Ohio employment law attorneys explain current medical leave policies

A proposal by President Joe Biden would allow most workers nationwide to eventually take up to 12 weeks of paid medical leave for a serious illness, for raising a newborn child and in certain other circumstances, according to CNBC and numerous other news outlets. Such a proposal would be a dramatic difference to the country’s current medical leave policy, according to Ohio attorneys who handle these types of cases.

President Biden recently proposed offering paid medical leave to most American workers. He proposed it as part of his economic stimulus plan introduced in April, according to The New York Times. The proposed $4 trillion plan includes $225 billion for paid family and medical leave.

If approved, most workers in the United States could receive up to $4,000 a month for 12 weeks due to a serious illness, to care for a newborn child or to care for an immediate family member (spouse, child or parent) with a serious illness.

Is paid medical leave available?

Currently, there is no national paid medical leave policy in the United States. Instead, most full-time employees are allowed to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for medical reasons or to raise a newborn child under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993.

However, some states do provide some sort of paid medical leave for most workers. The states that currently require most employers to provide paid medical leave to most employers include Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington, according to the Society for Human Resource Management. In addition, certain cities in other states require certain employers to provide paid medical leave.

What is Ohio’s medical leave policy?

Like many other states, Ohio employers are not required to provide paid medical leave. Instead, most employers in Ohio only have to abide by federal FMLA regulations. Those regs require most employers to provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid medical leave during a 12 month period.

In order for an employee to take unpaid time off in Ohio for medical reasons, the employee must request the time off in writing at least 14 days in advance, during which time the employee can use paid sick time, personal time or vacation time while waiting for approval from their employer, according to Ohio’s Leave of Absence Without Pay rules.

Other restrictions apply, including:

• The size of the company (must employ more than 50 workers)
• How long the employee has worked for the company (at least 12 months)
• How many hours an employee must work in order to be eligible (at least 1,250 hours in the past 12 months)

Can a lawyer help?

Even if you’re legally entitled to take medical leave in Ohio, you may encounter difficulties after you request time off. Your employer might deny your request, wrongfully terminate you or punish you in some other way. They may demote you or not hold your job for you while you take time off for legitimate medical reasons.

The Ohio attorneys at the Nilges Draher LLC have years of experience handling complex legal cases throughout the state. We’re well versed in the state and federal employment laws that apply to employers and employees in Ohio. As a result, we can advise individuals or corporations on the best way to proceed in such legal matters.

Learn more about how we can help you with your particular situation. Contact us and schedule your free case evaluation with one of our highly-skilled employment law attorneys. Our law firm has three offices conveniently located in Cleveland, Columbus and Massillon, Ohio.

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The U.S. Department of Labor is repealing a Trump-era rule it finalized in January that would have made it tougher for gig workers to be classified as employees instead of independent contractors.

Gig workers — such as people who work for app-based services like Uber, Lyft, Instacart, and DoorDash — are typically classified as contractors and not covered by federal minimum wage and overtime laws, nor do they have access to certain benefits and protections afforded to employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The regulation was blocked by the Biden administration, continuing the tradition of new presidents from different parties reversing the previous president’s impending rules once they are sworn into office.

“Misclassification of employees as independent contractors presents one of the most serious problems facing workers today,” said Jessica Looman, the principal deputy administrator for the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division.

Looman added that the Trump-era rule would have not just impacted gig workers, it would have limited which workers were classified as employees across the economy and allowed more employees to be misclassified as contractors.

Along with blocking the rule, the Biden administration indicated it would look for opportunities to enforce existing laws with regard to misclassification of workers, especially the labor laws that are applicable to lower-wage workers.

Why is worker classification important?

While using different job titles might not seem like a big deal, there are some companies that illegally classify workers as independent contractors to avoid paying appropriate compensation and overtime wages to their employees. The tactic not only creates a competitive disadvantage for companies that obey the law but also provides an opportunity for employers to exploit lower-wage workers who may be too scared of retaliation to speak up.

