question about independent contractors

[TorchTheWitch]

My sister works with independent contractors who are hired through an agency. These workers have to work 10 hours a day 7 days a week with no breaks. Is this legal?

[ScreamingMeemie]

1. In general terms independent contractors are supposed to control

their own job and their own result. So often, that is not the case. From a technical standpoint it's probably legal, but it shouldn't be. To me, if they are hired through an agency, then they are mislabeled, if the agency is the one setting the hours and the jobs.

[TorchTheWitch]

2. this is what baffles me and it smells funny

The agency tells the workers this is what the hours are and the workersd can either accept or decline. However, if they decline they don't get work and if they repeatedly decline similar offers the agency just won't bother using them as workers and those workers still can't work... for the workers it's either take the offer and work or decline the offer and have now work. The agency doesn't pay the workers either. Neither does the client who contracts with the agency. The workers are responsible for making their own income through the client's facility... whatever that income turns out to be. The workers that the client hires on it's own has no such requirements. Those workers are also independent contractors, but they can schedule to work whatever hours they want... as little as four hours a week.

Something about this just seems really off to me.