3 ms·

Can you elaborate a bit on how your company used 1099s, whether they'd be classified as employees under law, and why that classification would/wouldn't be reaso

by smeyer 6y ago

Can you elaborate a bit on how your company used 1099s, whether they'd be classified as employees under law, and why that classification would/wouldn't be reasonable? I think it's reasonable to say that companies that can't be started without treating their employees fairly shouldn't be started, and that improvements in regulations around employee treatment may impact which businesses are started. That said, I assume you weren't mistreating workers so am curious to hear more.

cft 6y ago
I initially hired Berkeley and MIT interns as contractors and one of them worked for us as a contractor for a year while on leave of absence. He was paid about 6700/mo. I would be envious when I myself was a sophomore to get paid this much. But he lived with his parents mostly, getting health insurance through his family as he was 20 and he got 1099s from us. Another one was paid about 7500/mo, also on 1099. This was five or six years ago. I did not have enough money to commit to an employee long term back then, although none of these interns were terminated by me- they all went on doing other things, I am in touch with most of them and they are thankful for my recommendation letters and references for Google, Amazon, etc where they are working now. In the past, it was market that decided whether a business should exist or not, and that involved the decisions of the employees or contractors to work there. But now you are proposing a new, "fair treatment" decision process, that is extraneous to the market. Has this been successfully tried before, in any country that has become wealthy due to such business selection process?
- smeyer 6y ago
  The United States already does what I'm proposing, it's just a question of implementation. For example, the minimum wage dictates that if your business is only profitable when you pay employees $5 an hour your business doesn't exist. Capitalism in the US isn't so unfettered that only the market determines whether businesses exist. Some countries have stricter regulations around employee treatment (France started mandating paid vacation in the 1930s) and some have less strict (Singapore doesn't have a minimum wage), but this isn't some new idea.

by smeyer 6y ago

cft 6y ago

I initially hired Berkeley and MIT interns as contractors and one of them worked for us as a contractor for a year while on leave of absence. He was paid about 6700/mo. I would be envious when I myself was a sophomore to get paid this much. But he lived with his parents mostly, getting health insurance through his family as he was 20 and he got 1099s from us. Another one was paid about 7500/mo, also on 1099. This was five or six years ago. I did not have enough money to commit to an employee long term back then, although none of these interns were terminated by me- they all went on doing other things, I am in touch with most of them and they are thankful for my recommendation letters and references for Google, Amazon, etc where they are working now. In the past, it was market that decided whether a business should exist or not, and that involved the decisions of the employees or contractors to work there. But now you are proposing a new, "fair treatment" decision process, that is extraneous to the market. Has this been successfully tried before, in any country that has become wealthy due to such business selection process?

smeyer 6y ago
The United States already does what I'm proposing, it's just a question of implementation. For example, the minimum wage dictates that if your business is only profitable when you pay employees $5 an hour your business doesn't exist. Capitalism in the US isn't so unfettered that only the market determines whether businesses exist. Some countries have stricter regulations around employee treatment (France started mandating paid vacation in the 1930s) and some have less strict (Singapore doesn't have a minimum wage), but this isn't some new idea.