Opinion ID: 539169
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: employment status of itos

Text: 12 The pivotal question presented by the Union's petition for review, as we said at the outset, is whether ITOs are employees of the construction contractors for whom they work or independent contractors. Courts generally respect reasoned NLRB determinations of this order, recognizing the Board's primary authority to choose  'between two fairly conflicting views.'  See NLRB v. United Ins. Co., 390 U.S. 254, 260, 88 S.Ct. 988, 991, 19 L.Ed.2d 1083 (1968) (quoting Universal Camera Corp. v. NLRB, 340 U.S. 474, 488, 71 S.Ct. 456, 464, 95 L.Ed. 456 (1951)). We have tempered our deference in this case, mindful that the Board is endeavoring to apply agency law principles and that its position has changed or evolved over time. Cf. Local 777, Democratic Org. Comm., Seafarers Int'l Union v. NLRB, 603 F.2d 862, 872 (D.C.Cir.1978) (finding any great amount of deference inappropriate because of the Board's history of vacillation). 3 Upon inspection of the ALJ's thorough analysis of the working relationships between truck drivers and construction contractors, however, we are satisfied that the NLRB's decision classifying ITOs as independent contractors merits our approbation. We state below our reasons for accepting the Board's judgment. 13 Before the ALJ and again in this court, the Union featured Barker as its lead case. We appreciate that the facts in that case, in AGC, and in this one are scarcely distinguishable for the purpose at hand. To recapitulate what we have already indicated on that score, the Board has turned away from Barker. See supra p. 1240. Furthermore, our own Barker opinion imposed no outcome on the Board; that opinion ultimately rested on the NLRB's prerogative to choose between two fairly conflicting views. See Barker, 450 F.2d at 1329. 14 The right to control the means and manner of job performance, the Union and the Board agree, is the leitmotiv recurrent in the cases in point. See, e.g., North Am. Van Lines, Inc. v. NLRB, 869 F.2d 596, 599-600 (D.C.Cir.1989) (holding that over-the-highway drivers are independent contractors, not employees of moving company that hires them). The Union maintains, however, that in evaluating whether a putative employer controls the means and manner of job performance, the Board and reviewing courts must home in on the extent of job-site supervision. The ALJ refused to focus the inquiry primarily on the truckers' jobsite activity. Instead, he reviewed all of the circumstances of the employment relationship, treating no one factor as decisive. 15 The wider inspection made by the ALJ, and approved by the Board, reflects the current jurisprudence and is consistent with longstanding Supreme Court guidance. See United Ins. Co., 390 U.S. at 258, 88 S.Ct. at 990 ([A]ll of the incidents of the relationship must be assessed and weighed with no one factor being decisive.). It is true that the NLRB heavily emphasized on-the-job supervision in Barker. But the Ninth Circuit said in AGC that such supervision is not necessarily dispositive of control of the means and manner of job performance. The Board has by now harmonized its position with that of the Ninth Circuit, and we find this accord entirely rational. 16 In this case, just as in AGC, the ALJ observed, [a]t the jobsite and during the actual hauling operation, ITOs must follow the same regimen as a company driver; but these similarities, he commented, are necessitated by the facts and circumstances of the job, not because of the relationship which has been established between the ITOs and the contractors. See J.A. at 21. Because both company employees and ITOs work at the same site, efficiency requires that they follow essentially the same procedures. Moreover, many company safety rules, e.g., required use of back-up bells, are mandated by government regulations. See North Am. Van Lines, 869 F.2d at 599 (explaining that restrictions upon a worker's manner and means of performance that spring from government regulation (rather than company initiatives) do not necessarily support a conclusion of employment status). 17 The ALJ reasonably determined that most circumstances other than jobsite routines point to ITO status as independent contractors. ITOs own their own trucks and bear the entire entrepreneurial risk incident to ownership. ITOs can obtain jobs either through broker intermediaries or through direct contact with contractors. Although ITOs are paid an hourly rate like regular employees, they do not receive time-and-a-half for Saturday work. The hourly rate for ITOs is generally set by the brokers, but ITOs sometimes negotiate a higher or lower rate directly with contractors. 4 ITOs periodically bill the brokers, who collect from the contractors. Unlike company drivers, ITOs do not receive regular checks with deductions for taxes and social security; and they do not accrue seniority. ITOs can control their work life, as company drivers cannot, in these key respects: ITOs work for several contractors a season; they work on a day to day basis; if they want to take a vacation, they simply do not seek work for that day. In the same mode, ITOs can reject jobs offered or abandon jobs commenced--even in the middle of the day--without incurring the same discipline a regular employee would receive. 5 18 The Union points to some differences between this case and AGC but identifies no significant deviations. The Union asserts first that employers require ITOs to carry certain amounts of liability insurance, while there was no evidence of a similar requirement in AGC. However, the Ninth Circuit relied expressly on the independent drivers' practice of paying for their own insurance, see AGC, 564 F.2d at 280, and ITOs also follow this practice. Another asserted difference is that ITO contracts are oral, not written. Contrary to the Union's claim, however, AGC did not turn on the form of the contracts. The Union also argues that when ITOs need special permits, the contractors often obtain them, while in AGC, the drivers obtained permits themselves. The permits in AGC, however, unlike those in this case, were universally required for licensing, see id. at 280; moreover, several Minnesota employers testified that they did not obtain permits for ITOs. See J.A. at 184, 488, 533-34. Finally, the Union claims that ITOs' receipt of specific instructions on routes and truck operation distinguishes this case from AGC. The record shows, however, that ITOs do not necessarily follow route or operation instructions. See J.A. at 374-75, 633. Furthermore, the drivers in AGC received similar instructions. See AGC, 564 F.2d at 280-81. 19 In sum, we see this case as one in which the Board has confirmed as its own the course charted by the Ninth Circuit in AGC. Our 1971 Barker decision surely was not intended to preclude such an evolution, and we now announce our affirmation of it. 20