Buyers Uncertain About Compliance

This could be an opportunity for staffing firms

Question:

You hear a lot about independent contractor misclassification. Exactly how big an issue is this for buyers and what are the opportunities for staffing firms?

Answer:

We surveyed buyers asking what percent of their workers were properly classified. Incredibly, about a quarter of them said they had no idea whether their workers were properly classified; another 62 percent said that at least some of their workers were probably misclassified; and only 13 percent were confident that all their independent contractors were within the law.

Additionally, 40 percent of buyers reported that their independent contractor pools have audited by an outside agency — typically by the IRS — within the last six months. So the risk for them is high.

Buyers’ uncertainty over whether their workers are properly classified represents a big opportunity for staffing firms to provide independent contractor compliance services. Also, this risk makes a good case for the use of temporary staffing, which is already within the law.

Editors at SI Review

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