ISSUE:
Whether intermediaries in labor arrangements affect employment status under labor laws?
Whether labor laws should prioritize social justice over contract law concepts for contract workers and independent contractors?
Whether the petitioner can be held liable for the denial of employment to the 29 workmen, despite claiming that they were not his employees?
Whether the term 'workman' under Section 2(s) of the Industrial Disputes Act of 1947 includes independent contractors engaged to work in an employer's plant?
RULE:
An employer-employee relationship exists when workers, despite being hired through contractors, perform work that is integral to the business and for the benefit of the business owner, who exercises control over the work and the conditions of employment.