Independent Contractor vs. Employee
by Greg Hurd
AMTA-MA Chapter President
There are a lot of questions as to whether you are classified correctly as an Independent Contractor of an Employee. This may be a surprise to you but did you know that if you are a massage therapist who has a business, you cannot hire another massage therapist as an independent contractor? That therapist has to either be an employee or a therapist who has their own business and will rent space from you.
MA provides a three-part test.
An employer who wants to treat someone as an independent contractor rather than an employee has to show that the work:
- is done without the direction and control of the employer; and
- is performed outside the usual course of the employer's business; and
- is done by someone who has their own, independent business or trade doing that kind of work.
The Attorney General's Office has issued an advisory that explains the purposes of the law and how the Attorney General’s Office understands and enforces the law.
Additional Resources for The three-part test
Independent Contractor Law (M.G.L. c. 149, sec. 148B)
Attorney General's advisory on the Independent Contractor Law (PDF 42.88 KB)