By the time the welders' trial was over, no one could tell whether the jury ruled as it did just because of the bad instruction. When appellate courts can't get toothpaste back into tubes, they send the case back down to the lower court for a new trial. That's what happened to the welders and the contractors. Recently, unemployment is at record low levels. Wage costs look as if they may be heading up.
Many employers do everything they can to hold down employment costs.
Common methods include leasing employees and hiring independent contractors. Still, the welders, in their case, made it clear to management that holding costs down by messing around with FLSA may be far more trouble than it's worth. This is a good place for cautious management. The case was Baker v. Barnard Construction Co. Inc., No. 96-2223 on the docket of the Tenth Circuit, where the opinion was filed on June 18.