This is the first blog post for IndependentContractorCompliance.com, a website dedicated to three objectives:

  • Collecting and maintaining legal resources on the subject of independent contractors misclassification and compliance for use by lawyers representing businesses,  contractors, and employees as well as the general public including companies, freelancers, consultants, government agencies, law school educators, and those taking an interest in the subject – typically on a “first out of the box” basis.
  • Promoting compliance by businesses with federal and state laws permitting the use of independent contractors.
  • Providing useful takeaways for businesses to enhance compliance with IC laws, minimize IC misclassification liability, and defend against lawsuits or regulatory audits or proceedings involving IC misclassification.

Activity and interest in this area has accelerated since 2006, when the IRS revamped its long-standing “20-factor” test for determining whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor.  In 2008, several state legislatures and the federal government began to consider legislation to address the issue of independent contractor misclassification; the IRS made misclassification a “questionable employment tax practice” (QETP); and several states organized task forces to coordinate information among state employment and revenue departments to toughen enforcement of existing laws prohibiting misclassification of workers.

Also in 2008, the national media began to report on class actions that had been filed against FedEx Ground, in which the plaintiffs alleged that its drivers, whom the company treated as independent contractors, should be recharacterized by the courts as common law employees.  By 2008, unions at the national and local levels had also begun a concerted effort to organize workers that they claimed were misclassified “employees.”

This blog collects an array of legal and business materials on independent contractor misclassification and compliance. The publisher of the blog assembled and catalogued a substantial portion of those materials on this site as a legal resource for those interested in this subject of national importance.

By clicking on the “Resources/Links” tab on the side of this site or at the top, viewers of this new blog can obtain the most comprehensive directory of legal and business resources available to the public on topics relating to IC compliance and misclassification. The topics are:

  • State and Federal IC Bills and Laws
  • Pros and Cons of “IC-Neutral” and “IC-Minus” Legislation
  • Newspaper and Other Articles of Note (including quotes of the Publisher of this Blog)
  • Articles by the Publisher of this Blog
  • Presentations and Webinars by the Publisher of this Blog

Readers of this blog are encouraged to submit to the publisher any new or updated resources (with links), either by posting a comment or by sending an e-mail to the publisher of this blog, who can be reached through the About the Publisher page of this blog.

Written by Richard Reibstein.