Boston Bicycle Couriers, Inc. v. Deputy Director of the Division of Employment & TrainingBoston Bicycle Couriers, Inc. v. Deputy Director of the Division of Employment & Training
This case concerns the liability of Boston Bicycle Couriers, Inc. (BBC), for contributions to the State unemployment compensation fund under G. L. c. 151 A, the Massachusetts Employment and Training Law (Act). See G. L. c. 151 A, §§ 13-14. BBC contends that it was exempt from contributions to the
1. Procedural and factual background. The case began when DiMare, a courier, left his position at BBC and applied to the Division of Employment and Training (DET) for unemployment benefits. While this unemployment application was pending, the DET status department, acting on its own motion, commenced an investigation of BBC. See G. L. c. 151 A, § 12. The purpose of the DET investigation was to reach a status determination concerning whether BBC was subject to the Act’s provisions for mandatory contributions to the unemployment compensation fund in connection with wages paid to employees.
Following proceedings at several levels of administrative review, a board of review (board) of the DET determined that
A detailed description of the facts in the administrative record concerning the nature of DiMare’s activities in working for BBC and the terms and conditions of a contract that BBC had drafted and provided for execution by drivers, such as DiMare, is reserved for that part of the analysis addressed to BBC’s contention that DiMare’s activities were such as to render him an independent contractor. At this point, it will suffice to note that BBC is in the business of providing same-day pick-up and delivery services on an on-call basis. The pick-up items are generally letters and packages to be delivered between offices. BBC engages approximately twelve drivers for these courier services, of which DiMare was one.
2. The legal framework for the § 2 independent contractor exemption. The trigger for an employer’s contribution liability to the unemployment compensation fund under the Act is whether there exists an employment relationship between the employing unit and an individual performing services. The term “employment” under the Act is inclusive,
The provision for an independent contractor exemption from the Act is set forth in G. L. c. 151 A, § 2. See note 2, supra, for the pertinent text of § 2. In 1971, the Legislature dramatically altered the configuration of the § 2 exemption in two important respects. See St. 1971, c. 940, § 2. First, the amendment expressly rejected the previously applied — and potentially more open-ended — standard of employment that rested on
In review of the board’s determination concerning § 2(c), we apply the overarching principle of administrative law that “[i]f the findings of the board are supported by substantial evidence, and if there is no error of law, the court must affirm the board.” See Silva,
A significant amount of case law construing identical or similarly worded provisions to
More imagistically described, the proprietary interest test seeks to discern whether the worker is wearing the hat of an employee of the employing company, or is wearing the hat of . his own independent enterprise. To establish the latter and qualify under the
3. Analysis. In accord with the prevailing analysis in this host of cases, we accept, and apply, the proprietary interest test as most consistent with the stringent requirements of
On the question of a freestanding entrepreneurial enterprise
To the contrary, the evidence manifested DiMare’s intertwined and dependent role as worker, rather than as independent entrepreneur. BBC provided DiMare, pursuant to a rental agreement, with both a radio and a pager, essential equipment in the on-call delivery business. See Appeal of Work-A-Day of Nashua, Inc.,
Further reflecting the dependent intertwining between BBC
To counter the weight of this evidence reflecting employment subject to the Act, BBC relies heavily on language contained in a document styled as an agreement “between the client [BBC] and independent contractor.” This document was provided by BBC, which required all drivers to sign it. While a contract expressed in terms of engagement on an independent contractor
In the final analysis, the question whether an employer has satisfied the statutory requirements of
4. Conclusion. The board’s finding that BBC did not satisfy the statutory requirements for the § 2 independent contractor exemption was supported by substantial evidence and was not error of law. The judgment of the Boston Municipal Court is
So ordered.
Notes
General Laws c. 151 A, § 2, as amended by St. 1990, c. 177, § 250, provides, as herein relevant, that
“[sjervice performed by an individual . . . shall be deemed to be employment subject to this chapter irrespective of whether the common-law relationship of master and servant exists, unless and until it is shown to the satisfaction of the commissioner that —
(a) such individual has been and will continue to be free from control and direction in connection with the performance of such services, both under his contract for the performance of service and in fact; and
(b) such service is performed either outside the usual course of the business for which the service is performed or is performed outside of all the places of business of the enterprise for which the service is performed; and
(c) such individual is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, profession or business of the same nature as that involved in the service performed.”
The independent contractor exemption, which implicates the financial responsibilities of an employing unit under the Act, has been the subject of extensive analysis in the case law of other jurisdictions with similar unemployment compensation statutes. (See case references and authorities, infra.) The exemption, however, has not been the subject of such substantive review and analysis in Massachusetts precedent.
