Labor Board’s Worker Status Ruling Faces Hurdle at DC Circuit

The National Labor Relations Board must overcome adverse precedent to win federal court enforcement of its decision bringing back an Obama-era test for determining whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor.

A chief obstacle for the NLRB’s June 13 revival of the employment status standard from its 2014 ruling in FedEx Home Delivery is the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia’s 2017 rejection of that decision. That marked the second time the DC Circuit disagreed with the board and found FedEx drivers to be independent contractors.

Those DC Circuit rulings are particularly problematic because ...