Imagine one of your worst corporate nightmares comes true: a government body has determined that you have misclassified your workers, and they should be considered employees and not contractors. The ramifications could be...more
By now, you’ve probably heard the good news: a federal judge yesterday ruled in favor of Grubhub and pronounced that a delivery driver who was challenging the independent contractor classification model was not, in fact, an...more
In what is believed to be the first time in our nation’s history that a trial court has reached a judicial merits determination in a gig economy misclassification case, a federal judge in California ruled in favor of the...more
2/9/2018
/ Class Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Employees ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gig Economy ,
GrubHub ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Right to Control
Early last month, we told you that a critical trial ruling in a gig economy misclassification case could be put on hold because a separate court was mulling whether to loosen the test to make it easier for workers to succeed...more
The first few days of 2018 might not be going to plan for those gig economy businesses hoping that the new year might bring some relief in the seemingly never-ending misclassification struggle. As we sit on pins and needles...more
It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. While the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, there have been an unprecedented number of changes each month in 2017. November was no...more
12/7/2017
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Appeals ,
Attorney General ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Electronic Filing ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Failed Legislation ,
Fair Workweek ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Fines ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Gig Economy ,
Harassment ,
Independent Contractors ,
IRS ,
Joint Employers ,
LGBTQ ,
Marijuana ,
Misclassification ,
Paid Leave ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Proposed Rules ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Salary/Wage History ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Labor Laws ,
Tax Penalties ,
Title VII ,
Uber ,
UK ,
Wage and Hour ,
Work Schedules ,
Workplace Illness and Injury Reporting
Bad news out of Washington, D.C. late yesterday. Chris Opfer of Bloomberg BNA reports that the current version of the Senate tax reform bill, released yesterday, no longer includes the protection that had initially been...more
While misclassification battles over the status of gig economy workers rage here in the United States, we are by no means the only country grappling with these thorny 21st-century legal issues. On Novemeber 10th, in fact, an...more
11/13/2017
/ Appeals ,
Employee Benefits ,
Gig Economy ,
Holiday Pay ,
Independent Contractors ,
Minimum Wage ,
Misclassification ,
Ridesharing ,
Uber ,
UK ,
UK Employment Appeal Tribunal
Reports out of Washington, D.C. indicate that gig economy businesses could be in for an end-of-the-year treat in the form of game-changing legislation. Chris Opfer and Tyrone Richardson of Bloomberg BNA report that Senate...more
It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. While the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, there have been an unprecedented number of changes each month in 2017. October was no...more
11/3/2017
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Appeals ,
Ban the Box ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Training ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Gig Economy ,
Governor Brown ,
GrubHub ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Enforcement ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
New Rules ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
Over-Time ,
Parental Leave ,
Preventive Health Care ,
Proposed Rules ,
Restraining Orders ,
Retaliation ,
Salary/Wage History ,
SCOTUS ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Labor Laws ,
State Legislatures ,
Tip-Pooling ,
Title VII ,
Transgender ,
Travel Ban ,
Trump Administration ,
Wage and Hour ,
Whistleblowers
After a five-hour closing argument session in a California federal court on Monday, the gig economy is waiting with baited breath and trying to hazard their best guesses about how the judge will rule in the high-stakes Lawson...more
The parties in the Grubhub misclassification case are back in court on Monday, October 30, delivering their final closing arguments to the judge. We’ve written about the trial extensively. To sum it up, though: a former...more
10/27/2017
/ Class Action ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Full-Time Employees ,
Gig Economy ,
GrubHub ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Mobile Apps ,
Part-Time Employees ,
Payment Systems ,
Right to Control ,
Skilled Laborers ,
Supervision ,
Unconscionable Contracts
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals recently placed a temporary halt on the ongoing misclassification litigation against Uber, pointing out that it would make sense to wait for a key Supreme Court decision before proceeding...more
10/10/2017
/ Appeals ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Employment Litigation ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Oral Argument ,
Ridesharing ,
Uber
It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. The law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, and September 2017 was no different. In order to make sure that you stay on top of the latest...more
