Next battleground over defining independent contractors: NLRB

Another front on the question of defining an independent contractor is opening up, this time at the National Labor Relations Board.

With so many venues battling over what constitutes an independent contractor, it can be difficult to keep track of who is doing what. Add the recent action by the NLRB to the list. 

The NLRB, now dominated by Democrats and in charge of enforcing the laws under the National Labor Relations Act, is looking to revive an Obama-era standard for defining independent...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/next-battleground-over-defining-independent-contractors-nlrb

Trucker satisfaction survey swerves around port congestion

Most of the truck drivers responding to a recent survey by the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) are happy with the type of organization they work for – whether they are a company driver, an independent contractor leased on to a carrier, or an owner-operator with their own operating authority.

But one sector of the commercial driver industry that was underrepresented in the survey – intermodal drayage – did not take into account the perspective from drivers dealing most directly...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/trucker-satisfaction-survey-swerves-around-port-congestion

Small Fleet Summit: Dealing with AB 5 in California

FIRESIDE CHAT TOPIC: How AB5 is likely to affect small fleets and owner-operators

DETAILS: Damon Ott is an employment attorney in California so he has a front-row seat to the state’s trucking industry as it prepares for the possible introduction of independent contractor law AB5. In this interview with FreightWaves editor at large John Kingston, Ott discusses some of the options that trucking companies in the state may pursue when the old way of doing business is no longer open to them. 

SPEAKER:

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/small-fleet-summit-dealing-with-ab-5-in-california

Latest California AB5-related decision spurs new appeals court arguments

California’s trucking sector moves closer every day to a decision by a federal appellate court whether to maintain the injunction that is preventing AB5 and its ABC test from governing the hiring of independent contractors in the state. 

Of course, that has been said every day since the start of September, when the three-judge panel heard arguments in the case brought by the California Trucking Association (CTA) that since New Year’s Day 2020 has been successful in maintaining that injunction....

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/latest-california-ab5-related-decision-spurs-new-appeals-court-arguments

Will US Uber drivers benefit from UK reclassification decision?

Uber reclassifies UK drivers as workers

Uber’s (NYSE: UBER) decision on March 17 to reclassify approximately 70,000 Uber Rides drivers in the U.K. as “workers” — a step closer to what U.S. businesses would consider employees and away from the independent contractor category — was not unexpected, but it leaves plenty of unanswered questions for the rideshare community on both sides of the Atlantic.

The decision by the global ride-hailing giant followed a February ruling by the U.K. Supreme Court upholding a lower court’s decision that...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/will-us-uber-drivers-benefit-from-uk-reclassification-decision

Biden’s DOL withdraws Trump administration’s sleeper berth guidance

Previous Department of Labor opinions regarding issues of pay and classification have been withdrawn by the Biden administration, the latest in a series of steps that suggest the federal government’s approach to such issues will differ significantly from that of the Trump administration. 

The Wages and Hour Division of the Department of Labor said this week that it was withdrawing two previous letters of opinion that it had published in 2019. The letters do not have the force of law and are not...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/bidens-dol-withdraws-trump-administrations-sleeper-berth-guidance

DOL withdraws Trump administration letter on driver classification issues

An opinion letter issued in the final days of the Trump administration that sought to clarify some specific issues on classifying independent truck drivers has been withdrawn by the Biden administration. 

The stated reason for the withdrawal by the Department of Labor is that the opinion letter handed down by the DOL’s Wage & Hour Division (WHD) relied on a rule that had not gone into effect, an apparent reference to the broader DOL guidelines released earlier this month on independent...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/dol-withdraws-trump-administration-letter-on-driver-classification-issues

Trucking-related DOL opinion looks to new worker classification rule with a cloudy future

In a pair of opinions that appear to draw heavily on a pending rule on disputes about classifying workers, a division of the Department of Labor has come down in favor of independent contractor rather than employee status in a trucking-related case before it. 

The Wage & Hour division (WHD) of the DOL, in a Monday letter signed by administrator Cheryl Stanton, told two unidentified petitioners from the trucking sector that scenarios for which they sought clarification both would fit under the...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/trucking-related-dol-opinion-looks-to-new-worker-classification-rule-with-a-cloudy-future

New federal rule on worker classification may not see light of day

A federal rule regarding the classification of workers published by the Department of Labor may be a quick victim of a Biden administration putting some late Trump administration rules on the shelf.

Carrie Hoffman, a Dallas-based partner with the law firm of Foley & Lardner, said incoming Biden administration officials have suggested that the new rule on independent contractors “is on the list” of late Trump administration actions that will be up for review. Her prediction of its fate was blunt:...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/new-federal-rule-on-worker-classification-may-not-see-light-of-day

Prime driver settlement scam warning was false alarm

The process to get settlement money to Prime Inc. drivers took a strange turn last week — a twist big enough to send the defendants to court demanding that the company straighten out confusion over miscommunication.

Many Prime drivers are eligible for a payout from a settlement over the groundbreaking Supreme Court decision last year in a driver classification suit filed against Prime. The issues of classification never were litigated to a conclusion because Prime settled with driver Domini...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/prime-driver-settlement-scam-warning-was-false-alarm

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