Independent contractors

In Massachusetts, one requirement for unemployment eligibility is that a worker must have engaged in “employment” as the term is defined by the law. Work performed by an individual as an independent contractor is not considered employment.

The three-part test

An employer who asserts that a worker performed work for it as an independent contractor rather than an employee must show that the work that the worker performed:

1. was done free from the “direction and control” of the employer; and
2. was performed either outside the usual course of the employer's business or outside of all of the places of business of the employer; and
3. that the worker performed the same kind of work for the employer as they regularly do in their own independent business.

If the work performed does not meet these three criteria, then the worker will be considered an employee.

Additional Resources

“Employment” Test Under MA Unemployment Law (M.G.L. c. 151A sec. 2)

Key decisions of DUA’s Board of Review applying the 3-part test to various employee vs. independent contractor situations