This is just one reason why we have employment laws, and if a court or government agency decides a company has misclassified workers as contractors or some other type of non-employee, the employer could face harsh penalties and other consequences.

For instance, the Department of Labor recently took corrective action against a Tennessee home health care service provider to recover over $350,000 in back wages after the company intentionally misclassified 50 caregivers as independent contractors to avoid paying them overtime.

“Misclassification denies employees access to critical benefits and protections they are entitled to – overtime, the minimum wage, family and medical leave and, in some cases, safe workplaces,” Looman wrote in a recent post on the U.S. Department of Labor Blog. “It generates substantial losses to the U.S. Treasury and the Social Security and Medicare funds, as well as to state unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation funds. It cheats every taxpayer. It undermines the entire economy.”

While proponents of the Trump-era rule said it made it easier for people to be self-employed and create their own work schedules, Labor Secretary Marty Walsh said the rule just made it easier for companies to misclassify their workers.

“We’ve seen employers are increasingly misclassifying their workers as independent contractors in order to reduce labor costs and take a lot of protections away from workers, including minimum wage and overtime,” Walsh said.

If your rights have been violated, Nilges Draher can help

Your time is valuable and you deserve to be compensated appropriately for the work that you do.

Unfortunately, a lot of employers try to pad their profits by exploiting workers and denying them employee status — even if it violates the Fair Labor Standards Act.

If you believe you’ve been misclassified by your employer and you’re owed unpaid wages or overtime, an employment lawyer can protect your rights and fight for the compensation you deserve.

Nilges Draher LLC is one of the largest and experienced overtime and minimum wage litigation practices in Ohio, and our attorneys have successfully represented workers in a wide variety of employment lawsuits.

In fact, our law firm previously secured a $5.9 million settlement on behalf of workers who were misclassified by their employer as outside salespersons who were exempt from overtime.

Discover what an experienced employment law attorney can do for you. Contact us today to book your free consultation.

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If you face discrimination at work because of your age, Ohio’s new employment law gives you an easier way to file a claim. The change involving age discrimination claims is just one of the significant revisions to Ohio’s system of dealing with discrimination in the workplace.

Lawmakers approved House Bill 352, the Employment Law Uniformity Act, which modifies civil rights laws related to employment. The Act, which was signed into law by Gov. Mike DeWine, goes into effect this month. It is designed to strike a balance between the rights of employees and the obligations of employers. The Ohio Chamber of Commerce has long pushed for the types of reform that are part of the new Act.

The impact of the Employment Law Uniformity Act

Here are highlights of the new law:

• Age discrimination claims: The Uniformity Act ushers in a welcome change for workers who face age discrimination. Prior to this new law, the process for filing age discrimination claims was complex and confusing. Fortunately, the new law simplifies the process. The procedure to file an age discrimination claim is the same as the process for filing other discrimination claims based on protected characteristics.
• Statute of Limitations: Under the new law, an individual must bring a discrimination claim within two years of the alleged act. Previously, the statute of limitations was six years.
• Procedural change: The employee must file a charge with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission (OCRC). The change is designed to force the individual alleging discrimination to exhaust administrative remedies before filing an action in court against the employer.
• Affirmative defenses: The Uniformity Act provides a statutory “affirmative defense” to hostile work environment and claims of harassment. An affirmative defense is a response that an employer uses when served with a lawsuit. If a supervisor is accused of creating a hostile work environment, an employer can raise an affirmative defense. The employer must prove that it exercised reasonable care to prevent and correct any harassing behavior. In addition, the employer must prove that the worker who is alleging a hostile work environment unreasonably failed to take advantage of the employer’s preventative or corrective opportunities.

