Md. Code Regs. 09.32.01.18

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 12, June 14, 2024

Section 09.32.01.18 - Presumption of Employee

A. Employee. A person performing services is presumed to be an employee, regardless of whether a common law master and servant relationship exists, unless specifically exempted under the Unemployment Insurance Law or these regulations.

B. Independent Contractor.

(1) To overcome the employee presumption, an employing unit shall establish that the person performing services is an independent contractor.

(2) The Secretary shall determine that an employing unit has established that the person performing services is an independent contractor when the conditions in §B(3)(a)-----(c) of this regulation are clearly shown.

(3) Circumstances evidencing the conditions mentioned in §B(2) of this regulation include, but are not limited to, the items listed after each condition:

(a) The person has been and will continue to be free from the employing unit's control or direction:

(i) The employing unit does not require the person to comply with detailed instructions about when, where, and how the person is to work,

(ii) The employing unit does not train the person to perform the service in a particular manner or using a particular method determined by the employing unit,

(iii) The employing unit does not establish set hours of work for the person performing the services,

(iv) The employing unit does not establish a schedule or routine for the person performing the service,

(v) The employing unit may not discharge the person for failure to obey the employing unit's specific instructions on how the service is to be performed;

(b) The service is outside the usual course of business of the employing unit:

(i) The person performs the work off the employing unit's premises,

(ii) The person performs work that is not integrated into the employing unit's operation,

(iii) The service performed is unrelated to the employing unit's business;

(c) The person performing the service is customarily engaged in an independently established business:

(i) Maintains a business listing in the telephone directory,

(ii) Has his or her own place of business,

(iii) Has a financial investment in a related business and can incur a loss in the performance of the service,

(iv) Has his or her own equipment needed to perform the service,

(v) Determines the price of the service to be performed,

(vi) Employs others to perform the service,

(vii) Carries his or her own liability or workers' compensation insurance, or both,

(viii) Performs the service for more than one unrelated employer at the same time,

(ix) Sets his or her own hours,

(x) Is paid by the job.

Md. Code Regs. 09.32.01.18

Regulations .18, Obligations of Employers, adopted effective June 24, 1991 (18:12 Md. R. 1340)