Opinion ID: 6343305
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Ugicom’s operations

Text: {¶ 4} In response to Ugicom I, the bureau set the matter for a hearing before an adjudicating committee to assess Ugicom’s operations under the common-law right-to-control test for determining whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor. See R.C. 4123.291(A) (empowering “[a]n adjudicating committee appointed by the administrator of workers’ compensation to hear any matter specified” within the statute). Both Eyink and Fred Kibuuka, Ugicom’s vice president, testified at the hearing. Eyink elaborated on her audit findings, and Kibuuka described Ugicom’s operations. The audit findings and hearing testimony reflect the following facts about Ugicom’s operations. {¶ 5} Ugicom performs underground-cable installations, mainly in residential areas, as a subcontractor for Time Warner Cable Company (“TWC”). TWC uses its website to dispatch jobs to Ugicom, which Ugicom then retrieves through its web-based system and assigns to cable installers. An installer logs on to the system each morning to obtain the job’s details and logs back on in the evening to confirm completion of the job, which generates an invoice from Ugicom to TWC. Ugicom does not require the installer to accept the job assignment. And Ugicom determines the amount that it will pay for a job; the installer does not submit a bid. {¶ 6} TWC provides a badge to each installer who passes a TWCcoordinated drug test and background check. The badge has an identification 3 SUPREME COURT OF OHIO number that is registered with TWC’s dispatch department. After receiving clearance from TWC, the installer may begin working for Ugicom. Photographs in the record before us show a work van with a sign on its door that says “Ugicom Enterprises, Inc., Contractor for Time Warner Cable” and a vest worn by an installer that says “Contractor for Time Warner Cable.” {¶ 7} Ugicom requires the installers to sign a one-year independentcontractor agreement and to provide their own liability insurance. The contract contains a noncompete clause that forbids an installer from providing similar services to a competitor of Ugicom while the contract is in force. Either party may terminate the contract with 60 days’ written notice. The contract requires the installer to respond to service requests within two hours. {¶ 8} The installers furnish their own hand tools for the jobs (generally, a shovel and a spade) and provide their own transportation, cell phones, and laptop computers. The cable that the installers bury into the ground is custom to TWC, so the installers must obtain it from TWC. {¶ 9} The installers are permitted to work any day or time, provided they obtain the customer’s consent to be on the customer’s property, and they typically complete between six and ten jobs per day. According to Eyink, “[i]t’s just a matter of [the installers’] stand[ing] on a spade and lifting up some dirt and going down and lifting up some [more] dirt.” Kibuuka noted, however, that the installers also connect the cable to the outside of the home and test its connection. {¶ 10} The installers are paid by the job and earn on average between $50,000 and $60,000 per year, although some installers make as much as $90,000 per year. According to Eyink’s audit notes, Ugicom pays the installers once per month by direct deposit; but at the hearing, Eyink testified that the installers are paid weekly. Taxes are not withheld from the payments to the installers, and no benefits are provided, although sometimes Ugicom will deduct from a payment the costs attributable to damage caused by the installer. 4 January Term, 2022 {¶ 11} In addition to the installers, Ugicom uses the services of Paul Lule, who performs quality-control checks on 20 percent of the jobs, verifying that the lines were buried correctly. By comparing the income reflected on Lule’s Form 1099 for a particular year with that reported to the IRS for the same year, Eyink determined that Lule’s sole source of income for the year had been Ugicom.