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I was looking over the contract that I signed when my last employer told me I was going to be paid as an independent contractor. There will be an EDD hearing at some point, I guess. When I read the contract, it makes it sound like I had all these important responsibilities, when, in fact, most of the time I spent running around doing the most menial office crap and a lot of 'personal assistance' stuff, like serving my boss coffee and bagels. My claim will be denied (no earnings show since I was working as a contractor), then when I appeal that, that will cause EDD to look in to whether I was misclassified. So, will I be given an opportunity spell out exactly what my actual job responsibilities were and how that differed from my so-called Contract? Will I be able to state why I think I was an employee, not an independent contractor? I ask, because two EDD reps said, "you agreed to work on contract so if you didn't want to do that you could have just left". I am hoping a hearing with an administrative law judge will use a more level headed approach, but I just don't know.
The other thing that worries me is that if I lose, could the ex employer turn around and sue me, saying, basically, 'you signed the contract and put us through all this trouble'? I'm assuming if I am found to be an employee they cannot retaliate?
Also, it's been almost six months since I left the contract job. I was hoping I could find work and just leave them behind. Does the fact that so much time has lapsed and NOW I am trying to get that income reclassified as wages look bad? Will that work against me?
A true employment contract has a start date and an end date. Many people think that an offer letter is a contract, but it's not.
Do you really have an employment contract?
You've started so many threads that apply to pretty much the same issue that it's tough to remember what you've said in all of them. I'm thinking that you got let go after 4 months and that it was unexpected. If you had a real employment contract, there would be no letting you go unexpectedly because your term of employment is specified.
Also having a contract doesn't mean that you're 1099. Employee vs contract is about how much control is exercised upon you, not about your job duties.
Trying to get your wages reclassied isn't dependent on when you do it unless it's outside of some statute of limitations.
Thank you. Yes, I really had an employment contract. It was for 3 months, but after the contract 'expired' (at the end of 2012), I was asked if I was interested in staying on and working on into 2013. I said I was. I asked about whether we were going to do up a new contract, not because I wanted one, but because I was worried about how I was going to get paid going forward. I never got an answer about a new contract, so I reasoned maybe it was because they were planning on officially hiring me (which is funny, because in retrospect, the answer was the exact opposite...they were planning on firing me!). I just let it go and kept working and was told at the end of January my services were no longer needed. So for a month I worked without a contract.
Also, when we first started talking about my working there (via email) I was LED to believe the job was for a longer time frame than 3 months, and for more hours weekly than what I actually got. After I started working for them is when things changed. I was told it was for 'three months' and 'on contract' and the number of hours per week offered were cut back as well. I did feel a little jerked around but also accepted responsibility for not asking questions and getting stuff clarified upfront myself.
I was not happy about being put on contract, especially since I knew what I was doing did not qualify for that classification. It was clear they set it up that way to save money on taxes and other employer related obligations They just did.
So it's confusing. I don't know if not being on contract for the last month has any effect on the legality of their 'terminating' me or just what. Or whether I was a de facto employee because I was working there for the last moth without a valid, signed contract. Appreciate any insights into this mess.
I have never held any job where so much control was exercised over me. It was awful. I felt like I was wearing a straight jacket most of the time. As I've said, I've read the EDD and IRS rules and no way was I an 'independent contractor' for those three months. I have no idea what I was that last month. Employee? Contractor? Who the heck knows?
So you think I was an independent contractor still (for that last month) even though I did not have a contract in place? In the employer's eyes, that is?
I don't think you were a contractor. Having a contract does not equal contractor.
It's all about control. Did they dictate your hours? Did you use their equipment? Did they tell you how to do your work? Did you have routine duties vs a deliverable?
I agree. Many people have contract (I do as a veterinarian) but I am not an independent contractor. Two different things. My contract simply gives the job description, what's expected of me, what I get in return (salary, vacation, etc) and what happens if I break the contract (non-compete agreement). I use their equipment, they set my schedule, they make the rules, etc. I don't think that's necessarily true if you're an independent contractor.
I'm not 100% sure on this but if you were the independent contractor wouldn't you be the one who had the contract that they would sign, not the other way around?
Yes, that's what you would think. That the contractor would put together the contract == here are my terms, etc. But it was the other way around. They had me sign their document which stated they were hiring me on contract. They specified the term, etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoYanks34
I agree. Many people have contract (I do as a veterinarian) but I am not an independent contractor. Two different things. My contract simply gives the job description, what's expected of me, what I get in return (salary, vacation, etc) and what happens if I break the contract (non-compete agreement). I use their equipment, they set my schedule, they make the rules, etc. I don't think that's necessarily true if you're an independent contractor.
I'm not 100% sure on this but if you were the independent contractor wouldn't you be the one who had the contract that they would sign, not the other way around?
Hours -- The parameters I was given was that I could work up to 30 hours per week and was not to go over that amount of time. I was expected to be in the office daily (4 days per week) and usually got there between 8 and 9AM. They wanted me there when the boss was there, so I tried to work around that, e.g., if I knew the boss had a meeting at 10AM, I knew I needed to be there no later than 9AM to ensure pre-meeting prep was done. They did not say specifically 8AM (tho sometimes they did), but there was a general understanding about the arrival time 4 days per week and the number of hours I could work. I was frequently told when to go home: "You can leave now" (which I found galling -- no other employer has ever told me to leave early to save a few dollars -- I was paid by the hour).
I worked on their premises, used their equipment, and did whatever I was told, just as the previous Assistant had done. Yes, I had routine duties that were integral to their business -- scheduling, answering the phone, copying, proofreading, helping prepare presentations, etc. I made phone calls to coordinate meetings, and prepared month end billing statements. And I did a lot of 'personal assistant' work -- made travel arrangements for a personal VK, etc. I cannot recall any 'deliverables' although one of the reasons they brought me in was to coordinate some meetings with people in the community. The thing is, those meetings were a monthly event and had been for the past year, so weren't they also integral to the business? Even if they were deliverables, the majority of my time was spent doing every day Assistant stuff. Coordinating those meetings only took up a few days each month.
Don't get me started on whether the boss told me how to do my work. Not only told how to, but dictated how to, even scripted me on what to say for the phone calls I needed to make to round up people for a meeting (and came over to listen to mey calls to make sure I was saying it right!!). Told me at one point that they would need to approve any email I wrote before it went out. Other people I have worked for trusted my judgment and respected my ability to get the job done and left me alone to get it done. That was not the case in this job. This person was a paranoid nutter, who, if I took any initiative whatsoever, saw my actions as a threat to their empire (irrational fear that I was trying to take over the empire).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chyvan
I don't think you were a contractor. Having a contract does not equal contractor.
It's all about control. Did they dictate your hours? Did you use their equipment? Did they tell you how to do your work? Did you have routine duties vs a deliverable?
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