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Employment Question Paper

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To: Mallory Thomas From: Meredith Carson Date: February 5th, 2016 Subject: Employment Questions Dear Ms. Thomas: I would be happy to answer all your questions about employees and independent contractors. There are a few differences between the two, and hopefully I can help you decide what is best for you and your business. By definition an employee is someone employed for wages or salary. An independent contractor is a worker that provides goods or services under terms specified within a contract you would provide. There isn’t any set amount of factors that would make your workers employees or independent contractor. Also, factors, which are relevant in one situation, may not be relevant to your own situation, so be very careful on where …show more content…

If this is true, the worker is most likely an employee. • How will your workers be paid? Are their expenses reimbursed? Who provides tools for the garage? If the worker is on a salary, with expenses reimbursed and tools provided, the worker is most likely an employee. If the get paid on a basis and must provide their own tools, the worker is most likely an independent contractor. • Is there written contracts? Pension plans? Insurance? Vacation pay? If any of this is provided, the work is most likely an employee. If just a contract is provided, it may be just an independent contractor. • Is the work performed by the workers a key aspect of the business? This could mean the worker is most likely an employee. • Can the worker be discharged at anytime, and can they choose whether or not to come to work without fear of losing their employment? If they can, they are an independent contractor. • Can the worker control the hours of employment? If so they are acting as an independent contractor. • Is the work is temporary or permanent? Temporary implies independent contractor. Permanent implies …show more content…

For an employee you must withhold income taxes, Social Security, and Medicare taxes, and pay Social Security and unemployment tax on wages paid to an employee. But for an independent contractor, you do not have to withhold or pay any taxes on payments. For this reason, independent contractors may be cheaper. You could save up to 30 percent by avoiding insurance, workers compensation, disability insurance, pension, and vacation time. Since the garage would be required to carry workers compensation, since your workers will be working with heavy machinery, this could save you some money in the long run versus hiring employees. Independent contractors help you avoid union representation, this also means you are not responsible for any wages in excess of the state mandated minimum wage for the independent contractors. Most workers would prefer to be employees. They get the safety of knowing they are under contract and cannot be fired under false pretenses. They also get the benefits insurance, control of hours, and wages. I do agree with the idea of setting up a strong contract if you so choose to classify your workers as independent contractors. I hope I was able to answer all of your questions! Please feel free to get in touch with me if you have any more questions about this or any other employment subject!

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