Delivery drivers are employees, not independent contractors, Ninth Circuit rules

“In a decision issued June 16, 2014, the Ninth Circuit ruled that despite the contract terms to the contrary, delivery drivers for Affinity Logistics were employees under California law, not independent contractors. The Court of Appeals disregarded the fact that the drivers all had independent contractor agreements, formed their own corporate entities, paid for their own trucks, and could hire their own helpers.
Instead, based on the same record reviewed by the district court, it held that Affinity controlled enough aspects of the drivers’ workday and work methods that they were employees under California law, regardless of the titles the parties used to describe the relationship. The Court of Appeals cited a long list of reasons, including the company’s tight control over routes and schedules, a detailed procedures manual that demanded “100 percent adherence,” employment-like policies relating to vacation time, use of the drivers’ leased trucks leased by other drivers without compensation, mandatory daily meetings, company uniforms, daily inspections, and real-time monitoring of routes.

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