Sorry, y’all: The five-second rule is bogus. Germs don’t offer a grace period before jumping on your food. Not even your last bite of the really delicious stuff. But that one about metal objects dissolving in a glass of Coke? Still up for debate. And we won’t be testing it to find out.
Myths can be dangerous, silly, or in the case of worker classification—bad for business.
There is a fine line between an employee and an independent contractor and laws surrounding worker classification are confusing. We’ve seen companies go to great lengths to comply with nonexistent rules, so we were compelled to bust one of the most damaging worker classification myths we’ve seen.
The Myth About Worker Classification
After a certain amount of time working for you, an independent contractor must be reclassified as an employee.
We think this myth likely comes from one-time best practices that were interpreted as hard and fast rules. Wherever the myth comes from, we’ve seen clients build all sorts of policies to get around the supposed law. We’ve seen them hire workers for six months, drop them for a period of time, and then rehire them, for example. Some companies even refuse to rehire independent contractors after working with them for a certain amount of time because they’re afraid they’ll have to provide all of the benefits associated with hiring an employee. Not only are these policies time consuming, they can hurt businesses that rely on trustworthy freelancers.
The Truth About Worker Classification
We think it’s time for everyone to bust the myth and bust free from self-imposed restrictions.
Here’s the liberating truth: If you find a good contractor and want to use them over and over, you can. There are rules, which vary by location, but there are also legal ways to keep your best people working for you.
If you’re confused by compliance laws and fear your workers are misclassified, PayReel can help. Reach out to our team of experts on all things freelance. Get away from the burden of onboarding, payrolling and classifying your workers and focus on what you love.
About PayReel
Producing multimedia content and executing live events is chaotic. At PayReel, we make sure our clients are able to hire who they want, when they want and that everyone is paid properly. Leave the details up to the PayReel team so you can focus on pulling off a flawless production. Contact us anytime at 303-526-4900 or by emailing us here.
Relax. We got it.
