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IC job asking to work certain hours, legal? - Baffled

Posted: Jan 05, 2011

Hello all! I work full time for an IC company, meaning that they assign me certain accounts and doctors but I do my own taxes. We have this certain account which is a radiology account and on a different system than we use for all our other work, the PACS system for the radiology account. There are two of us assigned to this account and separate setup with one backup person. We are asked to work certain hours for this account as an IC, the morning person from 8-10 on all reports, then both of us from 10-3 on split reports types, then 3-5 on all reports for the other person who wasn't the morning person. My question is can this be legal for an IC company to tell you hours in which you must work and be responsible for work? I do not think they can but have never really pushed the issue. I have now been working for this company (probably less than 100 ICs) since January of 2008. On another note, I work in two different systems because of this and get paid a little over 6.5 cpl! I realize this is a small company but have asked for numerous raises since starting and got a small one only after being told when I was hired that I would "eventually" get a raise. Only a couple of us are set up and required to work on two systems in which the radiology account started on the same system but went to a different one with at first only two doctors and now over a dozen to work on and often more than one at once which can make the account very stressfull, especially with these "assigned" times we are asked to work. Is this even legal? I would like some input from anyone who knows the legal rules of IC workers in this regard, the assigned hours on this account. TIA!

yes, it is legal for them to specify hours - ICManiac

[ In Reply To ..]
Business contract for people to provide services all the time with hours specified. Example, IBM may hire IC computer programmerss to work at a particular location and work a particular shift.

I think the biggest thing to remember is that as an IC, the IRS expects you to act like an IC. If you are without a contract defining your relationship, you could be in trouble in the event of an IRS audit. The biggest reason services hire ICs rather than employees is because they cannot guarantee availability of work (to avoid paying you when there is no work) and to avoid paying for unemployment insurance.

The issue of low pay is between you and the company and not related to the IC issue. I will say that asking for a raise again gives you the appearance of acting as an employee, not an IC.

I pasted the definition of independent contractor from the IRS webiste:

Facts that provide evidence of the degree of control and independence fall into three categories:

Behavioral: Does the company control or have the right to control what the worker does and how the worker does his or her job?
Financial: Are the business aspects of the workerâ��s job controlled by the payer? (these include things like how worker is paid, whether expenses are reimbursed, who provides tools/supplies, etc.)
Type of Relationship: Are there written contracts or employee type benefits (i.e. pension plan, insurance, vacation pay, etc.)? Will the relationship continue and is the work performed a key aspect of the business?
Businesses must weigh all these factors when determining whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor. Some factors may indicate that the worker is an employee, while other factors indicate that the worker is an independent contractor. There is no â��magicâ�� or set number of factors that â��makesâ�� the worker an employee or an independent contractor, and no one factor stands alone in making this determination. Also, factors which are relevant in one situation may not be relevant in another.

The keys are to look at the entire relationship, consider the degree or extent of the right to direct and control, and finally, to document each of the factors used in coming up with the determination.
---end paste

I was audited by the IRS some years back during a year where I was an IC, an SE and an employee. The IRS was going to require my earnings as a SE be reported as an employee had I not been able to produce a contract stating the relationship between myself and the company. Because I had a contract, there was no problem.

Thank you for your reply. n/m - Baffled

[ In Reply To ..]
n/m

Yes, they can specify the hours they need - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
you to work as an IC. Just because you are an IC they are not required to give you work just because you want to work. They can tell you we need someone from XX to XX. Then you can decide whether you want to work those hours or not. They cannot "require" you to work when you can't, but then again you cannot "require" them to give you work when you are available.

Baffled, why not take a half hour to read up a bit, - Pragmatist

[ In Reply To ..]
just the federal regulations even, then your state if you wish. Yes, it's "legal" to hire contractors to work when needed; however, there are big gray areas in these practices, with lots of abuses, and many ICs are actually employees losing out big time on benefits.

It would be to YOUR benefit to know at least a bit more about this. Below is a quick link I dredged up as a jump-off point.

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