The creation of an employer-employee relationship imposes many obligations on the employer verifying authorization to work on the I-9 form, providing workers’ compensation insurance, paying payroll taxes, and on and on. Many businesses try to avoid those obligations by classifying some workers as independent contractors, or 1099 workers. Too frequently, such classifications are made without sufficient attention to the applicable legal standards, leading to possible liability for unpaid taxes, overtime and other obligations. The government agencies with an interest in the obligations that flow from the employer-employee relationship are always looking for violators from whom they can extract money owed and penalties.
