Independent Contractor

February 8, 2024

Employee or Freelancer? New Rules for Independent Contractors

Employee or Freelancer?

Is a person who works for your business financially dependent on you, or can they potentially independently profit based on their skill set? Will they be part of your company indefinitely? Do they perform a central, daily, integral role? Do you dictate when, where and how they work? Do you limit their ability to work for others? Can the person apply what they do to other endeavors, widening their market reach and leading to other revenue streams?

Small businesses and other employers will need ask themselves this set of questions and consider the “totality of the circumstances” in determining whether to classify people who work for them as employees or independent contractors, in a rule change published by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division on January 10, set to take effect March 11.

February 1, 2022

‘Independent Contractor’ Might Be a Trojan Horse

by George Bellas

Independent Contractors

A recent Illinois Court of Appeals decision in an Illinois Wage Claim Act case puts a magnifying glass on the sticky wicket employers can find themselves when they are unable to pay an outside contractor, at least under certain circumstances.

The decision in O’Malley v. Udo, 2022 IL App (1^st) 200007 (Jan. 14, 2022) revolved around an independent contractor who was paid $1,000 per work day plus expenses, was sent 1099 forms at the end of the tax year, was mostly free to work from his Evanston home, and otherwise clearly identified in the written agreement between the parties – and at his insistence – as a consultant.

October 23, 2018

Independent Contractor or Employee?

by George Bellas

Workers Classification – Employees or Independent Contractors

Independent Contractor or Employee?

As a business owner or an employer, when you hire a new worker, you will be reintroduced to the question – should you classify the worker as an employee or an independent contractor? In order to make this huge business decision, you need to fully understand the difference between an employee and an independent contractor and the importance of classifying them correctly.