I am retained as an independent contractor for a company that does delivery, assembly & service for fitness equipment for other retail establishments - - recently, this company has instituted several changes mandating that we (service workers) are required to contact the customers within 24 hours to arrange services, then we need to call from the customers location upon arrival and again when we complete the service call (using the customers phone).

In addition, should there be any (any) issues regarding the customers items (example: should a treadmill not work after the delivery & assembly {through no fault of the tech}, we will not be compensated for anything over or above the initial service call (meaning the service provider must take the unit back to the retail store, exchange, deliver & assemble another unit at our cost). At the same time they have also reduced the dollar amount paid to the techs across all items by at least 20%.

We are also told we must now submit 'requests' for any 'time off' at least 30 days in advance.

Is this legal in regards to being an independent contractor? I have worked for other companies like this - - we reported weekly that the customers were completed, and only needed to contact the company should there be an issue - - this seems like they are monitoring us as 'employee' status.

Your views would be appreciated.

BTW - I am located in Southern California but the company that retains us (as I.C.) is national.

I am attending a community college in California. They are charging a mandatory "health fee", even though I do not want their medical help, and have my own insurance. You can avoid the health fee if you say you are a christian scientist. The California Constitution states " A citizen or class of citizens may not be granted privileges or immunities not granted on the same terms to all citizens".

So doesn't the constitution protect me from having to pay the fee?

I have filed a suit against an individual, cliam is they obtained a note and deed to my home fruaudulenetly and illegally.

I applied for a TRO, to stop my home foreclosure which was granted , on condition to keep the first loan current, which it is.

The judge for the Preliminary Injunction hearing denied my hearing, saying I failed to comply with the TRO. She thinks the entire note / deed needs to be paid, which makes no sense since that is what I am suing for as illegally obtained.

How do I explain to the judge that if I paid the note...I wouldn'y even need an Injunction..the point would be mute, because the note would be staisfied and no injunction is necessary, because the foreclosure would be cleared.??

Is my employer responsible for my tools that were on board a company work truck that was stolen at a hotel we were staying at in Oakland, CA.

I had over 13K of my own heavy equipment mechanics tools on board the work truck when it was taken. I have provided him a list of stolen items.

He has offered to take me tool shopping up to $2500 from the list. My problem is, is that I cannot preform my job without any of those tools on the list. My concern with him buying them is that he may be able to claim the new tools as his tool at a later date.

Please advise.

If a store changes its return policy, is it legal for the change to be retroactive, affecting purchases made prior to the change, when a different policy was in effect?

As an example: I purchased some items from a store that had a "100% satisfaction" return policy, which clearly states on the back of the receipt that a return can be at any time if you are unsatisfied with an item for any reason, and that with a receipt, you are entitled to a full refund. After that purchase was made, the store changed their policy, and now returns can only be made within 60 days, and they will only give store credit.

Basically I just want to know if they are obligated to uphold the policy that was in effect at the time of purchase. Or if they can legally change the terms of what is essentially a contract, after if was entered into?

Thanks for your help, Jennie.