Massachusetts: employee or independent contractor?
The test depends on which law you're dealing with. A worker can be a contractor for one law and an employee for another.
| Law | Test | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment insurance | ABC | M.G.L. c. 151A, § 2 |
| Wage and hour / wage payment | ABC (stricter B prong: usual course of business only) | M.G.L. c. 149, § 148B |
| Federal income tax, FICA, FUTA | IRS common-law test | IRS |
| Federal minimum wage and overtime | Economic reality test (FLSA) | DOL |
The ABC test
Under Massachusetts's unemployment law, a worker is an employee unless all three parts are met:
(a) free from control and direction in connection with the performance of such services, both under his contract for the performance of service and in fact; (b) such service is performed either outside the usual course of the business for which the service is performed or is performed outside of all the places of business of the enterprise; (c) customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, profession or business of the same nature as that involved in the service performed.
Details and exceptions
- effective_date is the DOL table baseline (in effect on or before 2023-01-01); the enactment date was not checked.
- Wage law (c. 149, § 148B, which also covers c. 151): prong 2 is only that the service is performed outside the usual course of the business of the employer; the UI law (c. 151A, § 2) also accepts work performed outside all of the places of business.
- Workers' comp test not checked in this pass (Business insurance lane).
Law: M.G.L. c. 151A, § 2
Running payroll in Massachusetts?
Recent changes
Last verified against the official source on October 9, 2026.
No changes recorded since we started tracking this page.
Sources
- Massachusetts Legislature (General Laws) · data as of October 8, 2026 · last checked October 9, 2026
We copy figures from official sources and re-check them against the source before every update. See our methodology. This is general information, not legal advice.