Independent Contractor Agreements and Disagreements
Posted on | August 18, 2008 | No Comments
I’ve been trying to recall all the independent contractors that I’ve had business dealings with this year. I can remember a plumber, auto mechanic, lawn guy, appliance repair man, small engine mechanic, air condition and heating mechanic and a general contractor. There’s probably a few I couldn’t think of but that’s enough for this discussion.
I did not require any of these people to sign an independent contractor agreement. Maybe I should have. Who knows? The lawn guy may one day claim to be an employee but I’m sure the plumbers won’t – $1600 for about 8 hours of work!
I did not ask any of these contractors:
- how many years you been in business
- what licenses do you have
- how many employees you got
- how many mechanics you got on the payroll
- do you have a maintenance crew
- how many trucks you got
- tell me about your workman’s comp
- who else works for you besides employees
- do you work for any of my neighbors
- do you work for any of your neighbors
- who do you work for that I haven’t asked you about
I suspect that if I had asked these contractors to supply me with all of that stuff, I would still be looking for people to get the work done! Not only that, I’m pretty sure too that they would have labeled be as a real fruit cake. One curious thing I would like to point out; I didn’t even ask any of them if they actually knew how to do the job I called them for.
However, when you and I go into the mortgage field services business, some companies have absolutely no problem asking us to supply them with all of this information.
I have to ask: “Why?” I suspect it’s because too many of us have been letting them get away with it for too long. Pulling a few phrases out of some other federal requirements, maybe we, as independent contractors, should inquire about the asking company’s “security plan to protect the confidentiality and integrity of personal information”.
A sensible return to reality would be a good thing in this business. Independent contractors certainly have the right to question the motives behind and the intended use for this type of information. I think we deserve an explanation. Do you?
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