Will the law ever change where staffing agencies can't hire people as independent contractors?

[curran]

Most staffing agencies obtain contracts with various companies to provide personnel on a short-term basis. These staffing companies hire individuals as independent contractors. The problem is that these individuals may have no intention of indicating a sole proprietor status. They are also paid the same, possibly a bit more, as an company-employed person performing the same work. Yet because they are an independent contractor they must pay self-employment tax.

I would like to see the law change to force staffing agencies to have to pay that tax. If an individual does not inherently declare their actions to create a private company, then they should be considered a person employed by the staffing agency.

[demarco]

is this a question or an editorial?

you obviously don't understand the laws that are already in place, an employer (any employer) can not just decide to use ICs instead of employees, the work relationship dictates which they use based on the law, and the definition of employer, employee, work hours, etcetera....


most temp agencies do have employees they do NOT use independent contractors. as an employee of the temp agency you are protected like any other employee in any other business, in some cases you are better protected because as a temp employee you are considered co-employed by the agency and their client when it comes to laws that are based on the number of employees such as FMLA, COBRA, Title VII, etcetera.....