Robin's Ruminations

A WSPSA member was kind enough to forward along the attached pdf document.  The company he works for is currently under audit by L&I.  One of his IC's said he received the questionnaire from L&I.  It was quickly determined all of their IC's had received the same questionnaire.  

We already know the IC business model is under close scrutiny at both the state and national levels.  We've been told (more than once) that government (L&I and Employment Security) doesn't think process servers will qualify as IC's under the six part test.  

If you're using the IC business model you should examine the questionnaire closely.  Ask yourself how your IC's will answer the questions.  And note that some of the questions are leading in nature.  

You're going to need to look at how you operate very closely.  Take a very close look at your IC contract (you are using a contract aren't you???).  You may need to change the language in order to account for some of the items brought out in the questionnaire.  

Even though I don't use it at 4th Corner, I am still of the opinion the IC business model makes a lot of sense for our industry.  But it will only work for you if you follow the rules to the letter.  Don't attempt to short cut things.  If you do you're setting yourself up for a big fine from L&I or Employment Security.

If your IC's begin receiving this type of questionnaire I recommend you do not attempt to influence their answers in any way.  Also, don't suggest they don't fill it out.  Think about it for a moment.  How do you think the auditors will classify a worker who doesn't complete and return it?  Pretty obvious those workers will be classified as employees by default.

Here's a link to the document.

L&I Independent Contractor Questionaire.pdf