The attached article explores a recurring conflict — the proper classification of workers under the Fair Labor Standards Act. In this paper, I examine the economic realities test, the legal test currently used to determine which workers are employees, and thus subject to the FLSA, and which...

The blue pencil doctrine gives courts the authority to either (1) strike unreasonable clauses from a noncompete agreement, leaving the rest to be enforced, or (2) actually modify the agreement to reflect the terms that the parties could have--and probably should have--agreed to. In recent years,...

Massive changes have disrupted the institution of employment. The growth of the service sector, technological advancements, and developments in the finance market have created a demand for new employment models. Employers have responded by increasingly utilizing independent contractors to fill...

The American workplace continues to evolve. The creation of the platform economy enabled employers to use independent contractors to perform work that employees traditionally performed. Proponents suggest that the platform economy offers the benefits of entrepreneurship to great numbers of...

Organizations today face numerous challenges: worldwide competitors, changes in information technology, increased reliance on knowledge workers, and a shifting economic environment. Faced with the difficulty of securing advantage by traditional means, management has increasingly focused on...

The structure of the American workplace depends on the ability to distinguish between employees and independent contractors. Unfortunately, the law provides little to guide employers in classifying workers. The legal tests to determine worker status are confusing, yield inconsistent results, and...