Steps
- Determine whether the employer supervises employees and if the supervision on or offsite
- If supervision is offsite, determine how it is maintained. E.g. site visits by employees.
- Determine whether employer provides tools required for employees to perform their duties.
- Determine whether the work product of the employee evaluated by the employer, for example, through performance review.
Should employers concern themselves with how the Department of Labor or Internal Revenue Service classifies employees?
Yes, employers should be concerned about how the internal revenue service classifies employees. This is because laws are constantly changed, and if they do not check with the internal revenue service often, they can run into legal trouble without the necessary knowledge on it. This makes it very important for employers to classify their employees in line with classifications from the internal revenue service, especially when it comes to matters of taxation. The internal revenue service has become vigilant after a survey exposed that the government has been losing over 14 billion dollars in taxes due to wrongful classification of employees by employers. They have decided to carry out an audit on all firms operating in the USA both large and small.
This illustrates how significant it is for employers to harmonize their classifications of employees with those of the internal revenue service.
Biggest challenge in classifying employees
The biggest challenge in classifying employees is putting them in different wage categories. This is especially topical when employees have similar levels of qualification, and their experience is the only feature that sets them apart. This poses a headache for employers when deciding on their classification in terms of wages. It is difficult to put a price on experience.
Common ways of discrimination during recruitment
- Discrimination based on disability. A person with a disability may be hired, and preferred to a person without disability due to statutory requirements by the government (Walsh, 2007).
- Discrimination based on sex. An employer may hire more male than female employees because of the nature of the job e.g. construction work.
- Discrimination based on race. The government may instruct employers to hire more people from a certain race that is considered marginalized in a society.
- Discrimination based status as a fixed term employee or a part time employee. The employer may discriminate against workers looking for permanent jobs if they are offering part time ones.
Claims that can be brought against employees and their basis
Wrongful termination claim. This occurs when an employer has fired an employee for reasons seen to be unlawful from the juridical point of view. This can be manifested in times when an employer fires an employee without going through the channels prescribed by the contract between the two parties. In this case, the employee can litigate the employer for wrongful termination. The employee can avoid this by making sure they go through all the provisions in their contracts with employees before terminating them to avoid unnecessary lawsuits.
Retaliation claims. This occurs when an employee makes a complaint with a government agency about not being paid for five months. Once the employer finds out about this complaint, they retaliate by victimizing the employee by firing them or mistreating them. The employee can then seek legal redress in the form of a retaliation claim and may seek compensation. The employer can avoid this claim by creating a friendly environment such that employees can make complaints directly with them. If for the employer finds out that an employee raised a complaint with an external agency, they should try to reach an amicable solution instead of victimizing an employee.
Reference
Walsh, D. J. (2007). Employment Law for Human Resource. Stamford: Cengage Learning.