drivers, and we…
From JDSupra, Linda Auerbach Allderdice, Michael Maroney, and Jameson Rice discuss a case before the Supreme Court which considers whether the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) applies to independent contractor agreements and whether the question of whether the FAA applies should be determined by an arbitrator or a court. They write: On Oct. 3, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court…
From JDSupra, Stephen Baumann II and Adrienne Scheffey discuss a Colorado case that interprets the phrase “arising under” broadly. Stephen and Adrienne write: Drawing on federal case law, the state appellate court addressed Digital’s claim that because the arbitration agreement applied to any disputes “arising under” the contract, as opposed to the broader language of “relating to”…
From JDSupra, Richard Reibstein discusses a new type of lawsuit in which a company sues another for unfair competition alleging that the misclassification of independent contractors is an unfair business practice. Richard writes: The newest type of legal challenge is by a business that doesn’t use independent contractors, accusing another business that does use them of…
From JDSupra, Stephanie Adler-Paindiris discusses a case in which the court said whether an issue can be litigated as a class arbitration should be decided a court unless there is clear and unmistakable intent in the arbitration agreement. Stephanie writes: In a matter of first impression before the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and an issue…
From Lexology, Tyler S. Laughinghouse and Ryan A. Glasgow discuss a decision in which the court said a court gets to decide class arbitrability unless the arbitration provision clearly says the arbitrator has the discretion. Tyler and Ryan write: In Jpay, Inc. v. Kobel, the Eleventh Circuit ruled that questions of class arbitrability should be decided…