Pennsylvania: Personal Caretaker Was Independent Contractor, Not Employee

A tax filing denoting self-employment, while a relevant factor, is not dispositive on the issue of employment status, nor is the existence of an employment or independent contractor agreement. Both are factors to consider, but by themselves, they were not dispositive, held a Pennsylvania appellate court. Nevertheless, evidence supported the Board’s finding that a company was not liable for a claimant’s work-related injury, as evidence indicated the worker, who performed personal caretaker services, was paid directly by clients, she deducted her own taxes from the payments and identified herself as self-employed on her tax returns. The court added that she also signed an independent contractor agreement. The evidence supported the Board’s finding that the company did not control her day-to-day tasks, and she was free to work for other agencies.

Thomas A. Robinson, J.D., the Feature National Columnist for the LexisNexis Workers’ Compensation eNewsletter, is the co-author of Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law (LexisNexis).

LexisNexis Online Subscribers: Citations below link to Lexis Advance.

See Edwards v. Workers’ Comp. Appeal Bd. (Epicure Home Care, Inc.), 2016 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 120 (Mar. 10, 2016)

See generally Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 61.06.

Source: Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, the nation’s leading authority on workers’ compensation law.

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