Independent contractors can claim disability discrimination under the Rehabilitation Act, which covers individuals subjected to disability discrimination by any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance, the Ninth Circuit decides.

An independent contractor who suffered from sickle cell anemia Read more

The Internal Revenue Service offers the top ten tips businesses should know in hiring independent contractors, as part of its Summertime Tax Tip series.

The IRS says it uses three characteristics in determining whether there is an employment relationship versus an independent contractor: Behavioral Control (who has a r Read more

Witnesses before a U.S. House Education and Labor subcommittee alleged that employers are increasingly misclassifying employees as “independent contractors,” thereby denying them their rights under workplace laws. Read more

Hawaii has joined with the U.S. Dept. of Labor, the Internal Revenue Service, and 10 other states in an effort to end the business practice of misclassifying employees as independent contractors. Read more

Growing numbers of employers are wrongly classifying their employees as “independent contractors” instead of “employees” in order to sidestep workplace laws and save on labor costs, including tax obligations—a practice that is having a profound impact on state and federal revenues, according to a report from the National Employment Law Project. Read more

Cable installers who were required to complete employment applications; were assigned work and routes; were given direct written orders by the company; and did not hold themselves out as independent businesses are not independent contractors for the purposes of the Fair Labor Standards Act, a federal court rules in Ohio. Read more

In February 2010, the Internal Revenue Service began randomly selecting up to 2,000 employers over the next three years for a payroll tax audit, and employers are advised to check whether workers are properly classified as employees or independent contractors. Read more

The Internal Revenue Service has issued a new tip sheet on employee v. independent contractor, and also warns electronic taxpayers about a phishing scam from fraudsters posing as the IRS.
Read more

A study on the impact of the “Great Recession” on the composition of the U.S. workforce reveals that 80 percent of employers expect the size of their non-employee workforce (defined as consultants, independent contractors, temporary employees, and project teams) to stay the same or increase within the next year, even as the economy regains its footing. The study was commission by Yoh, a firm specializing in technology staffing. Read more