In October, 2011, Governor Brown signed Senate Bill 459 into law making it illegal to willfully misclassify employees as independent contractors. The law provides authority to the California’s Labor Workforce Development Agency to assess civil penalties and take action against a person or employer violating the new law. This law allows California’s Labor Commissioner to levy [...]
There is no magic formula to decide if an independent contractor (IC) is properly classified. However, there are some universal red flags that indicate a possible misclassification. Here is a short quiz that you can use to get an indication if your company is at risk of misclassifying consultants. Review the questions for each individual [...]
Almost every year, for decades, there have been unsuccessful attempts to consolidate California’s tax functions. However, this year’s effort seems to have stronger political support. For starters, the 2012-13 Governor’s budget proposal includes money to merge the tax functions of the Board of Equalization (BOE), Employment Development Department (EDD) and the Franchise Tax Board (FTB). [...]
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), working with some state employment agencies, is offering training that provides “dislocated workers the opportunity for early re-employment” through self-employment. This means that if someone has lost his/her job and wants to create a small business, there is a federal program than can help. The Self-Employment Assistance Program will [...]
Last September, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced a new program for employers to voluntarily reclassify and report workers, previously considered independent contractors (IC), as employees. Under the program, eligible employers can obtain partial relief from federal payroll taxes they theoretically owe for past misclassifications, if they prospectively treat these workers as employees. To be [...]
At Collabrus, we review working relationships and help clients determine the proper classification for projects and consultants: independent contractor (IC) or employee? If the consultants are ICs, we file the necessary reporting forms. If they are employees, we can put them on our temporary employee payroll and provide a full-range of benefits and protections. We [...]
It’s time to file taxes, and there are special advantages and special requirements if you’re an independent contractor (IC). An IC is a small business by definition, and as a small business enjoys tax breaks in the form of deductions for expenses employees do not. Deducting business expenses before you pay taxes ICs are entitled [...]
There are two identical bills pending in New York’s Senate and Assembly (S4129-2011 and A6698-2011). The legislation would grant independent contractors the same rights and remedies for payments on earnings an employee receives for wages. The proposed law would grant New York’s Labor Commissioner the authority to: • Investigate complaints by ICs • Make claims for compensation [...]
In 2012 both state and federal governments are turning up the pressure on employers that misclassify workers. Governments need money and view the additional taxes, penalties and interest for violators as a way to get it. At the Federal level Obama’s 2012 budget provides for increased worker misclassification enforcement. These paragraphs were taken directly from [...]
There is nothing inherently wrong with out-of-state staffing companies wanting to do business in California. Yet problems often arise if they fail to understand California’s strict independent contractor (IC) classification rules and environment. Most other states have lenient rules to establish independent contractors compared to California. Oftentimes staffing companies establish a successful system for IC [...]
powered by WordPress
