Newspaper Delivery drivers: Independent Contractors or Employees?

The film shows a group of about fifty pre-adolescent boys running and crowding around a one-horse paneled newspaper van that pulls up in the foreground of the picture. On the side of the van is a sign reading "New York World." As they gather around the rear of the vehicle, a fight breaks out between two of the boys. The film ends as the crowd forms around the two fighters. Probably filmed at Union Square.




A business may pay an independent contractor and an employee for the same or similar work, but there are important legal differences between the two. For the employee, the company withholds income tax, Social Security, and Medicare from wages paid. For the independent contractor, the company does not withhold taxes.

Are the men and women delivering our daily newspapers independent contractors or employees? If the workers are classified as employees this will add additional costs to an already strained industry.

Employers Beware: Misclassification Cases are Costly and Common

The California Supreme Court issued its long-awaited opinion in Dynamex Operations West v. Superior Court, in which the court considered the appropriate test to use when determining whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor under California’s various Wage Orders, which impose obligations on employee working conditions like minimum wages, hours worked, and meal and rest breaks.