How an employment lawyer in Ohio can help you

If you have faced discrimination at work, you shouldn’t have to navigate the confusing system on your own. Claims involving employment law are exceptionally complex, but an attorney can guide you through every step of the process and aggressively advocate for your best interests.

Let an experienced employment lawyer from Nilges Draher LLC in Ohio protect your rights and explain your legal options. Our legal professionals can put experience and resources to work for you. Contact us today for a free and confidential consultation.

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If you are someone who works in the construction industry, it’s reasonable to expect your employer to pay you for all the time that you work. But what about the time it takes you to travel from company headquarters to a job site and back? Or what if you’re driving to and from multiple construction sites throughout the workday? Do you get paid for the time it takes to travel to these locations? There can be a lot of confusion when it comes to paid travel time for construction workers, both by employers and employees, which may eventually result in a wage dispute. Here’s what you need to know.

What qualifies as compensable travel time?

According to the US Department of Labor: “Time spent by an employee in travel as part of their principal activity, such as travel from job site to job site during the workday, is work time and must be counted as hours worked.” Put differently, you should be paid for any travel time that’s within the scope of your work.

For instance, if you are required to report to company headquarters before you travel to a work site, the time it takes you to get from one location to the other is considered time spent working. When an employer denies a worker pay for compensable travel time, the worker may consider pursuing a claim to recover unpaid wages or overtime.

Other examples of paid travel time

From a legal standpoint, your employer does not have to pay you for your commute from home to work and from work to home. That commute does not fall within the scope of your employment.

Situations where you generally should be eligible for paid travel time include:

• Traveling during the workday. Again, your employer has to pay you for any travel time that takes place within your workday. For instance, if your shift ends at 5 p.m. on a job site but you’re asked to travel back to company headquarters to unload equipment, you are traveling within the scope of your work. You should therefore be compensated for your travel time.
• Traveling from home to work in another city. If you are required to travel to a different location or work site in another city as a special one-day assignment and then return home the same day, you should be compensated for the time you spend traveling to and from the other city. This is the case as long as the assignment is outside of your normal work location.
• Traveling overnight. Any travel you do in the scope of your employment that keeps you away from home overnight is considered travel away from home. This type of travel can be considered compensable under certain circumstances.

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Ohio Minimum Fair Wage Standards Act, non-exempt employees are entitled to overtime pay if they work more than 40 hours in one work week. That includes time spent traveling during the workday. If you weren’t paid for the time that you spent traveling or you were denied overtime pay because your employer didn’t count the time you spent traveling for work, a wage law attorney can fight to help you recover the compensation you’re entitled to.

You deserve to be paid for your work

Companies can’t just pay construction workers for the time they spend on the job site and the job site only. If you have to travel from company headquarters to a work site and then from a work site back to company headquarters, that counts as time spent working. Unfortunately, there are a lot of construction workers who are owed thousands of dollars in unpaid travel time by their employers. Trying to recover that pay can be extraordinarily difficult due to the complex laws involving paid travel time. So, hiring an experienced attorney who knows how to handle your case is in your best interest.

The dedicated legal team at Nilges Draher LLC has helped thousands of non-exempt employees recover unpaid travel time, including a $4.9 million settlement for construction workers who weren’t paid for traveling to work sites away from home that required an overnight stay. If you think you might have a case involving unpaid travel time, contact us right away for a free consultation. We have offices in Massillon, Cleveland, and Columbus. We proudly serve clients in Ohio and across the U.S.

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Nobody should ever feel uncomfortable at work, but many employees dread going to work due to a hostile work environment. A hostile work environment occurs when one or more individuals behave in a manner that makes it difficult for other employees to work or excel at their jobs. The terms “hostile work environment” and “harassment” can be used interchangeably. That’s because the majority of workplace harassment and discrimination cases tend to happen in hostile work environments.

Harassment cases are often difficult to prove without solid evidence. In order to have a strong workplace harassment case, the harassment must have been:

• Serious and pervasive
• Unwelcomed
• Committed in a way that any reasonable person would find abusive

It’s important to understand that not all forms of workplace harassment are illegal.

