{"id":348,"date":"2015-09-02T16:54:37","date_gmt":"2015-09-02T16:54:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/amerilawyer-blog.local\/?p=348"},"modified":"2025-05-27T16:42:58","modified_gmt":"2025-05-27T20:42:58","slug":"employee-v-independent-contractor-whats-the-difference-and-why-does-it-matter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.amerilawyer.com\/blog\/business\/employee-v-independent-contractor-whats-the-difference-and-why-does-it-matter","title":{"rendered":"Employee v. Independent Contractor: What&#8217;s The Difference and Why Does It Matter?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>They are certain factors that go into determining whether one is an<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> <a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amerilawyer.com\/benefits_of_contractors.htm\" target=\"_blank\">independent contractor<\/a><\/span> or <span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"http:\/\/amerilawyer-blog.local\/business\/employee-intern-trainee-volunteer-which-should-you-choose\/\" target=\"_blank\">employee<\/a><\/span>, and it all depends on the level of control and independence within the employment relationship. You are not an independent contractor if you perform<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"http:\/\/amerilawyer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"> services<\/a> <\/span>that can be controlled by an employer. Some questions to consider in determining whether one is an independent contractor are as follows: 1) Does the company control or have the right to control what and how the worker does their job? 2) Are the business aspects of the worker&#8217;s job controlled by the company? 3) Are there written contracts or employee type benefits? 4) Is this job the worker&#8217;s sole source of income and will the work relationship continue?<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/amerilawyer.com\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-350  aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/amerilawyer-blog.local\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/which.jpg\" alt=\"Which\" width=\"348\" height=\"232\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.amerilawyer.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/which.jpg 507w, https:\/\/www.amerilawyer.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/which-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 348px) 100vw, 348px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Why is employment status important for you as an employer? A worker&#8217;s employment status affects an employer&#8217;s tax liability. When a worker is an employee, employers must pay state and federal<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> <a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amerilawyer.com\/newsletter\/050208\/employment_taxes.htm\" target=\"_blank\">unemployment tax<\/a>,<\/span> social security tax and workers compensation\/disability premiums. However, when a worker is an independent contractor, the hiring party is not required to make any of these payments. Should employers incorrectly define a worker as an independent contractor, they may find themselves liable for past taxes including income taxes, FICA, federal unemployment taxes, workers compensation insurance, interest and penalties.<\/p>\n<p>Don&#8217;t forget to consider these important factors next time you are hiring.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":null,"protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,72,6,49,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business","category-entrepreneur","category-legal-services","category-llc","category-taxes"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.8 (Yoast SEO v27.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Employee v. Independent Contractor<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"You are not an independent contractor if you perform services that can be controlled by an employer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amerilawyer.com\/blog\/business\/employee-v-independent-contractor-whats-the-difference-and-why-does-it-matter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Employee v. 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