Often, we draft or review independent contractor agreements, which are similar to employment agreements. Many companies prefer to hire independent contractors rather than employees because it is cheaper. However, there is danger in doing so in that if the contractor is found to be an employee (by the courts or a governmental agency) the employer may […]
Unpaid Overtime Cases: Calculating Damages
Q: In an unpaid overtime case, when your law firm successfully gets an exempt employee properly reclassified as non-exempt, can what the employee recovers from their employer in terms of unpaid overtime and other damages be substantial? They can be. The size of the recovery largely depends on how many hours of overtime the employee […]
Misclassified Exempt Employees and Unpaid Overtime
Q: If an employee is classified as exempt and working over 40 hours per week, how would your law firm make the argument that they are entitled to overtime? A: The first consideration we take into account is how much the employee is getting paid. One of the requirements to being exempt in California is […]
Is there ever an instance where it is better to be an independent contractor than an employee?
It really depends on the circumstances of the particular person, but I could envision a scenario where it might be more beneficial to be an independent contractor. If you have significant business expenses that you otherwise would not be able to deduct from your taxes if you were classified as an employee, working as an […]
Misclassified Employees
Q: An employee comes into you, has been characterized as an independent contractor for years. How can you help that person? A: There are a lot of factors to be considered such as: How are you paid? Is there a written contract? What does the contract say? And as for the contract, it may be […]