Harassment is illegal if it is based on a protected characteristic, such as race, age, gender, disability, pregnancy, ethnicity, religion, creed, sexual preference, or genetic information. Additionally, retaliation against an employee for filing a complaint of unlawful discrimination and/or harassment is illegal.

What is an example of unlawful workplace discrimination and harassment?

Let’s say you’re a female employee and you have been with the same employer for several years. You have a history of outstanding performance and have received positive reviews. Then, your company hires a new supervisor to oversee your department. He consistently makes derogatory comments about pregnant women and argues that they should not be in the workplace.

A few months later, you become pregnant. Your supervisor begins excluding you from meetings, micromanaging your tasks and writing you up for petty things. Suddenly, you’re given deadlines and goals that are impossible to meet. Your supervisor later terminates your position for failing to meet them.

Your supervisor may not cite your pregnancy as a basis for terminating your position. Yet, it’s evident from his prior behavior that he targeted you. Since Ohio is an “at-will employment” state, your supervisor doesn’t have to state the real reason for your termination. If you can prove that you were discriminated against or terminated for asserting your rights, however, then you likely have a strong basis for a claim against your employer. Situations like this can apply to any employee under a protected characteristic.

What to do if you believe you have been harassed, discriminated against at work

Evidence is everything when building a case against your employer. Be sure to log each incident of harassment or discrimination. Describe it in detail and note the time, date and location where it occurred. If possible, you should also save all emails and office memos. If you notice that your work or workstation has been tampered with, be sure to take pictures or screenshots and save them as evidence. That’s as long as your employer does not have a policy against taking pictures in the workplace.

Start by reporting the incidents to your human resources (HR) department. Be sure to refer to any company policies regarding workplace discrimination and harassment and present the evidence you have gathered. Submit the report to HR in writing and keep a dated copy for yourself. This will create a record of the complaint.

If the issue isn’t resolved or you were terminated from your job, reach out to an attorney who can investigate. This includes interviewing witnesses and speaking to your company’s HR department. The issue may also be resolved without your case going to trial. The Ohio attorneys at Nilges Draher LLC have a proven track record of fighting for victims of illegal harassment and discrimination. We can help you get compensated for your losses.

We offer free and confidential case consultations in Ohio and across the United States. Contact us online or call us to discuss your legal options.

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If you’re an employee in the state of Ohio or anywhere else in the U.S., you may not be fully aware of your rights or the laws pertaining to paid and unpaid work breaks.

By law, Ohio employers are not necessarily required to offer paid or unpaid breaks to employees. But most companies choose to offer breaks, and that means they must adhere to state and federal laws pertaining to paid and unpaid breaks.

Federal and state laws pertaining to paid breaks

According to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), paid breaks or “rest periods” are usually short (about 5-20 minutes). Compensable break time usually includes short bathroom breaks, snack breaks, and coffee breaks.

When employees take these kinds of short rest breaks, they generally must be compensated during that time under federal law (§785.18). If your employer asked you to clock out for a rest break that lasted 20 minutes or less, they may have violated the law.

How unpaid lunch breaks work

Most bona fide meal periods range from 30 minutes to an hour, depending on the number of hours worked in a daily shift. When you take an unpaid lunch break, that time is specifically yours. That means that you must be completely relieved of any work-related duties until your unpaid break time is over, under federal law (§785.19).

Your employer cannot interrupt your break or ask you to complete a work task during that time and still consider it an unpaid break. If your employer interrupts your 30-minute bona fide meal period (for example, by asking you to assist a customer while you are on break), then that must count as time worked and you must be paid for that time.

Meal period requirements vary from state-to-state. Ohio law does not mandate breaks at all (but, again, employers that do offer breaks must adhere to the federal laws outlined above). There are 19 states that currently have required unpaid breaks.

