AOL Being Challenged on Independent Contractor Misclassification and WARN act Violation

AOL terminated it's relationship with
thousands of freelancers recently.
However, some are claiming they should
have been employees. 

Last week, AOL terminated its relationship with thousands of freelance writers they had classed as independent contractors - a move that followed shortly after their merger with the Huffington Post a few weeks ago.

Some of the writers are now claiming that they should have been treated as full-time, internal employees - which would have enabled them to have been covered by the WARN act. However, AOL claims that the WARN Act - where a company must provide 90 days notice before a mass layoff - doesn't apply to contract workers. 

Even so, there are concerns that many of the freelancers AOL utilized could potentially be construed as full-time employees under the act, due to the nature of the responsibilities and full-time hours some of the freelancers worked at the company. 

AOL insiders claim that AOL held a series of calls with freelancers to address their questions. Several things came up - one freelancer noted that they worked full-time hours, while another pointed out that her duties were identical to those of an AOL News staffer who was recently laid off. This is the kind of thing that could raise legal doubts about AOL’s claim that the WARN Act doesn’t apply to contract workers.


The WARN Act requires employers to provide 90 days of notice before a mass layoff, defined as a reduction in workforce by 250 jobs (or 33 percent of the total) at one site. If it’s found that some of AOL’s freelancers worked full time and/or held similar jobs/duties to full time staffers, AOL could find themselves in a challenging situation classifying the workers as freelance or contingent. 

Source: Forbes.com