Independent Contractor V. Employee

Make-a-bed is a furniture manufacturer and distributor with plants in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. The company decided that they would like to consolidate their facilities and wanted to hire a consultant/industrial engineer to oversee the project. While putting out a help wanted ad, the company claims to have hired John Engineer as an independent contractor and not an employee of the company. Make-a-bed claims to have made John Engineer aware of the fact he would be an independent contractor as well as the job duties which included studying the overall business, reporting directly to the President on a monthly basis, being responsible for his own meeting and travel arrangements, dedicating twenty hours per week to the company, and making a finalized presentation with his recommendations on facility consolidation project within a one year time period. Both Make-a-bed and John Engineer agreed on an hourly pay rate, with a submission of an invoice monthly by John Engineer. After the one year period was completed the company decided to move in a different direction, and hired a different consultant. John Engineer filed for unemployment claiming that he was an employee. John stated that he was never reimbursed for any travel expenses that occurred, noting that he frequently traveled back and forth to the three different plants. He states that evidence of him being an employee include the fact that he was required to notify the company human resources department whenever he alter his schedule, arrived late, left early, or took time off. John had a company office but also was able to work from home at times. John agrees that he often submitted the monthly invoices late, but still received automatic payment from the company regardless of the invoice timing. Make-a-bed claims that this auto-payment was an error that went unnoticed by the company and not an indication of John being an employee.

As part of the federal law determining whether or not an individual...