| 释义 |
independent contractor
A person or firm engaged to do a particular job of work, as opposed to a person under a contract of employment. An independent contractor is his own master, bound to do the job he has contracted to do but having a discretion as to how to do it (Ready Mixed Concrete (South East) Ltd v Minister of Pensions and National Insurance [1968] 2 QB 497). A taxi-driver, for example, is the independent contractor of the passenger who hires him. A person who uses an independent contractor is not generally vicariously liable for torts committed by the contractor, but may be in exceptional cases; situations in which vicarious liability may be incurred include those in which the contractor is employed in particularly hazardous activities, or to perform statutory duties, or to work on or over (but not merely near) the highway, or is specifically authorized to commit a negligent act. |