Contractors on Salary?

An anonymous reader asks: "I recently got a new job (yes I am one of the lucky few) as a contract programmer. In part of the contract negotiations, the company would not allow me to work on an hourly rate, but instead placed me on salary. I have run into problems in the past where I have had to work an absurd number of hours as a programmer, and am curious where to draw the line. Obviously it is not ok to just leave at the end of an 8 hour shift if there is still lots to be done, but what if the poor project management is not your fault, and heavy deadlines are coming up? Can the company legally make you work 10-16 hour days? I would consider myself new to the industry but not unexperienced. At the company I used to work at, I worked crazy hours and didn't know it was OK to say that the hours are too much. What do you all think?"

Comments

Wait, then ask.

[cybermace5]

You haven't even started working yet. Why are you concerned about working too many hours? You have no idea if your boss is a poor manager or not, and you have not yet been forced to work more than eight hours at this company.

No, no one will force you to work twelve hours a day. They can easily find someone else who will *willingly* do so, to feed their family and pay their debts.

Depends on your employment status

[GusherJizmac]

At my last job (and at most with salaried workers), the employees are what is called "exempt", meaning that their salary is not for "40 hours a week" but for "whatever work needs to be done", so they are legally justified in making you work whatever amount is necessary to get the job done. It would be up to you if you were willing to work that much and to quit if you didn't like it.

For contract work, I would guess it would be a bit different. You probably should negotiate both the expected number of hours and the expected calendar time for the project, because otherwise, they will work you as much as they can, and will claim contract breach if you don't work what they want.

And, don't trust HR. They are not on your side. Get everything in writing, and assume any nonwritten verbal agreement to not go in your favor if it comes down to it.

Being educated is 1000 times better than being in a union. This is your livelihood, so you have to take control of it and not let yourself get jerked around. Most employers are not "evil" and aren't out to screw you, but the will operate to their advantage (and why shouldn't they?), so be smart, informed and careful.

Salary (N.E.) Contractor?

[R2.0]

If you are being paid a salary, I don't think you are a contractor, at least according to the Feds. Are they going to take taxes out? If they treat you like an employee and pay you like one, then you are an employee.

I'd be careful

[ClosedSource]

It doesn't sound to me like you're really doing contract work. Do you have a contract with the company saying they're going to pay you X dollars a month for unlimited work? It sounds like the company has hired you as an employee but is pretending you're a contractor to avoid paying you benefits. The IRS may consider you an employee for tax purposes, I'd check into this with a tax accountant if I were you.

Salary, Hourly and Overtime

[Hungus]

As a former IT Director I am somewhat familiar with federal labor laws. It all depends on your salary range here is an exerpt from a labor site online:

" The federal salary level for professional employees remains at $170 per week, exclusive of board, lodging or other facilities; and the short test for professionals also uses a salary of just $250 per week. Computer professionals are treated somewhat differently, however. In 1990 the U.S. Congress passed legislation specifically to address the computer field. The exemption is applied only to "highly-skilled employees who have achieved a level of proficiency in the theoretical and practical application of a body of highly-specialized knowledge in computer systems analysis, programming, and software engineering." These computer professionals must receive a salary of at least $1,105 per week, which breaks down to an hourly wage of $27.35 for a 40-hour workweek; and is an annual salary of $57,460 - a far higher salary than most bona fide exempt EAPemployees receive in the human services field."

overtime

[mpest]

Like everyone else has said, it sounds like they hired you as an employee, as contractors usually are paid for the completion of work, not by the hour or salary. At any rate, any company over a certain size (I think it's over 50 employees here in PA) MUST pay overtime of one and a half times salary (1.5x) for all hours over 40 in a week. The company is probably trying to get around this by calling it's employees "contractors" (my company used to do the same). You already have a contract so don't be afraid to be pushy about it. Don't let yourself get screwed.

YOU ARE NOT A CONTRACTOR!

[Anonymous Coward]

You are their employee. An IT contractor has to jump through countless hoops to retain his independent status [Google on "Employee or Independent Contractor?"]. In this instance, you are no longer a contractor by any sense of IRS regulations, common law, or statutory law.

On the other hand, if you were a conniving little twerp, you could get these people in a hell of a lot of trouble with e.g. the Labor Department [not to mention the IRS] were you to so choose. Of course, to leverage that to your advantage, you'd have to commit blackmail...

IRS on Employee or contractor

[shoppa]

Employee or Contractor? IRS Guidelines

Here are the IRS guidelines used to determine whether or not an independent contractor truly is an: Employee or Contractor? Workers are generally considered employees if they:

1. Must comply with the employer's instructions about work.
2. Receive training from or at the direction of the employer.
3. Provide services that are integrated into the business.
4. Are aided by assistants who are hired, supervised and paid by the employer.
5. Have a continuing working relationship with the employer.
6. Must follow set hours of work.
7. Work full time for an employer.
8. Do their work on the employer's premises.
9. Must do their work in a sequence set by the employer.
10. Must submit regular reports to the employer.
11. Receive payments of regular amounts at set intervals.
12. Receive payments for business or traveling expenses.
13. Rely on the employer to furnish tools and materials.
14. Lack a major investment in the facilities or equipment used to perform the services.
15. Cannot make a profit or suffer a loss from their service.
16. Work for one employer at a time.
17. Do not offer their services to the general public.
18. Can be fired by the employer.
19. May quit work at any time without incurring liability.

Re:IRS on Employee or contractor

[shoppa]

IRS Form SS-8 is the official way to determine what you are. The "Quick 20 questions" isn't the official demarcation but they are closely related to the questions on the SS-8.

After the IRS has determined what the status is from the SS-8 you can stick to it or dispute it. Sometimes its nice just to know that they've made their decision one way or the other rather than sit in never-never land.