ACT 945: So You’re Telling Me There’s a Chance!


How changing one word impacts independent contractors


By R. Scott Zuerker & Joseph K. Luebke Guest Writers


Often, small changes in a stat-


ute can have a significant impact. Act 945, recently passed by the Arkansas General Assembly, adds only one word and changes another. And those small changes may have lessened the burden on an Arkansas employer to prove lia- bility of unemployment-insurance taxes. If a driver is employed by a com-


pany, that company is responsible for paying unemployment insurance taxes, but if the driver is an independent con- tractor, the responsibility falls to him/ her to pay the taxes. Act 945 reduces the number of factors an employer must prove for a worker to be considered an independent contractor and not an employee. Despite the change, a care- ful analysis of prior cases involving trucking companies reveals that there remains a heavy burden to prove that drivers are independent contractors.


PRIOR LAW Before Act 945, Arkansas had a


three-part “ABC test,” which deems a worker an employee unless all three elements are proven by the employer. Arkansas Code Annotated § 11-10- 210(e), specifically provided that: Service performed by an individual for wages shall be deemed to be


 ARKANSAS TRUCKING REPORT | Issue 3 2015 39


“You’re hired! Sort of...”


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