## Facts

- Roadway Package System, Inc. operated a nationwide small-package pickup-and-delivery business through hundreds of terminals and hubs.
- At two terminals, local pickup-and-delivery drivers owned or leased delivery vans but worked essentially full time for Roadway in assigned service areas.
- Drivers signed written “contractor” agreements labeling them independent contractors and granting them defined routes/service areas.
- Vans were required to be specially configured and prominently branded with Roadway’s name, logo, and colors, limiting practical use for other businesses.
- Roadway substantially assisted drivers with obtaining and maintaining vehicles, including financing-related support.
- Roadway provided orientation/training to integrate drivers into its operating system and procedures.
- Roadway unilaterally set drivers’ compensation rates and the rates charged to customers, leaving drivers little pricing discretion.
- The drivers’ work (pickup and delivery) was central to Roadway’s regular business and was performed on a continuing, indefinite basis.

## Issues

1. Whether the pickup-and-delivery drivers were “employees” under NLRA § 2(3) or excluded “independent contractors” under common-law agency principles.
2. Whether contractual “independent contractor” labels and claimed entrepreneurial attributes outweighed Roadway’s control and the drivers’ economic dependence.

## Decision

- The NLRB (full Board) affirmed the Regional Director’s determination that the drivers were employees under NLRA § 2(3).
- The Board applied the common-law agency test informed by Restatement (Second) of Agency § 220, weighing all incidents of the relationship with no single factor controlling.
- The Board concluded that most common-law factors favored employee status, including Roadway’s control over operations, integration into Roadway’s core business, and limited meaningful entrepreneurial opportunity.
- The representation proceeding could go forward on the basis that the drivers were eligible to be represented for collective bargaining.

## Legal Principles

- NLRA employee versus independent-contractor status is determined under common-law agency principles, guided by Restatement (Second) of Agency § 220 factors.
- The relationship is evaluated by the totality of circumstances; no single factor is decisive.
- “Entrepreneurial opportunity for gain or loss” is a relevant consideration but not a standalone or overriding test.
- Contractual designations and the parties’ stated intent are not controlling when the actual incidents of the relationship indicate employee status.
- Ownership or leasing of key equipment may be inconclusive where the putative employer dictates specifications/branding and materially supports acquisition and maintenance.

## Conclusion

The Board held that Roadway’s pickup-and-delivery drivers were statutory employees because Roadway retained substantial operational and economic control and the drivers lacked meaningful independent business discretion, notwithstanding contractor agreements and vehicle ownership.


Roadway Package Sys., Inc., 326 N.L.R.B. 842 (1998)