§ 225

This Section, and not Section 212 of this Act, controls the determination of employment status for services performed by individuals in the delivery or distribution of newspapers or shopping news. (A) The term "employment" shall not include services performed by an individual under the age of eighteen in the delivery or distribution of newspapers or shopping news. (B) The term "employment" does not include the performance of freelance editorial or photographic work for a newspaper. (B-5) The employment status of individuals engaged in the delivery of newspapers or shopping news shall be determined as provided in this subsection. The term "employment" does not include the delivery or distribution of newspapers or shopping news if at least one of the following 4 elements is present: (1) The individual performing the services gains the profits and bears the losses of the services. (2) The person or firm for whom the services are performed does not represent the individual as an employee to its customers. (3) The individual hires his or her own helpers or employees, without the need for approval from the person or firm for whom the services are performed, and pays them without reimbursement from that person or firm. (4) Once the individual leaves the premises of the person or firm for whom the services are performed or the printing plant, the individual operates free from the direction and control of the person or firm, except as is necessary for the person or firm to ensure quality control of the newspapers or shopping news, including, but not limited to, the condition of the newspapers or shopping news upon delivery and the location and timing of delivery of the newspapers or shopping news. (C) Notwithstanding subsection (B-5), the term "employment" does not include the delivery or distribution of newspapers or shopping news to the ultimate consumer if: (1) substantially all of the remuneration for the performance of the services is directly related to sales, "per piece" fees, or other output, rather than to the number of hours worked; and (2) the services are performed under a written contract between the individual and the person or firm for whom the services are performed, and the contract provides that the individual will not be treated as an employee for federal tax purposes. (3) Delivery or distribution to the ultimate consumer does not include: (i) delivery or distribution for sale or resale, including, but not limited to, distribution to a newsrack or newsbox, salesperson, newsstand or retail establishment; (ii) distribution for further distribution, regardless of subsequent sale or resale. (D) Subsections (B-5) and (C) shall not apply in the case of any individual who provides delivery or distribution services for a newspaper pursuant to the terms of a collective bargaining agreement and shall not be construed to alter or amend the application or interpretation of any existing collective bargaining agreement. Further, subsections (B-5) and (C) shall not be construed as evidence of the existence or non-existence of an employment relationship under any other Sections of this Act or other existing laws. (E) Subsections (B), (B-5), and (C) shall not apply to services that are required to be covered as a condition of approval of this Act by the United States Secretary of Labor under Section 3304 (a)(6)(A) of the Federal Unemployment Tax Act.

Legislative History

(Source: P.A. 98-1133, eff. 12-23-14.)