The following is a fictitious scenario:
Guess Laud is working from home. His worn tennies are out front. Haha. Laud works for one of the behemoths in the insurance industry. Once he was too lazy to attack someone's errors when resolving a dispute. To pay a lot of money to settle a lawsuit is not expected. Rational people accept efforts to make amends and move on. When someone thinks a proposed settlement is not enough, let him justify the money he demands. If he's bent on revenge, he'll make mistakes. The court system records irrational behavior to set the appropriate amount.
The media highlights people who live double lives -married lawmaker on family matters committee boasting about lobbyist mistresses, doctor with $150K/month salary overdosing celebrity client, diligent lab technician murdering a co-worker. It's not education, family upbringing, or affluence that motivates people to cross the lines. Everyone is a mystery, changing at every meeting, transforming from kindness to hatred. There are assumptions from prior conduct, but memories do not define people in the moment.
These days, there is national trend towards companies taking advantaged of unemployed workers by engaging them as independent contractors rather than employees. Not only do workers miss out on benefits such as medical and 401(k) plans, they must pay additional taxes as a self-employed. For the companies, there are not only savings on benefits, but also payroll taxes.
Workers should be wary of companies that cross the line on misclassifying employees as independent contractors by reporting such conduct to the Department of Labor in their states. The Government Accountability Office in August 2009 issued a report titled "Employee Misclassification: Improved Coordination, Outreach, and Targeting Could Better Ensure Detection and Prevention." The Report focuses on misclassification enforcement by the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division during its targeted investigations, and encourages information sharing between the IRS and DOL and between the IRS and state agencies to protect workers and to increase tax revenues. For instance, the Illinois Department of Labor on December 10, 2009 announced that it had imposed a $328,500 civil penalty against a Chicago-area contractor, finding that the company misclassified 18 of its employees as independent contractors.
Legislative efforts like the Taxpayer Responsibility, Accountability and Consistency Act of 2009, seek to target misclassification by allowing individuals classified as independent contractors to petition the IRS for a determination of the propriety of their classification, increasing penalties for misclassification.
Struck by job loss, people may feel guilty about not being able to pay their debts, and take on any type of work. The Bankruptcy Code provides protection and as such acts as a bailout for consumers who are overburdened by debt and are not given a break from their creditors. Rinne Legal offers a FREE CONSULTATION on the bankruptcy process and financial planning.
