When “Independent Contractor” Stops Meaning Independent
Few phrases appear more frequently in modern litigation than “independent contractor.” It is invoked in construction accidents, trucking cases, delivery services, and an increasing number of workplace injury claims.
It is also, in many cases, doing less work than those invoking it might hope.
New Jersey has taken a notably strict approach to worker classification. The state’s adoption and enforcement of the ABC test—codified in N.J.S.A. 43:21-19(i)(6)—reflects a policy judgment that labels should not control over substance. To establish that a worker is an independent contractor, a hiring entity must satisfy all three prongs: that the worker is free from control, performs work outside the usual course of business, and is engaged in an independently established trade.
