At the top of some list of strategies suggested to cut costs of doing business is to focus on reducing the biggest cost.
The cost of labor to conduct and generate business has prompted many business to turn or, at least try to turn, countless employees into former employees now called independent contractors.
But an at will employee in the United States is defined in not just unemployment law, but tax laws.
Of course, there’s no denying the strategy makes good sense when done properly and everyone is aware and on board with the benefits and the repercussions.
It’s cheaper to outsource certain function of doing business than to take on the additional cost and potential liabilities of having regular at will employees do it in house.
It’s a great idea in theory and practice to outsource to independent contractors to reduce the costs of operating a business .. when executed well without taking advantage of anyone and without skirting the employment laws that offer protection to employees.
It might even help to start growing the economy again. It encourages new business ideas and models.
For goodness sake, it might even help to create new jobs for those that don’t want to be self employed as an independent contractor.
But, as usual, problems arise for both employer and employee when the relationship between a business and an independent contractor is still one of employer – employee and no one bothered to learn even the basics of how employment works in the United States …