From Smith Armundsen Labor & Employment Law Update, Amanda Biondolino discusses the risks of misclassifying workers as independent contractors. She writes: When a worker is classified as an independent contractor, the employer is not liable for federal tax withholding, payment of state unemployment tax, maintaining workers compensation insurance or compliance with state and federal wage and…
From Lexology, Patrick M. DePoy and Michael A. Warner, Jr. discuss an Illinois case in which the court said that an arbitrator had to determine if a driver was an employee or independent contractor before the driver could proceed with a class action lawsuit. Patrick and Michael write: Last week, a U.S. District Court Judge in Illinois ruled…
From the National Law Review, Bradford Peterson discusses three cases with similar facts that did not have the same results in determining whether an owner-operator is an employee or independent contractor. Bradford writes: Decisions by the Illinois Appellate Courts led to conflicting decisions despite substantially similar facts. In Earley v. Industrial Commission, 197 Ill. App. 3d 309 (4th…
From HR.BLR.com, Steven Brenneman discusses a recent case in which drivers for a restaurant were misclassified as independent contractors. Steven writes: The pivotal issue was whether (despite the “independent contractor” agreements they had signed) the drivers were actually employees (and thereby entitled to minimum wages and overtime) for purposes of the FLSA and the…
Philip Bareck discusses the ability of an independent contractor to file a workers compensation claim in Illinois if the company exercises too much control. Philip writes: The Supreme Court Gets Involved Starting in the 1990’s, company’s began reclassifying employees as independent contractors. They did this to shift the tax burden to their employees and strengthen their bottom…
FindLaw reports a case before the workers compensation appellate division in Illinois in which a truck driver was seeking workers compensation benefits from a company that was in the business of transporting machinery. The court set forth the factors to be considered and then applied the factors to the truck driver’s situation. The court’s detailed analysis…
From the Ogletree Deakins Blog — “On October 14, 2014, the Supreme Court of the United States refused to consider a challenge to the Illinois Employee Classification Act, which classifies workers in the construction industry as employees unless they can meet the detailed requirements of the statute for independent contractor status. The Supreme Court denied the petition…
From newsobserver.com — “Illinois and New York are national leaders when it comes to curbing worker misclassification. Their efforts were highlighted by a recent review of payroll records on large, publicly financed projects conducted by reporters for McClatchy and ProPublica, an independent nonprofit news outlet, in both states. While North Carolina and other Southern states…
From Staffing Industry Analysts — “Illinois led the nation in auditing employers for independent contractor misclassification, the Illinois Department of Employment Security announced this month. Employers that get caught face penalties. The state audited 3,635 employers in 2013 and identified 19,765 misclassified employees, according to the department. Misclassification of these workers resulted in $245.6 million…
From the Alton Daily News — “If someone is an independent contractor, they will be issued a Form 1099, and will be responsible for paying income tax and Social Security and Medicare tax. If someone is an employee, the employer withholds taxes, pays an employer’s share into Medicare and Social Security, and pays into worker…