contvsemp2Is it better to be an independent contractor or an employee? For a small business owner (SBO), the question mostly is, how to determine what business relationship exists between the person providing the services & the SBO; and if that relationship is that of an independent contractor or an employee.

So how is that determination made?

Common Law Rules fall into 3 categories. Behavioral: Does the company have the right to control what the worker does & how he does it?; Financial: Are the business aspects of the worker’s job controlled by the payer?; And the Type of Relationship: Are there written contracts or employee type benefits?

•The general rule of thumb is that one is an independent contractor if the payer (of the fees) has the right to control or direct only the result of the work and not what will be done and how it will be done.

•Hence you are not an independent contractor if you perform services that can be controlled by an employer (what will be done & how it will be done). You may have freedom of action but the employer has the legal right to the details of how the services will be performed.

An independent contractor is considered self-employed and employee is not. Read More