5 ms·

if you're a contractor who's just a full-time employee with less benefits, you should take that up with your local labour relations board, because that's illega

if you're a contractor who's just a full-time employee with less benefits, you should take that up with your local labour relations board, because that's illegal in almost any jurisdiction. contractors should not expect long-term employment unless they have a contract that specifies that.

shagie 4y ago
Consider... a W2 employee working for a consultancy. That consultancy is responsible for some level of staffing / staff augmentation at one or more companies. Does this still fall in the domain of independent contractor misclassification?
gtirloni 4y ago
These contractors might not be in a position to do that. I've been such contractor in the past. I was just happy to have the job to pay my bills and didn't feel like getting myself and others fired. The other day I saw a position to work at Google as a contractor. It said undetermined duration.
- notatoad 4y ago
  yes, but if you're in the position described in this article - a misclassified contractor who no longer has a job, then you've got nothing to lose by reporting that misclassification. if the labour board has enough reports of it to develop a pattern, it can help prevent it from happening in the future.
wahnfrieden 4y ago
You refer to a legal process for managing this, but this category (wage theft) is the largest category of theft in the US - it's rampant, unchecked, and stacked against the victims. Something being illegal doesn't always have much connection to whether it's happening and what recourse is available.
- mc32 4y ago
  Wage theft happens in both directions. Business trying to pay less and also contractors putting in less time than claimed.
  - wahnfrieden 4y ago
    Yes and the latter is a much much much smaller category to the point of irrelevancy
    - mc32 4y ago
      I'm not sure, where are you getting those figures from? I can't find solid figures for either but the rough figures (guesstimates) I come across seem to indicate time theft is a larger problem than wage theft.
      - wahnfrieden 4y ago
        you can find numbers easily, here's an article from the other week: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/owed-employers-face-little-accountability-for-wage-theft/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/owed-employers-face-little-acco... >According to one estimate from the nonprofit think tank Economic Policy Institute, reported and unreported wage theft could amount to as much as $50 billion per year owed to workers. > >That number dwarfs criminal offenses such as robbery, which accounted for just under $500 million in losses in 2019, according to FBI data. Burglary accounted for about $3 billion in losses that same year, and motor vehicle theft made up about $6 billion. is time theft a $50 billion problem?
        mc32 4y ago
        These are estimates. You can also find estimates for time theft in the same ballpark. Solid figures are much lower —estimates are higher as they have to extrapolate into areas with little data.
mixmastamyk 4y ago
The biggest employer of long-term contractors is Uncle Sam.

shagie 4y ago

Consider... a W2 employee working for a consultancy. That consultancy is responsible for some level of staffing / staff augmentation at one or more companies. Does this still fall in the domain of independent contractor misclassification?

gtirloni 4y ago

These contractors might not be in a position to do that. I've been such contractor in the past. I was just happy to have the job to pay my bills and didn't feel like getting myself and others fired. The other day I saw a position to work at Google as a contractor. It said undetermined duration.

notatoad 4y ago
yes, but if you're in the position described in this article - a misclassified contractor who no longer has a job, then you've got nothing to lose by reporting that misclassification. if the labour board has enough reports of it to develop a pattern, it can help prevent it from happening in the future.

wahnfrieden 4y ago

You refer to a legal process for managing this, but this category (wage theft) is the largest category of theft in the US - it's rampant, unchecked, and stacked against the victims. Something being illegal doesn't always have much connection to whether it's happening and what recourse is available.

mc32 4y ago
Wage theft happens in both directions. Business trying to pay less and also contractors putting in less time than claimed.
- wahnfrieden 4y ago
  Yes and the latter is a much much much smaller category to the point of irrelevancy
  - mc32 4y ago
    I'm not sure, where are you getting those figures from? I can't find solid figures for either but the rough figures (guesstimates) I come across seem to indicate time theft is a larger problem than wage theft.
    - wahnfrieden 4y ago
      you can find numbers easily, here's an article from the other week: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/owed-employers-face-little-accountability-for-wage-theft/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/owed-employers-face-little-acco... >According to one estimate from the nonprofit think tank Economic Policy Institute, reported and unreported wage theft could amount to as much as $50 billion per year owed to workers. > >That number dwarfs criminal offenses such as robbery, which accounted for just under $500 million in losses in 2019, according to FBI data. Burglary accounted for about $3 billion in losses that same year, and motor vehicle theft made up about $6 billion. is time theft a $50 billion problem?
      - mc32 4y ago
        These are estimates. You can also find estimates for time theft in the same ballpark. Solid figures are much lower —estimates are higher as they have to extrapolate into areas with little data.

mixmastamyk 4y ago

The biggest employer of long-term contractors is Uncle Sam.