Santa, Tell Me: Are Elves Employees or Independent Contractors?

Children all over the world are hoping to be rewarded with a visit from Santa Claus this week. Once a year, Santa leaves his workshop at the North Pole to deliver presents to well-behaved children. Santa relies on the aid of his elves, who somehow manage to crank out toys for over half a billion children each year. It’s clear that Santa is in charge, but are the elves his employees?

Santa’s elves toil away in Santa’s workshop, a top-secret facility located in the North Pole. While the exact location of the workshop is unknown, we do know that it’s ...