Reuters reports that Massachusetts requires background checks for Lyft and Uber drivers starting in January. Nov 28 Massachusetts next year will require ride service companies including Uber and Lyft to perform the strictest background checks in the United States on all of their drivers, according to a deal reached with the companies on Monday.…
There have been multiple cases in Massachusetts in which parties claim that the Federal Aviation Administration Act (FAAA) preempts the Massachusetts independent contractor statute. State laws that affect the rates, routes, or services of transportation providers are preempted by the FAAA. In Rice v. Diversified Specialty Pharmacy, LLC, et al. (Curran, J.) (Middlesex Superior Court)…
From JDSupra, Dawn Mertineit, Katherine Perrelli, and Erik Weibust discuss proposed legislation that would limit non-compete agreements in Massachusetts. This legislation would apply to independent contractors and employees. Dawn, Katherine and Erik write: The bill also defines “employee” to include independent contractors, notwithstanding the many fundamental differences between employees and independent contractors under Massachusetts law. It’s unclear why…
From JDSupra, Gauri Punjabi discusses the preemption of the Massachusetts independent contractor statute by the Federal Aviation Administration Act of 1994 (FAAAA). Gauri write: The Massachusetts Attorney General in Massachusetts Delivery Association v. Healey claimed that the couriers hired by same-day delivery companies were not performing services outside the usual course of the companies’ business…
From WickedLocal.com, Jessica Trufant reports that the head of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Fair Labor Division said that her office needs witnesses and workers talking to them about misclassification. The head of the attorney general’s Fair Labor Division said it’s a top priority to investigate contractors accused of bypassing wage and labor laws, but…
From the Shrewsbury Lantern, a report that a landscaping company misclassified workers as independent contractors and failed to maintain accurate payroll records. The report states: A Westborough man and his landscaping company will pay more than $31,000 in restitution and penalties to resolve violations of the state’s wage and hour laws, Attorney General…
From The Boston Globe, David Casey criticizes the Massachusetts independent contractor statute because it stifles innovation and independence. He recommends returning to a previous version of the statute. David writes: Consider Jane, a Web-design freelancer who works from home in Waltham to produce branding solutions for clients across the country. She is proof that…
From Lexology, Richard A. Plewacki and J. Allen Jones discuss the recent First Circuit case in which the court said that the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (“FAAAA”) preempted the second prong of Massachusetts’ ABC test, but that the remaining prongs must be met for a worker to qualify as an independent contractor. Richard…
From the Harvard Crimson, Nathaniel J. Hiatt reports that a massage therapist filed a lawsuit alleging that she was misclassified as an independent contractor and was improperly denied benefits. Nathaniel writes: Shannon E. Liss-Riordan ’90, the attorney for the case and a former Crimson editor, claims that the workers’ services are performed “in the employer’s usual…
Where have all the paperboys and papergirls gone? They’ve been replaced by delivery companies that newspapers contract with to deliver the newspapers. Recently, the Boston Globe Editorial Board published an editorial calling on an investigation into the classification of the newspaper delivery industry. The editorial states: Attorney General Maura Healey and federal labor authorities should take…