Latest Contractors Headlines
All the headlines from our Contractors Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Labor Department’s 6-Part Test for Classifying Employees, Independent Contractors
Jul 16 2015 // The U.S. Department of Labor has issued a blog post with new guidance on classifying workers as employees or independent contractors under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FSLA), an issue that has attracted renewed...
California Bill Would Require Disclosure of Construction Settlements
Jul 15 2015 // Construction companies will have to disclose building defects such as those that could have contributed to a deadly balcony collapse in Berkeley under a state legislative proposal . The bill by two Northern California...
NYC Taxi Regulator Sides With Uber in Employee vs. Contractor Debate
Jul 14 2015 // New York considers drivers for ride-hailing car services such as Uber freelance workers rather than employees, according to the city’s chief taxi regulator, a policy that supports the company’s business...
Nautilus Insurance Enhances Contractors Program
Jul 13 2015 // Coverage Now Available in 48 States, Including California. Scottsdale, AZ, July 13 2015 — Nautilus Insurance, a W. R. Berkley Company®, has announced the enhancement of its General Liability product offering for...
Nautilus Expands Contractors Program, Reduces Rates
Jul 9 2015 // Nautilus Insurance, a W. R. Berkley Co., has enhanced its general liability product offering for contractors, while also expanding product availability to all states except Colorado and New York. Nautilus Insurance writes...
XL Catlin, Financial Risk Services to Offer Coverage for HVAC Contractors
Jul 8 2015 // XL Catlin and Financial Risk Solutions, Inc. have entered an exclusive underwriting agreement to offer Chill-Pro contractual liability insurance coverage for heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) contractors in...
Agents Need to Know About Texas Workers’ Comp E-Mod Changes
Jul 6 2015 // The number 1.00 means different things to different people. In baseball, 1.00 represents a perfect batting average. But in college, a 1.00 grade point average is about as bad as it gets. In workers’ compensation, a...
New Worker Classification Needed for Sharing Economy, Uber Drivers
Jun 24 2015 // This question of whether an Uber driver is an employee doesn’t matter just to Uber. As you may have heard, the on-demand car-service juggernaut lost a case early this month before the California Labor Commissioner on...
Uber Expected to Ride Out Employee Ruling, Maintain High Valuation
Jun 22 2015 // A California ruling requiring Uber to classify a San Francisco-based driver as an employee instead of an independent contractor could potentially change how sharing-economy companies operate, but it is unlikely to dent...
How Ruling That Drivers Are Employees Upends Uber Business Model
Jun 19 2015 // If you’re a freelance writer who occasionally sells articles to a website, are you actually an employee? If you live in California, I think the answer might be — yes? The California Labor commissioner has ruled...
Will Uber Employee Status Ruling in California Impact Its Business Model?
Jun 17 2015 // An Uber driver is an employee not a contractor, according to a California Labor Commission ruling on Wednesday that opens the door to more scrutiny over the rideshare giant’s business model. Earlier in the day some...
Commission Rules Uber Drivers Employees, Not Contractors
Jun 17 2015 // A San Francisco-based driver for smartphone-based ride-hailing service Uber is an employee, not a contractor, according to a ruling by the California Labor Commission. The ruling, filed on Tuesday in state court in San...
Additional Insured Endorsements in Construction
Jun 15 2015 // To get on a job, contractors often have to show proof of insurance and name the individuals hiring them as additional insureds on the contractors’ commercial general liability (CGL) policies. By doing this, the...
Agents Need to Know: Texas Workers’ Comp E-Mods Changing
Jun 11 2015 // The number 1.00 means different things to different people. In baseball, 1.00 represents a perfect batting average. But in college, a 1.00 grade point average is about as bad as it gets. In workers’ compensation, a...
Indiana High Court Sides with Contractors on Fire Costs
May 26 2015 // The Indiana Supreme Court says contractors who worked on a 19th century courthouse before a 2009 fire don’t have to pay some of costs of repairing the fire damage. The decision upholds lower court rulings favoring...
Hard Rock Lake Tahoe Sued by Reno Contractor For $6M
May 21 2015 // SMC Construction of Reno, Nev. is suing the owners of the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Lake Tahoe for failing to pay more than $6 million for work to finish the property before its Jan. 28 grand opening. The Reno...
Courts and Carriers Can Misapply the Absolute Pollution Exclusion
May 19 2015 // Never let it be said that an exclusion would or could be misapplied; but the absolute pollution exclusion likely qualifies as the most misapplied exclusion within the commercial general liability (CGL) policy. Reasons for...
Conn. Bill Requires Home Improvement Contractors to Have Insurance
May 15 2015 // Certain home improvement contractors in Connecticut could soon be obligated to hold liability insurance. The Connecticut House of Representatives on Thursday voted 140-2 in favor of legislation that would require...
Indiana Governor Signs Bill Repealing Construction Minimum Wage Law
May 8 2015 // Local boards will no longer set minimum wages for public construction projects in Indiana under a law signed by Republican Gov. Mike Pence. The bill will eliminate the boards that set what is known as the common...
OSHA Rule Protects Construction Workers in Confined Spaces
May 5 2015 // The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued a final rule to increase protections for construction workers in confined spaces. The rule will provide construction workers with protections...
