Independent Contractor or Full-Time Employee Classification: Current DOL & IRS Requirements and FLSA Rules for Using Unpaid Interns

“Get it correct or pay the penalties” seems to be the message when it comes to classifying your workforce as either an independent contractor or a full-time employee. The Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service are both stepping up their enforcement efforts with random audits, and levying significant financial penalties when they find that a worker has been classified incorrectly. Even the states are getting into the act with new laws penalizing employers for misclassifying workers. Perhaps the first step in “getting it correct” is a self-audit of your workforce. The IRS publishes a 20-point list employers should consider when classifying workers and the DOL also has its independent contractor requirements. Also of note is that the DOL recently withdrew its Administrator’s Interpretation on misclassification, which may impact how the agency enforces the law. Based on all of this, there is no question that you need a better understanding of how to apply these factors to help you determine if your employees are truly independent contractors or are actually employees.

Please join Melissa Fleischer, attorney at law, as she takes you step-by-step through your own independent contractor self-audit to make sure that you have everyone classified correctly and are prepared with the documentation you need should your employer be selected for an audit.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

Just a sampling of what this webinar will cover:

• Understand the process you need to go through to properly classify workers as independent
• Learn how difficult it is to substantiate that workers are independent contractors.
• Discuss the mistakes that many employers have made when classifying workers as independent contractors who in fact should have been classified as “employees.”
• Understand the potential liability your organization could be subject to from improperly classifying workers as independent contractors.
• Review the IRS’s 20-point checklist and the DOL Economic Realities Test requirements. Consider what each point really means. Discuss which of the points are most relevant to your business.
• Discuss DOL and IRS “red flags.”
• Learn how to properly apply the IRS and DOL tests so you can ensure you have properly classified your employees.
• Understand how the withdrawal of the DOL’s Administrator’s Interpretation affects the classification process.
• Understand whether you can have volunteers without violating the FLSA.
• Learn the strict rules for having unpaid interns.
• Understand the mistakes employers make when using unpaid interns.
• Discuss the recent Second Circuit decision in the Black Swan case and how it changes the requirements for using unpaid interns without violating the FLSA.
• AND MUCH MORE!

YOUR CONFERENCE LEADER

Your conference leader for “Independent Contractor or Full-Time Employee Classification: Current DOL & IRS Requirements and FLSA Rules for Using Unpaid Interns” is Melissa Fleischer, attorney at law. Ms. Fleischer is a management-side employment attorney with 20 years of experience representing clients in employment law discrimination litigation as well as providing preventive counseling and training on workplace issues. HR Learning Center, LLC offers training seminars, webinars, and consulting on a wide range of workplace and human resources issues. She is also a frequent speaker on a wide range of employment law topics including: workplace investigations, anti-harassment training, FMLA and ADA training, workplace violence prevention, etc. Ms. Fleischer earned her J.D. degree from the George Washington University School of Law.