What are my rights if my employer violated the law?

In many cases, employers violate the laws pertaining to paid and unpaid breaks to reduce their own costs or get as much labor out of their employees as possible. If breaks are offered under the terms and conditions of your employment, then your employer is required to comply with both state and federal law.

If your employer failed to comply with the law, the wage law attorneys at Nilges Draher LLC can investigate and take necessary legal action. Our legal team will work tirelessly to help you get the compensation you’re entitled to. We serve clients in Ohio and throughout the United States. Contact us online or call us for your free and confidential legal consultation.

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Companies often have legitimate reasons for terminating employees’ positions. Sometimes, they have no reason at all. In fact, employment in most states is considered “at will,” which means that an employer can fire you for no reason at all.

Sometimes, they do so for the illegal reasons. While proving it may be difficult, you and your employer may be aware of the real reason. The attorneys at Nilges Draher LLC explain.

Illegal reasons to fire an employee

These are the most common reasons why an employer may wrongfully terminate an employee’s position:

• The employee was a whistleblower. If the management of the company you work for engaged in discriminatory employment practices or illegal activity and you reported it, you may have legal protection if you are fired for doing so.
• Discrimination. An employer can’t fire you because of your age, race, gender, national origin, sexual orientation, pregnancy, religion, or disability, among other things. These are protected under federal and state law. Firing someone because they are a member of one of these protected classes is illegal.
• Taking protected medical leave.  If you qualify for family and medical leave, your employer cannot fire you because you took medical leave, or to prevent you from taking medical leave.
• Sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is common in the workplace and often goes unreported. If you were a victim of sexual harassment, you have the right to speak up and not be penalized for doing so. It doesn’t matter who the perpetrator is. It could be another employee, manager, or supervisor.
• An employee asserted his or her rights to be paid fairly. If you are fired because you complained about your company engaging in unlawful pay practices, such as requiring you to work off the clock without pay, you may have a legal remedy for wrongful termination.

What should I do if I was wrongfully terminated?

Being fired from a job for no fault of your own can be a devastating experience. You may have trouble making ends meet and provide for your family while you’re unemployed. In addition, you may not be fully aware of your rights or certain where to turn.

If you feel that you were wrongfully terminated from your job, it’s important that you discuss your case with an experienced Ohio employment law attorney at Nilges Draher LLC. Our legal team will launch a thorough investigation into the events that led to your termination.

We may find proof that your employer treated you poorly before terminating your position. This may include interfering with your performance, harassment, passing you up on a promotion, discrediting your work or purposely excluding you from a meeting or company event.

Our attorneys will fight to help you recover the damages accrued from your wrongful termination. We’re located in Cleveland, but we serve clients throughout Ohio. Contact us to schedule your free and confidential case consultation.

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, some employers appear to be shortchanging their workers on wages, according to an article in The Columbus Dispatch.

Labor advocates worry that wage disputes are on the rise as the pandemic batters the economy. Faced with a loss of profits and desperate to save money, some employers are illegally keeping wages away from their workers.

What is wage theft and how common is it?

If you’ve been asked to do unpaid work or you were only paid for a portion of your labor, your employer is stealing money from you. Common forms of wage theft include:

• Failure to pay overtime
• Not giving a worker the last paycheck after they leave a job
• Failing to pay for all the hours worked
• Paying less than minimum wage
• Paying nothing to workers for their labor

Wage theft appears to be rising during the pandemic, but it’s difficult to track, according to the Dispatch. Data is lacking. In a paper published by the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, Rutgers University’s Center for Innovation in Worker Organization (CIWO) concluded that low-wage workers face an elevated risk of wage theft during times of high unemployment. Researchers found a strong link between wage theft and unemployment rates during the Great Recession of 2008. The problem is likely to be worse during the pandemic, according to the study.

No single entity tracks wage disputes, which are handled through government agencies, courts or private settlements.

