| sean finney on 7 Dec 2005 17:46:52 -0000 |
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hi mike, chris, having recently been through the self-employment game, i thought i'd throw something in here: On Wed, Dec 07, 2005 at 11:58:18AM -0500, Mike Ciul wrote: > When I talked to other computer workers, they seemed unsurprised - but > after my wife looked into the situation, this appears to be illegal - > contractors are supposed to advertise and the clients are supposed to > come to them. They are paid by the job, not by the hour. i think such a practice is becoming more and more common-place, and in this case i would call it unquestionably sketchy motives. there are also circumstances where it's not such a bad thing. from my experiece, here are some things to keep an eye out for as the self-employed/independant contractor: - whenever possible, you should set the rate. rate, not wage. the rate should include not only what you feel you should be paid, but also expected overhead from what "the man" will want from your 1099-misc, accounting costs, etc. if you do not set the rate, and it doesn't iyho include such costs, walk away and save yourself the pain. - the task should be finite in duration and scope in most cases. this isn't set in stone, as you may find an agreeable ongoing relationship.. but i would definitely be wary of doing so for new clients. - how are others at the organization (especially those doing similar tasks, if they exist) paid/hired? - how do similar organizations pay/hire for similar positions? - who's calling the shots? do you have a "boss", or are you your own boss, and "providing services" for a client? a good example: you are probably not your plumber's boss. if you had a secretary, you would be your secretary's boss. > I have a feeling a lot of people are getting screwed this way. Before > you consider self employment, I would suggest seriously considering the > costs and the risks. and factor them into the rates :) seriously though... i don't know how long ago this was, but you might want to consider your options if you haven't paid taxes on that income yet. you can complain to the government that you should have been paid as an employee (w2/w4 with ss etc paid by employer, instead of 1099-misc), and you have a good chance that your former employer will be expected to pay the costs related to ss/medicare/etc. this doesn't come from direct experience, but from scary stories given to me by my company's accountant. but ianal, and ia definitely n an accountant :) sean Attachment:
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