Independent Contractor or Employee - Guidelines to Insure Compliance

Why Should You Attend:

In recent years, the IRS and the Department of Labor have been somewhat more vigorous in prosecuting employers who have misclassified employees as contractors. Employees are entitled by law to minimum wage and in many instances overtime pay, as well as fringe benefits in some instances. Contractors have no such protection. In addition, employers withhold taxes for employees, while contractors pay their own taxes.

Misclassification of employees as contractors can lead to severe penalties from the government, not to mention an intrusive and burdensome investigation. This webinar will help you gain a clear understanding of the rules that will in turn help your company avoid misclassifying its workers.

Learning Objectives:

• Criteria used by the DOL, the EEOC and the IRS to distinguish between contractors and employees
• Cost differentials between contractors and employees
• Circumstances in which the use of contractors may be appropriate

Areas Covered in the Webinar:

• The 11 factor and 20 factor test applied by the IRS
• The cost differentials between contractors and employees
• Issues arising from leasing employees
• Requirements that business may impose on contractors
• Practical differences between contractors and employees
• Auditing the workforce to assure proper classification
• Examples applying the government rules
• Concrete examples

Who Will Benefit:

• HR Personnel
• Attorneys dealing with employment issues
• Managers who make hiring decisions
• Business owners

Instructor Profile:

Kenneth A. Sprang, is one of the founding partners of Washington International Business Counsel, LLP, in Washington, DC. Mr. Sprang counsels and represents both domestic and international clients in labor and employment law and in a wide range of corporate, business and transactional matters. Over the course of his 30 plus year career, Mr. Sprang has practiced with both large and small firms, as well as serving as in house counsel for Fortune 500 companies and as general counsel to smaller companies.

Mr. Sprang began his career with Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, a large, multi-national firm. Subsequently, he served as in house counsel in the legal departments of Calgon Corporation, a former subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., and Cyclops Corporation, a Fortune 500 specialty steel manufacturer. Later, Mr. Sprang founded legal departments and served as in-house general counsel for several start-up and other privately-held companies, including a hospital and a web-based company. Mr. Sprang has also spent several years as a full-time law professor, and continues teaching as an Adjunct Professor at Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Sprang brings to his clients special expertise in labor and employment law. He represents employers in traditional labor relations matters, as well as in wage and hour, employment discrimination, HR, employee benefits, OSHA, and other issues related to employment. In addition to representing clients in all aspects of U.S. labor and employment law (including specific state laws), he has served on the senior staff of the Chairman of the National Labor Relations Board and taught the subject for many years. He is the author or co-author of several books and articles on labor and employment law and alternative dispute resolution.

Topic Background:

Employers commonly hire independent contractors for specific work outside the ordinary scope of their business such as construction at an office or other facility. Other times contractors are hired to fill a temporary vacancy or the like. However, employers sometimes hire personnel for routine work in the company in which the individual works side by side with employees. The employer may think he or she is a contractor, but whether a worker is an employee or a contractor is a legal conclusion—the employer’s designation does not necessarily control. Employers who misclassify employees as independent contractors can find themselves subject to significant monetary and other penalties.

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