NLRB Revisits Independent Contractor Issue With Rigorous Test of Entrepreneurial Status

The National Labor Relations Board Sept. 30 reexamined its approach to independent contractor cases and held that the entrepreneurial opportunities available to a unit of FedEx Home Delivery drivers was only one factor to consider in determining whether they were “rendering services as part of an independent business” (FedEx Home Delivery, N.L.R.B., 9/30/14).

NLRB Chairman Mark Gaston Pearce and Members Kent Y. Hirozawa and Nancy J. Schiffer found FedEx unlawfully refused to bargain with an International Brotherhood of Teamsters local that was certified to represent contract drivers at a Hartford, Conn., terminal. Evidence the drivers had a “theoretical” ...