Independent Contractors in California

Are you being asked to become an independent contractor at work?  Are you a business owner exploring ways to cut payroll costs by switching to independent contractors?  You are not alone.  Thousands have thought the same things. First, what is a independent contractor in California?  Well it’s a number of things.  It depends upon how the business relationship actually proceeds.

Most important factor, however, is whether DF had the right to control how the individual performs their work, rather than just the right to specify the result…

In the employment setting, California Civil Code Section 2295 provides the elements:

In addition to the right of control, you must also consider all of the circumstances in deciding whether the individual was the company’s employee. The following factors, if true, may show that the individual was the employee of company:

(a) Company supplied the equipment, tools, and place of work;

(b) The individual was paid by the hour rather than by the job;

(c) The work being done by individual was part of the regular business of company;

(d) The company had an unlimited right to end the relationship with the individual;

(e) The work being done by the individual was [his/her] only occupation or business;

(f) The kind of work performed by the individual is usually done under the direction of a supervisor rather than by a specialist working without supervision;

(g) The kind of work performed by the individual does not require specialized or professional skill;

(h) The services performed by the individual were to be performed over a long period of time; and

(i) Company and the individual acted as if they had an employer-employee relationship.

See also CACI Jury Instructions – California #3704