From Forbes – “FedEx is everywhere. But a key component of how it does business has been upended by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled that 2,300 FedEx Ground drivers were misclassified. For years, FedEx called them—and paid them—as independent contractors. No way, said the court resoundingly, they are employees.
Employees trigger a litany of federal and state tax withholding, fringe benefit, anti-discrimination, health care, pension, worker’s compensation and unemployment insurance obligations. You avoid these entanglements by hiring independent contractors or do you? If they are really independent contractors, sure, but labels aren’t enough.
Disputes are common, and independent contractor vs. employee cases have factual and legal nuances galore. So how clear is the FedEx case? “We hold that plaintiffs are employees as a matter of law under California’s right-to-control test.” As a result, FedEx may owe its workforce of drivers hundreds of millions of dollars.”
Read the full story at FedEx Misclassified Drivers As Independent Contractors, Rules Ninth Circuit.
Related articles
- Court finds FedEx drivers are employees, not independent contractors (bizjournals.com)
- FedEx May Pay for Millions For Misclassifying Workers (sustainablelifemedia.com)
- FedEx Drivers Are Employees, Ninth Circuit Finds (lawprofessors.typepad.com)
- Independent contractor ruling on FedEx drivers could affect “Sharing Economy” (bizjournals.com)
