From JDSupra, Susan Lessack discusses the decision that UberBLACK drivers were independent contractors. The drivers operated their own transportation companies and their agreement with Uber said that the drivers were employees of the transportation comapny. Susan write: On April 11, Judge Michael Baylson of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania became the…
For independent contractors living abroad, InternationalCitizens.com, provides guidance on how to file your taxes: Tax Filing Advice for US Citizens Living Abroad Filing taxes in your native country can be a headache. Doing taxes as an US expatriate, however, can be even more daunting of a task. As an expat, you’ll need to do plenty…
From JDSupra, Richard Reibstein discusses the recent decision that UberBlack drivers were independent contractors. Richard writes: The Decision by Judge Baylson The case decided yesterday by Judge Baylson is Razak v. Uber Technologies, Inc., No. 16-cv-573 (E.D. Pa. Apr. 11, 2018). In his decision, the judge first reviewed a number of cases decided by other courts…
From JDSupra, Richard Greenberg and Craig Roberts discuss concerns with the Payroll Audit Independent Determination program (“PAID”), a program offered by the Department of Labor (DOL) to encourage employers to perform a self audit to discover violations and potentially avoid penalties. In particular, employers may avoid liability to the DOL but may incur liability under…
From JDSupra, Christopher Truxler and Coby Turner discuss a California lawsuit in which 7-Eleven franchisees alleged they were employees of the franchiser. They write; All is well with one of America’s most beloved convenience stores. In October 2017, four 7-Eleven franchisees filed a class action lawsuit alleging the company misclassified franchise owners in California as independent contractors instead…
From Quartz at Work, Sarah Kessler reports on the efforts by Handy and Uber to change state laws to define an independent contractor in the online digital marketplace. Sarah writes: Within the last six months, legislators in at least eight states have introduced bills that declare workers for “online digital marketplaces” to be freelancers, or independent…
From Politico, Marie J. French discusses the New York state budget and a provision that extends protections from sexual harassment to independent contractors and other non-employees. Marie writes: Critics say new protections against workplace sexual harassment are inadequate, although it’s likely that Gov. Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders will hail them as a key achievement.…
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 the Houston Chronicle, L.M. Sixel shares her conversation with attorney Rex Burch who has extensive experience recovering unpaid wages and overtime from employers. His observation that employees will overlook a lot of things is spot on; the biggest risk for a misclassification lawsuit is not the legal risk, it’s the disgruntled worker. L.M. shares…
From JDSupra, Richard Reibstein reports that an Illinois judge said that the client of a staffing company was entitled to the benefit of an arbitration clause. The workers sued the client alleging they were misclassified as independent contractors but the client moved to compel arbitration and the judge agreed with the client. Richard writes: An…