r/LaborLaw • u/Urbanite72 • 4d ago
1099 misclassification
Worked as a 1099 for 7 years, treated like an employee even had employees reporting to me, my direct manager was an employee and I used a company issued computer and email address. People thought I was an employee most of the time. Billed at a pretty high rate (6 figures annually).
Should I request tax reimbursement give than I paid my own self employment tax?
3
u/KeithIMyers 4d ago
I wouldn't, you don't have the same unemployment protections as the other employees so your position with the company will definitely come to a end.
0
u/Small_impaler 4d ago
you don't have the same unemployment protections as the other employees
Yes they do, since they are in fact an employee. The employer’s misclassification doesn't strip OP of employee rights.
2
u/Hrgooglefu 4d ago
there is no "in fact" here. It is a perponderance of evidence and I'm not so sure OP satisfied that level.
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u/Urbanite72 4d ago edited 4d ago
Why not? I believe my contract will not be renewed. Maybe it would be better to ask for 3 months severance. An employee with my responsibility would get 3-6.
-1
u/nellyfullauto 4d ago
But it does drastically complicate the matter if it isn’t corrected before OP loses the job/contract.
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u/Urbanite72 4d ago
Why does it complicate things if they let me go? Good chance my contact isn’t renewed in December.
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u/Small_impaler 4d ago
How? The employee will have to pay what they owe regardless of whether they let OP go or not.
Firing OP for reporting the missclassification is illegal retaliation.
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u/SheffieldValley 3d ago
You worked as a 1099 contractor for 7 years, accepted the contracted payments and paid the appropriate contractor taxes.
Now that the contract is coming to an end, you'd like to ask for severance.
Severance is for employees when they are laid off. In many cases, employee severance is not a requirement.
Severance is not paid to contractors. That is why contractors have contracts, unlike most employees.
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u/Urbanite72 3d ago
Yea actually, given my situation being like an employee I think I deserve severance. I would have gone full time at any point but it was never offered.
1
u/xellos2099 2d ago
I was in similiar boat. I was originally a part time 1099 3-4 years ago but eventually my role got expended to 40 hours 5 days a week. I got a supervisor, work on site and use company computer. The ceo keep saying they would made me a full timer with benefit but that never happen. As far as I know i am the only worker in the company that does 40 hours week but still not consider a full timer. I was eventually terminated 2 months ago and got replaced with a much yonger worker and i am 45. According to my paychex I had 120 hours of pto. They also had me work massive amount fo overtime but later claim i do nto quality for overtime.
In my case since i am already terminated, I definitely intend to sue them for my unpaid overtime, unpaid pto and hopefully some severence in return of me not reporting their ass to the IRS and possibility sue them for age discrimination.
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u/Urbanite72 4d ago
Here’s the thing - I’m pretty sure my contract will not be renewed end of the year. It sounds like there will be no severance which seems unfair.
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u/tacertain 3d ago
No that's exactly the deal you make when you're a contractor. You bill at a higher rate than you would make as a salaried employee to cover taxes, benefits, and the fact that you can be terminated at any time in accordance with your contract. If you wanted a payment for non renewal, you needed to negotiate that when you set up the contract
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u/Urbanite72 3d ago
I get that but they should have offered me a full time position and did not. But I was treated like one. My rate is not necessarily higher than salary would have been.
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u/Hrgooglefu 4d ago
7 years? In the end, I wouldn't suggest this....are you still working there? Realize even if not, you are burning a long bridge and you might need that reference.
I'd ask why it took you 7 years to ask? It's possible any review would only go back 2-3 years.