Independent Contractor News Updates

Uber Technologies Inc. overhauled its ride-hailing app for California users, tweaking fares and features to respond to a new state law designed to reclassify drivers as employees.

TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey is seeking more than $640 million from Uber in taxes and penalties, saying the ride-booking company misclassified its drivers as independent contractors.

The California Trucking Association has amended its 2018 independent contractor federal lawsuit to challenge a new state labor law that the association claims would prevent thousands of motor carriers from contracting with owner-operators.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California Trucking Association on Nov. 12 filed what appears to be the first lawsuit challenging a sweeping new labor law that seeks to give wage and benefit protections to workers in the so-called gig economy, including rideshare drivers at companies such as Uber and Lyft.

The New Jersey Department of Labor and U.S. Department of Labor signed a joint agreement to step up efforts to protect employees, including truck drivers, from illegal misclassification as independent contractors.

Legislation has passed in California’s State Assembly that would mandate use of the so-called “ABC test” that legal experts say makes it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for motor carriers to use independent contractors.

Whether truck drivers are classified as employees or independent contractors is becoming an increasingly difficult challenge for many motor carriers when it comes to workers’ compensation and other insurance coverages, industry experts said.

In a federal lawsuit filed July 19, the Western States Trucking Association alleges that the California Supreme Court’s new “ABC test” requirement for deciding if a contractor should be an employee “forces virtually all independent contractors to become employees to those they choose to contract or work with.”