Calif. Test for Who Is an Employee Just Got More Complicated (1)

California’s labor standards enforcement agency may continue to rely on an older test when it determines whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor under state law, the Ninth Circuit held, upholding a lower court.

The Sept. 10 decision is a blow for the California Truckers Association, which argued that federal deregulation of the trucking industry pre-empts the state agency from applying a common law test called the Borello test. The Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act doesn’t block the Borello test because the law only pre-empts state rules that are “related to” prices, routes, or services, the U.S. ...