Working with independent contractors

This is your complete guide to hiring independent contractors to meet your business needs, from making sure you comply with state labor and antidiscrimination laws to protecting your intellectual property to drafting and signing agreements.

Working With Independent Contractors also has everything you need to know to make sure that any independent contractor you hire is not considered your employee. Lawsuits in this area are very expensive. This book educates employers about how to hire employees legally, without risking legal trouble.

With this book you can avoid misclassifying workers and learn how to:

- create a valid contract
- assess who qualifies as an independent contractor, and
- handle an IRS audit

Includes all the legal forms you need, all forms are now downladable at nolo.com.

• Your Legal Companion for Working With Independent Contractors p. 1
• 1 Benefits and Risks of Working With Independent Contractors p. 3
• Benefits of Using Independent Contractors p. 4
• Risks of Using Independent Contractors p. 8
• 2 The Common Law Test p. 15
• When a Legal Test is Necessary p. 17
• The Right of Control os Key p. 19
• Factors for Measuring Control p. 20
• Evaluating a Worker's Status p. 33
• 3 How the IRS Classifies Workers p. 39
• Four Steps to Classification Under the IRS Rules p. 40
• Step 1 Check Statutory Independent ContractorRules p. 46
• Step 2 Analyze the Worker Under the Common Law Test p. 49
• Step 3 Check Statutory Employee Rules p. 72
• Step 4 Check the Safe Harbor Rules p. 80
• 4 IRS Audits p. 99
• Why Audits Occur p. 101
• Audit Basics p. 102
• The Classification Settlement Program p. 109
• Voluntary Classification Settlement Program p. 113
• IRS Assessments for Worker Misclassification p. 116
• Penelties for Worker Misclassification p. 122
• Interest Assessments p. 125
• Criminal Sanctions p. 125
• Obamacare Penalties p. 126
• Retirement Plan Audits p. 126
• Worker Lawsuits for Pensions and Other Benefits p. 128
• 5 State Payroll Taxes p. 129
• State Unemployment Compensation p. 130
• State UC Classification Tests p. 134
• State Disability Insurance p. 150
• State Income Taxes p. 153
• 6 Worker's Compensation p. 155
• Basics of the Worker's Compensation System p. 156
• Who Must be Covered p. 160
• Exclusions From Coverage p. 160
• Classifying Workers for Worker's Compensation Purposes p. 166
• If Your Workers Are ICs p. 178
• Obtaining Coverage p. 181
• 7 Hiring Household Workers and Family Members p. 183
• Household Workers p. 184
• Family Members as Workers p. 198
• 8 Health, Safety, Labor, and Antidiscrimination Laws p. 203
• Obamacare (Affordable Care Act)
• Federal Wage and Hour Laws p. 215
• Federal Labor Relations Laws p. 222
• Family and Medical Leave Act p. 223
• Fair Credit Reporting Act p. 224
• Antidiscrimination Laws p. 225
• Worker Safety Laws p. 229
• Immigration Laws p. 230
• 9 Intellectual Property Ownership p. 231
• What is Intellectual Property p. 232
• Laws Protecting Intellectual Property p. 232
• Copyright Ownership p. 234
• Trade Secret and Patent Ownership p. 241
• 10 Strategies for Avoiding Trouble p. 243
• Hiring Incorporated Independent Contractors p. 244
• Employee Leasing p. 252
• 11 Procedures for Working With Independent Contractors p. 261
• Before Hiring an IC p. 262
• While the IC Works for You p. 267
• After the IC's Services End p. 271
• 12 Independent Contractor Agreements p. 281
• Using Written Agreements p. 283
• Drafting Agreements p. 285
• Essential Provisions p. 292
• Optional Provisions p. 318
• Sample IC Agreement p. 325
• 13 Help Beyond This Book p. 333
• Finding and Using a Lawyer p. 334
• Help From Other Experts p. 336
• Doing Your Own Legal Research p. 337
• Appendixes
• A How to Use the Interactive Forms p. 345
• Editing RTFs p. 346
• List of Forms p. 347
• B Contractor Screening Documents p. 349
• Independent Contractor Questionnaire p. 351
• Documentation Checklist p. 353
• Worker Classification Checklist p. 355
• Index p. 359