Which types of workers are affected by wage theft?

Any type of worker could end up in a dispute with an employer over wages, but wage theft is more common in some occupations than in others. Many disputes involve bartenders and restaurant wait staff.  Some servers might not realize the restaurant must make up the difference if a worker’s tips and base pay doesn’t equal at least the minimum wage.

A few common ways businesses cheat workers out of their wages include but are not limited to:

• Misclassifying a worker as an independent contractor
• Giving workers manager titles and denying them overtime pay
• Requiring workers to come in before their shift to do pre-shift work

What to do if an employer is engaging in wage theft?

During the pandemic, many people who are working might say to themselves that they’re lucky to have a job. If they suspect their employer is cheating them out of the wages they deserve, they might be reluctant to speak out. They might worry about getting fired and losing health insurance at a time when new coronavirus cases are rising.

As experienced labor attorneys, we know that wage theft and overtime violations are underreported because employees are concerned about the repercussions of speaking out. It’s also hard to know what qualifies as a violation and what doesn’t.

You have rights and shouldn’t suffer silently. By working with an experienced attorney at Nilges Draher LLC, you can fight back and hold your employer accountable. We serve clients in Ohio and throughout the United States.

If you suspect you’ve been shortchanged on wages during the COVID-19 pandemic, contact Nilges Draher LLC today for a free consultation.

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The Ohio Supreme Court recently ruled in a case revolving around privacy rights during employment drug screenings. Employers can now have someone watch when employees give urine samples.

The Supreme Court ruling stems from a case involving Donna Lundsford, whose concern for workplace privacy rights sparked an investigation by 19 News in June 2020.

“I was pretty upset, pretty horrified,” she told 19 News. “They have blatantly just said ‘If you work in Ohio, we pretty much don’t care about you.'”

Direct observation during drug screening and invasion of privacy

Lundsford’s lawsuit was against her former employer, Sterilite in Stark County. She worked there for more than 20 years. Lundsford claimed that the company supervisors began requiring employees to take drug tests under the direct observation method.

Direct observation was put in place to ensure that employees don’t cheat on drug tests. It involves observation from the technician administering the drug test while an employee gives a urine sample.

“The court has ruled that that was an acceptable method by Sterilite,” said Lundsford’s attorney. “In other words, you have to check your dignity at the door.”

“It could happen to anyone at any time if you are an employee in Ohio,” Lundsford added.

Initially, the trial judge involved in the case ruled against Lundsford. The case was later sent to the Ohio Supreme Court after a unanimous decision by three appellate court judges. Only six judges ruled in favor of Lundsford.

Lundsford has not yet given up. She recently started a GoFundMe page to raise money to file a motion for reconsideration. Her attorney believes that this action could potentially turn things around.

“The legislature could see this decision, realize that six out of 11 judges saw it the other way, and fix it! Because you can pass laws that prohibit this kind of conduct,” he said.

Reactions from Ohio lawmakers

Several Ohio lawmakers were asked if they’d consider proposing legislation against direct observation during drug screenings. At least three lawmakers said they would consider doing so. These lawmakers include:

Senator Nickie Antonio:

“I agree with the dissenting opinion from our Supreme Court members. I am appalled by this kind of invasive drug testing procedure that really violates a person’s bodily privacy, and at the same time, seems to humiliate employees and could create a hostile work environment. At the very least, if a company is using these types of methods, employees need to be informed before the test is administered. Now that this has come to my attention, I will be researching further into this form of employee drug testing and may sponsor legislation banning it.”

State Representative Bride Rose Sweeney:

“The Ohio Supreme Court’s 4-3 ruling failed to set a bare minimum standard for working people when it comes to privacy. Ohioans should be respected and assured of the dignity of their work. Yet like so many of our state’s institutions plagued by one-party rule, the Court came up short. I would be very interested in reviewing and potentially supporting legislation that might come forward from this decision so that we can put workers first.”

