Also known as: self-employed person · self-employment · self employ · independent contractor
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A worker who performs services for compensation without being subject to the control of another with respect to the physical conduct or manner of performance.
Sean Steele contracts with Silverline Industries to develop a marketing plan for a new product line. Silverline specifies only the final deliverables and deadlines without directing the daily methods or physical tasks Sean uses to complete the work. Sean therefore functions as self-employed rather than an employee subject to control.
Sydney Santos owns an apartment building and hires Santiago Sanchez, a self-employed electrician, to fix wiring in common areas. After the work, a tenant is injured because the wiring remains unsafe. Sydney remains liable because entrusting the repair to the self-employed contractor does not relieve the duty to maintain safe premises.
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Sasha Stone leases commercial space to Spectrum Financial and retains a self-employed plumber to fix a leaking pipe in the common restroom. The plumber's negligence leaves the floor wet, injuring a tenant's client. Sasha is liable to the injured party because the duty to maintain safe leased premises cannot be delegated to the self-employed contractor.
Simon Stern hires Stephen Shaw, a self-employed excavator, to dig a trench near a busy sidewalk for a building project. The work creates an unreasonable risk of collapse unless special shoring is used. When the trench collapses and injures a passerby, Simon is liable because he failed to require or ensure the necessary precautions from the self-employed contractor.
Sierra Solutions owns a medical office building and leases upper floors to Southland Foods while retaining the parking garage. Sierra hires a self-employed concrete contractor to repair the garage floor. The contractor's negligent work causes a panel to fall on a nurse using the garage. Sierra remains liable because the duty to maintain the retained common area is nondelegable.
Silverline Industries hires Sasha Stone, a self-employed safety inspector, to certify equipment but retains authority to approve each inspection protocol. When Sasha's negligent inspection allows a defective machine to injure a worker, Silverline is liable because it retained control over the manner of the self-employed contractor's performance.
A self-employed person who contracts without being subject to control over physical conduct qualifies as an independent contractor. The hiring party may still face liability when it retains control, owes a nondelegable duty, or fails to require special precautions for inherently dangerous work.
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No. When a landlord owes a duty to maintain leased or common areas, that duty is nondelegable. The landlord remains liable for physical harm caused by the self-employed contractor's negligence as if the landlord had performed the work itself.
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Liability arises when the work is likely to create a peculiar unreasonable risk of physical harm unless special precautions are taken. The employer is liable if it fails to require those precautions in the contract or to provide for them in another reasonable manner.
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…prior to the cutoff of benefits. Due to the nature of the relevant inquiry in certain types of cases, such as those involving self-employment and agricultural employment, the SSA office nearest the beneficiary conducts an oral interview of the beneficiary as part of the pretermination process. SSA Claims Manual (CM) § 6705.2…