Florida May Close Your Business for Not Following This Law

Over the past few weeks, The Orlando Law Group has received multiple calls from business owners who have been subject to workers’ compensation investigations by Florida officials.

In each case, investigators walk into a business and ask to review all documentation as to how individuals are being compensated – to see if they are truly covered under workers’ compensation law or not.

At the heart of the issue is whether an individual is an independent contractor or an employee. Generally, an employer is not required to carry workers’ compensation for independent contractors.

What is happening, however, is that investigators are finding a significant lack of documentation as to an individual’s status and some businesses are threatened with shutting down the business until documentation on employment status can be provided.

That’s a position no business wants to be in, but it doesn’t have to happen when you have the proper documentation for independent contractors.

The Orlando Law Group can help review all the required documentation for independent contractors and employees to ensure you comply if a state investigator decides to review your business practices.

What is an Independent Contractor?

It is fairly easy to identify an employee of a business.

They get a regular paycheck.

They are told what they need to do in their job.

The company covers business expenses and provides employees with the tools they need to accomplish a job, like a computer and business cards.

Taxes are taken out of their paycheck and the individual may be eligible for employment benefits.

An independent contractor should be straightforward, yet many businesses confuse the line.

In a nutshell, a business using an independent contractor does not influence how the contractor performs a job, it cannot tell the contractor when they must work and certainly does not take out taxes or provide employment benefits.

Unfortunately, many businesses try to slide the rules a bit. They may provide a business card to an independent contractor or a list of potential sales customers to target. They may pay in cash or try to enforce hours.

All of that might get a company in trouble if they were investigated by state or even federal officials.

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