Am I an Independant Contractor or Employee

[DrWhom]

over a month ago i quit a company that did independant adjusting for insurance companies. They would assign me files and when i completed them i would bill for the hours worked. the company i worked for would sumbit my hours to whatever company had assigned the job and i would not get paid until the company i worked for received the money for the hours billed. in this way you would accumulate many hours in the system that would take up to two months to get paid for. However, since i did not have my own license i worked under theirs and when i was paid they withheld taxes and paid me an hourly rate rather than a percentage of the billing. After i quit they still owe me for several hours but have not paid me. under california law am i an employee of the company and did they own me for the unpaid hours within three days after i quit? if so, how do i collect and do they also owe any penalty?

 

[racer72]

You would be considered an employee. I believe in California, employers must pay employees within 30 days from when the hours were worked. If there was a penalty, the state would get it, not you.

 

[DrWhom]

Labor Board or Small Claims?

In this case, to get my money would I file with the labor board or take my employer to small claims court?