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14 Hastings Bus. L.J. 1 (2018)

handle is hein.journals/hbuslj14 and id is 1 raw text is: The Future of Independent Contractors and Their Status as Non-Employees: Moving on from a Common Law Standard John A. Pearce II Jonathan P. Silvat INTRODUCTION Technology is transforming modern employment as new, disruptive ways of conducting business are redefining how the employer-employee relationship functions. Despite these changes, the employment classification laws in the United States, which are based on archaic concepts of a master- servant relationship, have failed to keep pace with the changing commercial environment. The result is that employers, workers, and judges are unclear about the distinctions between independent contractors and employees, and the rights and privileges that come with each respective classification. After assessing the current legal framework in the United States and its history, this article explores a two-component solution to the problem of 21st Century worker classification. We begin with a detailed analysis of the ABC test, which presumes a worker is an employee unless the service performed is without control by the employer, outside of the employer's usual course of business, and that which the worker is customarily engaged in through an independently established enterprise. Now established as the most popular legal methodology for distinguishing between employees and independent * John A. Pearce II, Ph.D., is the VSB Endowed Chair in Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship and Professor of Management, Villanova School of Business, Villanova University. Professor Pearce received his Ph.D. degree from The Pennsylvania State University, his M.B.A. degree from the University of Pittsburgh, and his B.B.A. degree from Ohio University. Dr. Pearce specializes in strategic planning and legal issues in business. He can be reached atjohn.pearce@villanova.edu. t Jonathan P. Silva is an International Tax Associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Boston, MA. He received his J.D. at the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law in 2017, his M.B.A. at the Villanova University School of Business, May 2017, and his B.S. in Mathematics at Boston College in 2014. He can be reached atjonpsilva7@gmail.com. 1