solution

A company that sells subscriptions to magazines enlisted individuals to research the telephone numbers of potential subscribers. These “home researchers” worked out of their own homes, set their own hours, and were subject to relatively few requirements as to how they carried out their tasks. They were given index cards with names and addresses and were paid according to the number of cards returned with telephone numbers. Each was asked to sign an “independent contractors agreement” before beginning to work for the company. The home researchers generally performed their services only for this company, and a number of them did so for several years. The company also used in-house researchers to find telephone numbers. Overall, the home researchers accounted for about 4–5 percent of the total telephone numbers obtained by the company. Most of the home researchers used the job as a secondary source of income. Some of the home researchers claimed that they were not being paid the minimum wage for their hours of work. The company contended that they were independent contractors and not employees with rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act. What should the court decide?