Opinion ID: 1925364
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Unique

Text: In addition to making similar findings of fact regarding Unique, the Department noted that Unique had employees who are not Drivers who are reported on quarterly UC tax returns. Unique has been in business for twenty or twenty-one years and has treated Drivers as independent subcontractors for that entire period. RR at 620a. Unique leases the vehicles provided to Drivers. Drivers do not need permission from Unique to take vacations or be otherwise absent, and Unique has no policy regarding holiday or vacation pay. RR at 622a. A Driver for Unique testified that he did not have to request permission from Unique before going on vacation. RR at 660a. The President of Unique testified that Drivers face no adverse consequences for turning down an opportunity to provide driving services. RR at 614a. Unique does not prepare a weekly or monthly work schedule for its Drivers. RR at 615a. Unique Drivers are not required to adhere to a dress code and they can and do provide services for other limousine companies. Another Driver testified that he did not advertise his services as he had never thought there was a need to do so. RR at 670a, 672a. Unique provides vehicle maintenance and pays for gas and oil. RR at 643a. Clients pay Unique for limousine services, and Drivers are paid regardless of whether Unique has been paid. The hourly charge to a customer for a sedan is fifty dollars and for a six-passenger limousine is seventy dollars. The hourly rate for an eight-passenger limousine is ninety-five dollars, and a fourteen-passenger van is sixty-five dollars. RR at 641a. Unique suggests that clients pay Drivers an eighteen percent gratuity. Drivers are paid an hourly rate, [7] plus any gratuity. Drivers are responsible for the cost of their clothing and are not reimbursed for that expense. RR at 661a-662a. Unique pays Drivers by check every two weeks. RR at 648a. At the hearing held regarding the Petition of Unique, the President of Unique testified that if a driver were supposed to do a pickup at an airport and never went, he or she would not be paid. RR at 621a. To illustrate, he stated that if a driver goes to the airport, and the flight has been cancelled, [h]e's not getting paid for it. He didn't do anything. RR at 622a. The responsibility to confirm the flight is that of the driver. Id. Unique's President also testified that he was the President of the Pennsylvania Livery Association (Association), which is a statewide organization that represents approximately three hundred limousine operators. RR at 624a. The Association maintains records that reflect that eighty-five to ninety percent of limousine companies in Pennsylvania treat their drivers as independent contractors rather than as employees. RR at 633a. The Department concluded here, too, that Drivers did not hold a proprietary interest in a business and that their nominal expenses did not amount to a risk of loss. Final Decision and Order of the Department of Labor and Industry, August 12, 2003, Docket No. 02-R-0042-1 at 3-6 (Final Decision). With respect to Unique's appeal, Judge McGinley authored a Memorandum Opinion reversing the Department and finding that Drivers did possess the requisite proprietary interest in a business necessary for independent contractor status. Factors supporting that conclusion were that: (1) Drivers were responsible for their own expenses; [8] (2) Drivers were required to provide quality service to the client or risk the loss of gratuities; and (3) Drivers were required to provide error free road service.