The National Labor Relations Board recently reaffirmed “entrepreneurial opportunity” as an important factor in weighing independent contractor status. Traditionally, the Board considered all of the relevant common law agency factors, including whether the parties believed they were creating a master-servant relationship, the extent of the company’s control over the details of the work, the extent…

Unions remain baffled in how to organize workers in the gig economy. The gig economy is a term use for companies, like Uber, whose business model is built on the use of independent contractors. Independent contractors are, by law, not allowed to join unions. But that is not stopping unions from creatively trying to represent…

The National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint against Postmates, Inc., an on-demand company, similar to Uber, that has a network of couriers delivering goods. The complaint alleges that Postmate’s violated the National Labor Relations Act by requiring employee drivers to enter into arbitration agreements as a term of employment. The complaint further alleged that Postmates interfered…

A referral service that referred stagehands to event producers for concerts, plays, trade shows, and other events offered jobs to employees on a first-come, first-served basis. The referral service, which required employees to sign independent contractor agreements, did not withhold taxes or other benefits, prohibit the stagehands from accepting jobs from other referral services or…

A non-profit organization that distributes food to low-income individuals funds its operations by using canvassers to solicit contributions from area residents. The non-profit requires the canvassers to be on time for transportation to and from the areas they target for solicitations, but otherwise canvassers largely work unsupervised. The non-profit considered the canvassers independent contractors, and…

Have you ever called a cable company and another company’s van showed up in your driveway? Do you know whether workers in those “other vans” are employees of the cable company or independent contractors hired by the cable company to install cable in your home? According to the United States Department of Labor Wage and…