Ken Dolin and Camille Olson Published in The National Law Journal

The January 9, 2006 issue of The National Law Journal published an article (“Are Newspaper Carriers Independent Contractors?”) written by Ken Dolin and Camille Olson. The article analyzed a recent case brought before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), St. Joseph News-Press, in which the NLRB found that newspaper carriers and haulers were not employees, but independent contractors excluded from the protection of the National Labor Relations Act.

“St. Joseph News-Press is significant,” Ken and Camille note, “because it reaffirmed the application of the board’s common law agency test in determining the independent-contractor status of newspaper carriers.” The common law agency test holds that all incidents of the employer-employee relationship must be weighed when determining employee status, with no one factor being decisive.

In auditing their independent-contractor relationships to determine whether they will withstand scrutiny, Ken and Camille advise, the factors the audit should focus on include “how much control the company exercises over the work; the skill required; the degree of financial support provided by the company; the degree of company supervision; the source of the vehicles, supplies and tools; the training provided by the company; the method of payment and provision of employee benefits; the tax treatment of the hired party; the duration of the relationship; the location of the work; the company’s role in hiring and paying assistants; whether the hired party can work for others; whether they can solicit new business; whether they can subcontract their routes to others; whether the work is part of the regular business of the company; and the parties’ intent with respect to the nature of the relationship involved.