Are independent contractors covered by section 7 of the NLRA?

• A. Yes
• B. No
• C. Only under certain circumstances
• D. Only if designated as employees for tax purposes

Answer: (B)

Section 7 protections apply to employees, not independent contractors. The NLRA is designed to safeguard the rights of workers who are part of the employer’s workforce and subject to the employer’s control in the way an employee typically is. Independent contractors, by contrast, operate as their own businesses, control their own work, bear their own risks, and are usually not integrated into the employer’s payroll or day-to-day management. Because they’re not in the typical employee relationship, they generally don’t have Section 7 rights to organize or engage in protected concerted activity.

There are rare situations where a worker labeled as a contractor might actually be treated as an employee for NLRA purposes (for example, under an economic realities or common-law agency analysis, or under joint-employer considerations). Those are limited exceptions and do not change the general rule that independent contractors are not covered.