State Representative Juanita Brent:

“The state of Ohio needs to have legislation that will allow employers to test employees for drugs, with the employees dignity intact. Getting undressed in front of a stranger can cause unnecessary trauma to an employee. One idea I have that needs to be vetted would include, the employee removing all clothes and only wearing a medical gown while taking the drug test (urinating). This process will allow private urination and reduce the possibility of fake or another non-employee urine to be used. If Ohio wants our job force to increase than all employees must be able to work with dignity and not in fear of losing their job.”

Contact our Ohio law firm if you are facing legal challenges at work

The Ohio employment law attorneys at Nilges Draher LLC will be following this issue and hope to see legislation that protects the privacy of Ohio employees.

If you are facing any legal challenges pertaining to your employer, our attorneys can help. We handle cases involving wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, wage law, medical leave and other employment law issues.

We serve clients across Ohio and the United States. To schedule your free legal consultation, contact us online.

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The gig economy is emerging as a large portion of the overall workforce. Unlike traditional full-time or part-time employment, the gig economy offers workers more flexibility to choose their own hours. In some cases, it even allows workers to be their own boss. We often see this with Uber and Lyft drivers, freelancers, Amazon delivery drivers, construction workers and other independent contractors.

What the gig economy doesn’t offer are guaranteed living wages in exchange for hours worked, workers’ compensation, sick time, vacation time or other important benefits. In a nutshell, the gig economy is a free-for-all.

Many companies get away with avoiding paying fair wages by classifying workers as independent contractors. Many of these workers who are classified as independent contractors work the same hours and perform the same duties as employees.

Lawsuits filed against Uber and Lyft in California

In California, a legal battle between the state government and rideshare giants Uber and Lyft recently led to action taken by the state’s labor commission. Commissioner Lilia Garcia-Brower’s office plans to file a lawsuit against the two companies. She said they knowingly misclassify drivers as independent contractors instead of employees.

In addition, the commissioner has accused Uber and Lyft of failing to pay minimum wage, sick pay, unemployment, workers’ compensation and other benefits that state law guarantees employees.

Under California’s law AB-5, Uber and Lyft are required to classify drivers as employees, yet they have refused to do so. This has led to multiple lawsuits against the two companies by California lawmakers.

Commissioner Lilia Garcia-Brower sent a letter to Uber and Lyft demanding that they classify drivers as employees and reimburse them for lost wages.

What are the laws regarding independent contractors in all states?

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA):

• Receiving a 1099 form doesn’t mean that you are an independent contractor.
• You may still be considered an employee under the FLSA. This is the case even if you are classified as an independent contractor under the law.
• Signing an independent contractor agreement doesn’t mean that you are an independent contractor.
• Neither does being assigned employee identification number (EIN) under a Limited Liability Company (LLC).
• Employers are not permitted to misclassify you as an independent contractor, even if you agree to it.
• Working offsite, at home or flexible hours doesn’t make you an independent contractor.
• You may still be considered an employee under the FLSA whether you get paid cash or receive a check.
• Working in construction, warehousing, transportation or trucking doesn’t make you an independent contractor.

The FLSA is a federal law that protects workers from wage theft and other abuses of wage laws.

What should I do if I was misclassified as an independent contractor?

Employers who misclassify workers as independent contractors often do so to cut their own costs. They save money on taxes, insurance and having to pay for the benefits you’re entitled to. In many cases, they deny or try to cover up any wrongdoing on their part.

If you believe that you were misclassified by your employer, it’s important that you speak to an experienced wage law attorney who can investigate. If you give your time and labor to an employer, you should be paid every dollar you’re entitled to. You should be treated fairly.

The attorneys at Nilges Draher LLC have the legal knowledge and experience to help you get the compensation you deserve. We serve clients in Ohio and throughout the United States. To find out how we can help you, contact us online and schedule your free consultation.

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