UNDER THE CRITERIA OF THE FAIR PLAY ACT, WINDOW, GUTTER, SIDING INSTALLERS WERE EMPLOYEES, NOT INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS.
The Third Department determined the installers of windows, siding, gutters, etc. sold by Barrier were employees of Barrier, not independent contractors. The decision has a clear explanation of the “substantial evidence” standard for court review of an administrative agency’s ruling and a substantive discussion of the employee/independent contractor criteria of the Fair Play Act (Labor Law 861-c):
The Fair Play Act, codified in Labor Law article 25-B, was enacted as a measure to curb widespread abuses in the construction industry stemming from the misclassification of workers as independent contractors resulting in unfavorable consequences for both the workers and the public (see Labor Law § 861-a). In accordance therewith, the Fair Play Act contains a statutory presumption that a person performing services for a contractor engaged in construction shall be classified as an employee unless it is demonstrated that such person is an independent contractor or a separate business entity … . In order to be considered an independent contractor, a person must satisfy three criteria set forth in the statute: (a) the person must be free from the contractor’s direction and control in performing the service; (b) the service performed must be outside the usual course of the contractor’s business; and (c) the person must be customarily engaged in an independently established occupation similar to the service performed … . This new statutory test is sometimes referred to as the ABC test … . The separate business entity test, codified in Labor Law § 861-c (2), sets forth 12 criteria to be used to determine whether a person is a separate business entity and, thus, not subject to the presumption that he or she is an employee of the contractor. Notably, in each test, all of the criteria must be met to overcome the statutory presumption of an employment relationship. Matter of Barrier Window Sys., Inc. (Commissioner of Labor), 2017 NY Slip Op 03093, 3rd Dept 4-20-17
UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE (UNDER THE CRITERIA OF THE FAIR PLAY ACT, WINDOW, GUTTER, SIDING INSTALLERS WERE EMPLOYEES, NOT INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS)/WINDOW INSTALLERS (UNDER THE CRITERIA OF THE FAIR PLAY ACT, WINDOW, GUTTER, SIDING INSTALLERS WERE EMPLOYEES, NOT INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS)/FAIR PLAY ACT (UNDER THE CRITERIA OF THE FAIR PLAY ACT, WINDOW, GUTTER, SIDING INSTALLERS WERE EMPLOYEES, NOT INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS)/INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS (UNDER THE CRITERIA OF THE FAIR PLAY ACT, WINDOW, GUTTER, SIDING INSTALLERS WERE EMPLOYEES, NOT INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS)