EDITOR: Still more…
WASHINGTON POST: …The board’s action is just the latest to tackle the trend. The Department of Labor has cracked down on employer misclassification of independent contractors, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has directed inspectors to consider whether principal employers might be at fault for the safety violations of their subcontractors. Courts, meanwhile, have been scrutinizing companies like FedEx and Uber for their use of contractors…
Corporations are “trying to have it both ways — have the benefits of the control, and not the disadvantages,” says Timothy Glynn, a professor at Seton Hall University Law School. “Where I think it would be very difficult to give up control is circumstances where there’s some exacting need for quality, timeliness, or consistency in the product.”
Like a fast food franchise, for example. While this case did not address franchising directly, the new standard will apply in a major series of cases against McDonald’s scheduled for arguments in the fall. The International Franchise Association has been lobbying against the anticipated decision for more than a year, arranging public hearings, airing ads, and rallying franchisees to make politicians aware of the decision’s potential implications… (more)
