NOTE: This is the second of two related articles. To read part 1, click here. Depending on a one-size-fits-all automated questionnaire to determine the worker classification of your consultants is dangerous for your company. You could be putting a lot of faith in a slick, easy tool that won’t hold up when the classification is [...]
Automated worker classification scoring can’t stand up to an expert’s evaluation. Making legally defensible worker classification determinations is not an easy task. It involves gathering information from both the claimed independent contractor and the hiring manager, and then making a correct interpretation of what is often conflicting data. To do it well requires a keen [...]
Recently a client called and asked me the following question, “An IC – someone you qualified for us last month – suddenly quit the project for personal reasons. He didn’t deliver any deliverables, although he worked about sixty hours on the project. We were wondering if he should be paid anything for his time?” I [...]
I was having lunch the other day with a retired judge who used to regularly hear cases involving worker misclassification. In his career, he had decided hundreds of cases where the primary issue was “Is the worker an Employee or an Independent Contractor?” After we’d finished eating and caught up on our personal lives, and [...]
In my client work for Collabrus most of the misclassified workers I encounter are Independent Contractors in title only. Where most companies go wrong is they bestow the IC title on a contractor or consultant out of convenience (or fear of losing the talent!), but treat the individual in every other way as an employee. [...]
Over the weekend I read an interesting article about a fledgling industry referred to as “e-labor.” The article predicts this new way of engaging freelance workers is growing and “…its success will mirror that of e-commerce…” Source: The Economist print edition, May 13, 2010. http://www.economist.com/business-finance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=16116919 What is E Labor (e-labour)? It is a form of [...]
Last time I critiqued a website article published by a contingent work force vender company. This is part 2 of that series. The website article cited a University of Arizona study but failed to provide full information about the study and then gave bad advice if you employ highly skilled professionals. I have analyzed this [...]
One more domestic story from my stay-at-home week: the neighbor’s kid takes a freelance job. I was recently home for a week watching television, sleeping and fighting off a bug. I was feeling better later in the week and took a walk around the neighborhood. As I passed my neighbor’s house, their 23 year old [...]
Do you have two minutes? Take this short test to see if you are misclassifying your consultants. My clients often ask me for the silver bullet, the quick and simple way to know for certain if a consultant is properly classified as an IC or not. The truth is there is no silver bullet. Common [...]
A recent US Supreme Court ruling about text messaging provides some insight on how the Court sees a limited segment of employer-employee relationship. The U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling stating employers may conduct limited warrantless searches of electronic media. To read the decision you may go to: http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/09pdf/08-1332.pdf There were also some implied assumptions [...]
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