From the National Law Reivew, Adam Siegel offers his recommendation for the top 10 questions to ask about your independent contractors. Here are the first 4 questions Adam recommends asking:
- Do the contractors perform work that is integral to your business? In an unpublished case, Garcia v. Seacon Logix, Inc., the California Court of Appeal ruled that delivery truck drivers working in the Port of Los Angeles, who were classified as independent contractors, actually were employees of a trucking company. Because the trucking company’s business consisted almost entirely of transporting cargo, the drivers’ work transporting that cargo did not constitute a distinct occupation or business.
- Do the contractors operate their own business, have their own business tax identification number, have business bank accounts or have other clients? True contractors are in business for themselves and should have all of the indicia of stand-alone business.
- Do the contractors bear the risk of profit or loss? True contractors exercise their managerial skills to make a profit or experience a loss, by making decisions about future business, engaging additional jobs, allocating resources or obtaining materials.
- Does the company closely supervise contractors’ work? In the trucking case, the company set the drivers’ hours, approved requests for absences, controlled the delivery assignments, monitored the progress of deliveries, and prohibited the drivers from declining assignments, all of which weighed in favor of employee status.
Read the full story at Worker Misclassification Risk in California? Top 10 Questions to Ask about Your Independent Contractors
