California Worker Classification: Independent Contractor or Employee?

In today’s workplace, employers regularly face decisions about how best to structure their working relationships. Sometimes a company prefers to contract out the work instead of hiring an employee, and many workers value the flexibility that independent contracting can offer. However, labeling a worker an independent contractor does not make them one, regardless of mutual preference or agreement.

And this mistake can be costly for employers. Last July, a company and its three subcontractors were cited more than $2 million for misclassifying 155 janitors as independent contractors — with $1.9 million in wages and penalties payable to the affected workers. Plus,