Company’s business model involved independent contractors, but worker claimed employee entitlements
A worker who worked on construction projects for a general contractor under verbal agreements was an employee and not an independent contractor, according to the Ontario Labour Relations Board.
Fixit 4 You was a general contractor company in the construction industry that co-ordinated trades on projects. Its business model was based on engaging with independent contractors rather than hiring employees for its work, and all of its contracts were verbal except for those with large contractors such as builders.
The worker was a skilled bricklayer and mason who performed work on multiple projects for Fixit between April and September 2023. As with other contractors working with the company, the worker had no written contract. He was paid an hourly wage and a lump sum at the end of each project. In May, the company paid the worker $2,400 with no explanation or breakdown of what it represented.
Fixit usually kept track of the hours worked by the worker, which it said was to track the time expended on the project so it could estimate future projects. It denied this was to record the hours for which the worker would be paid.
Fixit provided large equipment on projects, such as scaffolding and cement mixers, the builders provided cement and bricks, and the worker would provide his own tools of the trade such as a level,...
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