Employee or Independent Contractor? How Classification Tests Work
The same worker can be an employee under one law and a contractor under another. This guide explains the FLSA, IRS, NLRB, and state ABC tests — and where each stands as of 2026.
Briefing
Employment Law
Worker classification, wages, discrimination, restrictive covenants, and separation from employment.
The employment relationship is regulated from more directions than almost any other contract: federal wage floors, state overtime rules, anti-discrimination statutes enforced by the EEOC, agency tests for who counts as an employee at all, and a fast-moving state-by-state fight over noncompete clauses.
These briefings serve both sides of the desk. Workers will find what the law guarantees and how to enforce it; employers will find the classification, payroll, and separation practices that keep disputes from starting. Where federal and state law diverge, we say so — the stricter rule usually wins.
Featured guide
Start here
Classification is the load-bearing wall of employment law — most other rights depend on it. Start there, then read the wage-and-hour basics that apply to nearly every workplace.
All guides
Wage and Hour Law: Minimum Wage, Overtime, and Recordkeeping Basics
A plain-English guide to the Fair Labor Standards Act: who is covered, current minimum wage and overtime rules, the exempt-status salary threshold, and the records employers must keep.
Workplace Discrimination and the EEOC Charge Process
How federal law defines workplace discrimination, who the EEOC protects, the strict 180/300-day charge deadlines, and each stage from filing through mediation, investigation, and right-to-sue.
Noncompete Agreements in the United States: A Current State-by-State Issue
The FTC's nationwide noncompete ban never took effect and was formally removed in 2026, leaving a patchwork of state rules: outright bans, salary thresholds, and notice requirements that keep changing.
Termination and Severance Agreements: Rights, Releases, and Negotiation Points
Severance pay is almost never legally required — it is offered in exchange for a release of claims. Learn what you sign away, the special rules for workers 40 and older, and what is negotiable.
Exempt or Nonexempt? Applying the FLSA Duties and Salary Tests
Exempt status under the FLSA requires a salary basis, a salary level, and a genuine duties match. This guide explains all three, why the salary threshold keeps moving, and how audits find errors.
OSHA Obligations: Recordkeeping, Inspections, and Citations
A practical walk through employer duties under the Occupational Safety and Health Act — the General Duty Clause, injury logs, fatality reporting, inspections, citations, and worker anti-retaliation rights.
Unemployment Benefits: Eligibility, Disqualification, and Appeals
Unemployment insurance is state-run within a federal framework. This guide explains monetary and separation eligibility, why claims get denied, employer protests, and the short appeal windows.
Workers' Compensation: Reporting, Benefits, and Disputed Claims
Workers' compensation trades fault-based lawsuits for prompt, limited benefits. This guide covers the exclusive-remedy rule and its exceptions, notice deadlines, benefit types, and how disputes are resolved.
Employee Privacy: Monitoring, Devices, and Off-Duty Conduct
There is no single U.S. workplace privacy statute. This guide maps the federal and state rules that govern email, video, location, and device monitoring, and the limits on off-duty conduct policies.
Workplace Harassment: Prevention Programmes and Employer Response
Harassment becomes unlawful when it is tied to a protected trait and severe or pervasive. This guide covers liability standards, complaint intake, investigation practice, and what prevention actually requires.
Union Organizing and NLRB Elections: What Employers May and May Not Do
Section 7 protects concerted activity whether or not a union exists. This guide explains the petition and election process, the limits on employer campaigning, and why NLRB procedure keeps changing.
Remote Work Across State Lines: Tax, Wage, and Leave Consequences
Hiring or allowing work in a new state imports that state's employment law. This guide covers nexus, withholding, wage and leave obligations, notices, and how to build a defensible remote-work policy.