03/27/2013 // Dallas, Texas, United States // (press release)
The perils of treating employees as though they were independent contractors have been discussed before. Regardless of whether a company considers a relationship with a worker an employer-employee relationship or a company-independent contractor relationship, if the relationship looks and feels like an employer-employee relationship, the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Labor will consider it an employer-employee relationship.
One big issue is control. A company controls the work of its employees; it does not control the work of its independent contractors. An employer controls when, where, and how an employee works. So, if a company tells an “independent contractor” to report onsite every day from 8:00-5:00 and expects the worker to perform job tasks in accordance with the training the company provided, the company is controlling when, where, and how that person works.
Another big issue relates to finances. An employee is generally paid a regular wage at a set time (biweekly, monthly, or weekly). An independent contractor is typically paid a flat fee for a particular task or by the hour, but the person is not paid on a set timetable. Instead, the person is paid after submitting a bill to the company.
To discuss the independent contractor relationship with a business and employment law attorney in Dallas, contact the Dallas, Texas business and employment lawyers of Rogge Dunn Group PC at info@RoggeDunnGroup.com
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