The Risk
Today’s business demands require access to top talent.
An important segment of these workers expect to work as
independent contractors, but engaging them as 1099s
can create many kinds of risk.
Worker misclassification cost Microsoft $97 million in benefits
payments in the late 1990s. The same issue more recently is
costing Fedex $319 million with a potential exposure of
more than $1 billion. Could this happen to you?
The IRS 20-factor common-law standard is the ultimate test
of worker classification, but has been difficult to administer.
Section 530 of the Revenue Act of 1978 attempted to provide
some relief by providing a safe harbor for worker classification
based on consistent classification and industry practice, but
enforcing consistency across an organization is difficult.
IRS and state enforcement are increasing as government
agencies seek to recover lost revenues. Federal and state
regulations are hard to interpret. Forcing everyone to work
as W-2s prevents you from using workers at the top of the
talent pyramid, so what are you to do?
|