10/7/2017
/ Appeals ,
Class Action ,
DACA ,
Dear Colleague Letter ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equal Pay ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
First Amendment ,
Gig Economy ,
Google ,
GrubHub ,
Hurricane Irma ,
Janus v AFSCME ,
Misclassification ,
Obama Administration ,
OFCCP ,
Over-Time ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Public Sector Unions ,
Rescission ,
SCOTUS ,
Secretary of Labor ,
Sexual Assault ,
Shop Fee Arrangements ,
Title IX ,
Travel Ban ,
Trump Administration ,
White-Collar Exemptions
The evidentiary phase of the Grubhub misclassification trial ended last week; now the gig economy world waits with baited breath for a final ruling. For those unfamiliar with the situation, this could be the first time the...more
As readers of this blog know, we are right in the midst of one of the most significant legal developments for the gig economy. For the first time, a judge is being asked to definitely decide at trial whether a typical...more
9/13/2017
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Cross Examination ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Employment Litigation ,
Evidence ,
Gig Economy ,
GrubHub ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
On-Demand Services ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA)
Josh Eidelson from Bloomberg reported that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a complaint against gig economy mainstay Handy earlier this week, alleging that the on-demand workers who provide home cleaning...more
Earlier this week, I wrote an article about a recent NLRB decision where the Board found a group of workers who provide video content services for the display board at Minnesota Timberwolves basketball games to be incorrectly...more
In a ruling sure to leave businesses and gig economy companies crying foul, the National Labor Relations Board concluded that workers producing electronic video display content for the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves were...more
8/30/2017
/ Basketball ,
Classification ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
NBA ,
NLRB ,
Popular ,
Union Organizers
It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. While the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, there have been an unprecedented number of changes each month in 2017. July was no different,...more
8/2/2017
/ Ashley Madison ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Class Action ,
Data Breach ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Electronic Records ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Form I-9 ,
Gender Equity ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Gig Economy ,
GrubHub ,
Joint Employers ,
Local Ordinance ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Misclassification ,
OSHA ,
Over-Time ,
Pregnancy ,
Pregnancy Disability Leave Law ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
San Francisco ,
Settlement ,
Tip-Pooling ,
Uber ,
Updated Forms
A federal court judge in North Carolina last week granted permission to a group of Uber drivers challenging the company’s classification structure to band together and proceed with a class action lawsuit against the...more
7/19/2017
/ Class Action ,
Conditional Certification ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Minimum Wage ,
Misclassification ,
Over-Time ,
Popular ,
Uber ,
Wage and Hour
Gig employers returning from the Fourth of July holiday were in for a rude awakening when they learned about the fireworks that just went down in a California federal court. Right before the holiday weekend, Judge Jacqueline...more
It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. While it always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, the last few months have seen an unprecedented number of changes. June 2017 was no different, with...more
7/7/2017
/ Administrative Interpretation ,
Advocate Health Care v Stapleton ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Church Plans ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Discrimination ,
Electronic Records ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Harassment ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Interlocutory Appeals ,
Joint Employers ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Microsoft v Baker ,
Minimum Salary ,
Misclassification ,
New Legislation ,
NLRB ,
Opinion Letter ,
OSHA ,
Over-Time ,
Popular ,
Public Accommodation ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Title III ,
Travel Ban ,
Trump v Hawaii ,
Trump v International Refugee Assistance Project ,
Uber ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Website Accessibility ,
White-Collar Exemptions
Back in October, we reported that there appeared to be the first crack in the wall when it came to classifying Uber drivers as employees instead of independent contractors. At that time, it was reported that the New York...more
6/20/2017
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Definition ,
Employees ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Sharing Economy ,
Uber ,
Unemployment Benefits
Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Labor dropped a bit of a bombshell when it announced the immediate withdrawal of two informal guidance letters issued back when President Obama governed the executive branch. The 2015...more
6/12/2017
/ Administrative Interpretation ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Joint Employers ,
Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA) ,
Misclassification ,
Wage and Hour