The legal distinction comes in the form of what exactly constitutes an employee vs a contractor. As I've said many times before, the test is "degree of control". If the contractor is held to employee standards, then they are an employee....simple as that.
Not quite.
Just looking at the IRS website, it states that there are 3 categories for degree of control.
One is behavioral, which pertains to how much control Ground has over contractors and drivers, which is often debated here.
Another is financial control. There is virtually nothing under this category to suggest that these guys are employees.
Finally, there is type of relationship. There's about as much here as in the financial control.
The IRS website itself states:
Some factors may indicate that the worker is an employee, while other factors indicate that the worker is an independent contractor. There is no “magic” or set number of factors that “makes” the worker an employee or an independent contractor, and no one factor stands alone in making this determination. Also, factors which are relevant in one situation may not be relevant in another.
While the test might be the degree of control, you are looking at a very, very narrow set of criteria while excluding most of the rest.