Beginning August 1st, new Minnesota legislation will be in effect, one of which will be directed at the courier and trucking industry. The new law will define factors that need to be present in order for a worker to be deemed an independent contractor. Some of the factors explained in the legislation are: 1) worker owns or leases the equipment, 2) worker is responsible for maintenance and operating costs, 3) worker is paid for services performed, 4) worker controls the manner and means of services performed and 5) worker enters into a contract/agreement specifying that worker is an independent contractor.
Sponsors of the bill have indicated that worker misclassification in these industries is a huge problem and that the new legislation has been long overdue. The common denominator in these industries happens to be the driver. Unless you’ve been on a deserted island or cut off from all media outlets, you’ve probably noticed that lawsuits involving couriers have been popping up across the US over the last few years. One courier company in particular is in the midst of a nationwide class action lawsuit of epic proportions that’s bound to have a major affect on how companies engage in their independent contractor relationships.
As for the trucking industry, states like California, New York and Michigan have been monitoring the misclassification numbers. However what Minnesota is doing is attempting to contain the problem before it becomes uncontrollable. Now we all know that businesses who intentionally misclassify workers are not easily caught. By creating legislation targeting misclassification, Minnesota acknowledges the problem and issues a warning to those in the trucking industry that continue to do it.
We will not see immediate results from this new legislation but what we can hope for is that other states will take notice of Minnesota’s efforts and follow their lead in attempting to curtail an illegal business practice that seems to run rampant throughout these industries.

The new legislation is somewhat overdue as a few of the bills sponsor called it a huge problem in Minnesota.

On Tuesday, three former employees of the Home Depot filed a class action lawsuit against the company for intentionally misclassifying workers as exempt in order to deny them overtime pay. The lawsuit, which was filed in Chicago, indicates that the Home Depot violated Illinois minimum wage law by not paying time and a half to any of its assistant managers who worked over forty hours a week.
The former employees have stated that they were deprived of wages when the Home Depot required them to work over 55 hours a week. The accusations don’t stop there as the former employees insist that the Home Depot had a policy of reducing salaries or terminating assistant store managers who did not work the eleven hour minimum shift for which they were scheduled.
This is just the latest in a string of improper worker classification. If what these workers are saying is true, could the Home Depot have been so bold as to think nobody would ever challenge them? I bet the do-it-yourself giant is building a legal team that will look to keep it from shelling out millions in unpaid wages and punitive damages.

Stay tuned.