ms.aggie

innocentemployee

MommyDearest

MommyDearest

Another common tactic of corporate america: when the role a worker will be perfomring is truly an employee role (and not an indep contractor role), bring your workers on as temps--that way you won't get in trouble for misclassiying them as contractors!

And I just love that, as a result of Gov. Spitzer's task force (whose goal is to prevent mistreatment of vulnerable workers), Viacom eliminated the benefits and paid vacation it provided to non-employees, thus bringing mistreatment to vulnerable workers who had not ben previously victimized! Excellent!

But...one note to you indep contractors out there...I hear if you set up your own business organization (LLP, Inc., LLC, etc.), and the payments are made from your employer--I mean company you work for--to that bus org (LLP, etc.), you can avoid some taxes/penalties. Dunno exactly how this works under NY law, but I'm just sayin'...check with your lawyer and accountant friends...

MommyDearest

Maujer

Mediahohoho

KarenUhOh

1) The easiest tests are taxes and social security. If they're being taken out of your check, you're probably an employee, no matter what else you're told.

2) If you're given any benefits at all, score another point for employee.

3) If you are DIRECTED in your work--i.e., something beyond just completing one discrete assignment or particular job, something that happens day-to-day, across various areas of responsibility--employee.

Look for #s 1-3: they're indicia you're an employee.

Let's say they take out taxes, social security, you have some measly health plan and you get one day off every six months. But they call you an "independent contractor." If you signed an agreement that delineates what you do and don't get--well, that complicates it. You're a "contractor," maybe, although you still may be an employee. The boss is either dumb or evil, or both. You have to hire lawyer persons. Ick.

It is complicated, there are no easy answers, and it's why business gets away with so much. It's the U.S. version of lead pain on toys.

Another interesting story on this subject might be who treats their people well--are there any?--because nothing makes the trail boss nervous as much as the cattle heading off in another direction.

KarenUhOh

Not that I would drink it anyhow. I only drink coffee made from beans that have been passed through the digestion system of a feral cat. That's the real reason I'm bummed about those airport cats being evicted.

Itsjustcatnip

So, your so cool and happen to be an designer, drafter, or a similarly skilled worker you can work as an 'employee' but still be considered an independent contractor. Odd.

uraswedishfish

Hez

Also, yes. And Wookie is teh awesome.

DorothyMantooth

And STILL no pizza with LolCait?

Goodbye, Commenters!

In fact, the employee vs. contractor issue is not even limited to the IRS definition (i.e. W-2 vs. 1099). The nebulous definitions of both terms, including in federal law outside of the IRS standards, keeps both lobbyists and attorneys (like me) in business. It's certainly the very opposite of surprising that there should be a ton of confusion among lay people about this issue; the system is set up that way!

If you had something meaningful to add to help the folks that are confused and are feeling screwed by Viacom right now, I wish you would have said it. I don't see how calling out people for their understandable confusion is at all helpful.

DorothyMantooth

thank you to the few people who gave meaningful responses about this issue.

mattychicago

Lysergic Asset

Also, just go to the freelancers union for medical/dental. They're moving to Blue Shield and it's pretty decent. Yes you have to pay for it, but hey this is the freelance world, right? But you still have some power here. Since you are project to project, negotiate your rate to make up for the fact that you aren't getting paid holidays and will now be paying for your own benefits. You can do it! Stop thinking of yourself as an employee because they certainly have. Screw Viacom and their bottom line. Charge them what you're worth.

"F*** you, pay me." -Ray Liotta, Goodfellas

This protesting for an hour a day thing...not going to work. You have to be willing to walk away. Until all the freelancers are ready to do that, they aren't going to take you seriously.

oohthatgirl

Dwayne Provecho

Carol Gardens

Generally speaking, until the early 90's there were three classes of employees at most white-collar firms: Management, Full-Time Salaried Employees, and Hourly Employees. Management determined the benefits offerred and decided for itself what it got, what scraps it gave others, and who got squeezed when the squeezing got done. At some point they moved HR from a 'how do we keep employees and get work done' to 'how do we get work done as cheaply as possible' and one of the bright ideas was to create another class of workers.

See, workers had been getting uppity for a while and suddenly you were EXPECTED to provide basic benefits even for your hourly employees and pay those employment taxes. So, HR goons came up with "Consultants" and "Contract workers", meaning 'People who do either Salaried or Hourly Employee work, but whom we can call something other than employee and therefore justify all sorts of fun stuff.

Now, here's where it gets GOOD. Management hires their friends as Consultants, gets them to come in and suggest that they increase revenues and cut costs to improve profits - yes, make more money and spend less and you'll have more money - and suggests that they make all sorts of jobs 'contract worker' or 'consultant' roles. The more jobs reclassified the better the payout for the guys at the top and the more people who will lose a good job with benefits and take contract work to make ends meet. Pretty soon a good benefits package is the sort of thing only offered to Salaried folks as the Hourly folks get cowed with the threat - the ominous and EVER-PRESENT threat - that they're in jobs that can just as easily be reclassified as contract worker jobs. Meanwhile, we convinced everyone that simply because you were salaried meant that there was no such thing as overtime. Management pay went through the roof and everyone else paid the price.

So, you've been sold out. Cardboard signs and cleverness certainly ain't gonna do much against a pretty systemic fucking. Y'all might want to consider something a little more forceful when they come with the chains and whips.

skippywasserman

Hez

This sort of thing happens outside the media/entertainment bubble, too. Not to sound like I've just wandered over from Wonkette or anything, but US job figures are inflated because of shit like this - a company will turn one well-paid full-time staff job into two poorly-paid full- or part-time freelance jobs. The company's bottom line improves, but employees get screwed.

WendyKroy

nad1

if you camp out for awhile (past a small proj. or whatever) you should be banking cash if you set your fee right.

Freelancers are supposed to be expensive. this forces the employer to "shit or get off the pot". Hire the FL or let them go after the project dies. they're too expensive.

the scuttlebutt is that Viacom pays notoriously low, mostly because people WANT to work there. those that didn't walk out, probaly covered there ass when they agreed to their day rate etc.

those that didn't, are screwed. but they can't rightly be pissed at Viacom for selling themselves down the river.

QUEENCITY513

sorry, that link didn't work. Just go to WWW.IRS.GOV and enter "Independent Contractors vs. Employees" in the top right search bar. It will give you all you need to know.

FreeKitten

FreeKitten

Smitros

PimpMyCouch

preppylouche

In my experience academic employment manages to combine all of the worst features of capitalism (winner-take-all stars v. everybody else), socialism (inefficiency) and feudalism (having to suck up to the lords of higher rank) all at once.

Smitros

preppylouche

Goodbye, Commenters!

Goodbye, Commenters!

...have benfits...
...work at this workstation...
...have some pens...
...carry the one....
...factor in sick days...
...get rid of the remainder...
...and...I'm..... drunk.

Yup. I'm drunk.

LolCait

Goodbye, Commenters!

So why are some employees given cush benefits packages and others get next to nothing? Btw, I work a desk job as a web producer and I'm here every day working the same hours, my job has nothing to do with on-air production.

kmartshopper

PimpMyCouch

Goodbye, Commenters!

ljnd2

eastvillageidiot

mathnet

Conbon

nostfot

Goodbye, Commenters!

nostfot