Independent Contractor Misclassification is Illegal and Costly

Contingent labor management

Do you need help managing your work force? Do you need help simplifying the acquisition of independent contractors and temporary resources, while at the same time optimizing value with vendor management? The right workforce management system can provide insights to current and future contingent spending plans so you can make better decisions. In fact, the company with the best workforce management solutions can help you complete all of your payroll processes and keep you from independent contractor misclassification.
Even people who are in business for themselves still struggle with payroll tasks. In fact, among businesses who handle payroll internally, 25% report spending more than six hours per month on payroll. The problem of independent contractor misclassification can be a costly one. Instead of risking a mistake in your employee classification, doesn’t it make sense to work with a workforce management service?
The benefits of contracting with a payroll service company to manage a combined staff of non-permanent employees as well as full time workers include the following:

  • Staying in control while getting the help you need. Even though you decide to outsource your payroll management this does not mean that you lose the option of making changes and dictating the basic specifications you want in your pay plan.
  • Risk management of compliance issues. The changing payroll and tax regulations can be complex and specific. With the best payroll specialist, you can increase your understanding in legislation, as well as government regulations, privacy, and security in an effort to limit risks. These tasks are difficult to achieve on your own in a small business with only basic payroll experience.
  • Payroll accuracy. Payroll tasks require careful attention to detail. Mistakes can not only cause problems for your employees, but also problems for you with the IRS. If you hire a managed payroll service they will help you with varying tax rates, time sheets and pay scales, benefits and coverage, and voluntary withholdings.
  • Cost control. When you contract with a workforce management system you only pay for the services you need. During an economic downturn, for example, you do not have to worry about laying off a full time payroll specialist on your staff. During your busiest months the payroll service will bill you for the services you use; during your slowest times the payroll service only charges you for the work you need.
  • Save time. If your human relations department isn?t spending valuable time maintaining payroll systems, they can focus time and resources on strategy and other critical activities that increase both the efficiency and productivity of your current staff.

Nearly 66% of independent contractors work full-time. In fact, they are such a big part of the American work force that 90% of firms use freelance or contracted employees. These non-permanent employees, however, require a different set of costly and time consuming payroll task. sLimiting your company payroll expenses to between 15% and 30% of the company gross income can help to keep your business in a good financial position. More importantly, limiting your exposure to payroll error is even more critical. Independent contractor misclassification can be a costly mistake with legal ramifications. Rather than risk a mistake with the various aspects of payroll, doesn’t it make sense to contract with a reputable and trusted workforce management service?

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