A real estate salesperson employed as an independent contractor:

This is incorrect because California Business and Professions Code §10177(h) explicitly requires brokers to supervise the activities of their salespersons, regardless of whether those salespersons are classified as employees or independent contractors; failure to supervise is itself grounds for license discipline.

This is actually the opposite of the truth for independent contractors — a salesperson classified as an independent contractor is responsible for paying their own self-employment taxes (covering both the employee and employer portions of Social Security and Medicare taxes), but this is a characteristic of independent contractor status, not a unique burden; it does not make this answer correct in the context of what defines the broker-salesperson relationship.

While it is generally true that independent contractors are not covered by workers' compensation insurance in the same way employees are, California law and the specific terms of broker-salesperson agreements can vary; more importantly, this option is not the most legally significant or accurate description of the independent contractor relationship in real estate, and the question is testing the liability principle, not workers' comp eligibility.