Can you be liable for employment discrimination against someone who’s not your employee? Sometimes. Title VII and the other aforementioned laws prohibit employers from discriminating. These laws loosely define employers as entities with a minimum number of employees, usually 15 or more (20 or more under the ADEA). If you meet that threshold, you are […]
What Do You Get When You Mix Independent Contractors and Non-Competes?
The short answer is…. well, there is no short answer. What? Do independent contractors and non-compete agreements mix or not? Maybe. Most often probably not, but sometimes yes. OK, that’s more double-talk than usual. What gives? When can and can’t a company compel an independent contractor to sign a binding non-compete without risk of […]
Can You Be Liable for an Independent Contractor’s Injuries?
The beauty of outsourcing work to independent contractors is that you get the benefit of the services and no responsibilities, except for timely payment, right? While you might need workers’ compensation insurance in case your employees are injured on the job, you have no such responsibility toward your independent contractors, right? If the independent contractor […]
Your Independent Contractor Messed Up — And Now You’re Liable????
If you own or run a business, chances are you have outsourced certain services to independent contractors–and, understandably, you rely on them to do the job well and exercise due care while doing it. Let’s assume for the moment that these particular workers are properly classified as independent contractors. If they mess up the work […]