Recently, the United States District Court for the District
of Massachusetts ruled in Schwann
vs. FedEx that a group of former pick-up and delivery
drivers were misclassified as independent contractors instead of employees
under the Massachusetts Wage Laws.
Under Massachusetts law, an individual is considered an employee, rather
than an independent contractor, unless the putative employer proves all of the
following: (1) the individual is free from control and direction in connection
with the performance of his or her service, both under his or her contract and
in fact; (2) the service is performed outside the usual course of the business
of the employer; and (3) the individual is customarily engaged in an
independently established trade, occupation, profession, or business of the
same nature as that involved in the service performed.
Massachusetts Independent Contractor/Misclassification Law by the Massachusetts
Attorney General [Advisory 2008/1], covers the history of the law, the three-prong
test, what constitutes violation of the law, and enforcement guidelines.
Additional information can be found on our page Massachusetts
Law About Independent Contractors and Massachusetts Law About Wages.