The procedural history of the administrative proceedings may be summarized as follows. Upon conclusion of its investigation, the Division of Employment and Training (DET) status determination section determined that the services DiMare performed as a driver for BBC constituted employment subject to the provisions of the Act. BBC then requested a hearing to challenge this status determination. See
In addition, BBC would also be required to make unemployment health insurance contributions to the Medical Security Trust Fund, which provision applies unless an employer has five or fewer employees. See
The DET case began with DiMare’s application for unemployment benefits, and he was, therefore, properly deemed a party. See G. L. c. 151 A, § 12. Di-Mare’s claim for unemployment benefits was denied pursuant to
Employment is defined in pertinent part as “service . . . performed for wages or under any contract, oral or written, express or implied, by an employee for his employer . . . .”
In light of the Legislative purposes underlying the Act, “[t]he unemployment compensation statute itself directs that G. L. c. 151A ‘shall be construed liberally in aid of its purpose, which purpose is to lighten the burden which now falls on the unemployed worker and his family.’ ” Still v. Commissioner of the Dept. of Employment & Training,
Given this rejection of the common-law analysis, cases cited by BBC, such as McDermott’s Case,
Some States have modified the traditional three-tier approach of the ABC test. See Cotnoir, Employees or Independent Contractors: A Call For Revision of Maine’s Unemployment Compensation “ABC Test,” 46 Me. L. Rev. 325, 347-348 (1994). Other States have abandoned the ABC test in favor of a twenty-factor common-law approach. See Tasters Ltd., Inc. v. Department of Employment Security,
See generally Hardman, Unemployment Compensation and Independent
See Barb’s 3-D Demo Serv. v. Director, Ark. Employment Security Dept.,
Many States have codified guidelines and lists of factors to assist employers evaluating whether a worker is engaged in an independently established business. See, e.g., Carpetland U.S.A., Inc. v. Illinois Dept. of Employment Security,
The proprietary interest test has its origins in language appearing in Life & Cas. Ins. Co. of Tenn. v. Unemployment Compensation Commn. of Va.,
The evidence indicated that, before his BBC engagement, DiMare worked in an entirely different field. While BBC states that drivers were permitted to work for other courier companies, BBC presented no evidence that DiMare actually provided delivery services for anyone other than BBC during or after his work for BBC, as would be expected of a true entrepreneur engaged in a permanent, lasting delivery services business. See Veterans Servs., Inc. v. Labor & Indus. Relations Commn. of Mo.,
See generally Asia, Employment Relation: Common-Law Concept and Legislation Definition, 55 Yale LJ. 76, 87-88 (1945). “The third [C] test. . . appears to be at once the most radical departure from common-law criteria and the most relevant of the three tests to the purposes of the unemployment compensation program. In determining the point between the clearly servant status and the self-employed class at which the line of coverage for unemployment insurance is to be drawn, it seems most appropriate to distinguish between the person who pursues an established business of his own, who is not ordinarily dependent upon a particular business relationship with another for his economic survival, and other persons who are dependent upon the continuance of their relationship with a principal for their economic livelihood. [This C test] . . . depart[s] from the technical ‘independence’ of the common-law independent contractor and seem[s] to require that the individual perform
This case is very close to the facts in AFM Messenger Serv. Inc. v. Dept. of Employment Security, supra. In that case, the Illinois Supreme Court held that “evidence did not demonstrate that the drivers were able to operate their ‘delivery businesses’ without the benefit of a relationship with AFM, or another messenger service company like AFM. AFM procured the customers; AFM set the delivery prices; AFM provided the delivery tickets to the customers; AFM made the delivery assignments; AFM billed the customers; AFM set the commission rate; AFM paid the drivers. AFM also retained the right, under the parties’ written agreement which AFM supplied, to terminate their relationship at any time. Thus, a driver’s ‘business’ was not established ‘independently’ of AFM. Rather, a driver’s business existed only by reason of the driver’s employment with AFM, which was subject to termination, at which time the driver would be unemployed.” Id. at 401-402. Similar facts exist with "respect to the working relationship between BBC and DiMare. Accord Koontz Aviation, Inc. v. Labor & Industrial Relations Commn., supra at 334 (similar analysis applied to baggage delivery drivers determined not to be independent contractors for purposes of the Missouri Employment Security Act). See Matter of CDK Delivery Serv., Inc.,
On this point, see generally Matter of BKU Enterprises, Inc.,
BBC also challenges the board’s determination on the basis that on occasion DiMare hired another individual to assist with pick-ups and deliveries. In this case, even if this one factor that tends to reflect independent contractor status had been proved (BBC did not offer corroborating evidence on this claim), this claim as a single buoy would still not stem the tide of the other, much stronger current in the evidence which showed DiMare to be an employee. Compare Electrolux Corp. v. Commonwealth of Pa., Dept. of Labor & Indus., Bureau of Employer Tax Operations,