The modern economy isn’t monolithic by any account. Private contractors, full-time and part-time employees, gig workers, and freelancers are flooding the scene and employers have many options as to who they pay to do work for their business. There are pros and cons of working with individuals that aren’t your employees. For some businesses, though, it just makes sense not to sign onto bringing someone on to do a job as an employee when you can hire another person by the hour for specific needs you have when they arise. 

The current landscape in terms of staffing provides extensive flexibility and freedoms for both workers and employers. Some companies in California use both employees as well as other types of service providers. This is a common plan used across the nation. If you are an employer that hires only some employees or exclusively works with employees in your company, it is important that you understand what protections these individuals have under the employment laws in the state of California as well as federally.

What Type of Protections Are Employees Entitled To?

Understanding the responsibilities you have to contractors and freelancers versus your employees can be complicated. The Leiva Law Firm is a group of professional, competent, and knowledgeable California business attorneys that can assist you with figuring out what you need to do with respect to the type of people you invite to work for your business.

Employees are much different than other service providers and they have very specific rights under both state and federal law. There are protections that they are entitled to and that employers must abide by including:

• There are mandated minimum wage amounts
• There are regulations with regard to who is entitled to overtime pay for extra work
• When accidents happen at work, employees are eligible for workers’ compensation in California and business owners will need to have the insurance coverage to provide them with benefits.
• Employees cannot be discriminated against or harassed at work.
• The ability to gain healthcare benefits is important.
• Providing employees with unemployment benefits is necessary.
• Whistleblowers should be allowed to speak their truth without intimidation or retribution and they must be protected.
• Individuals who start a family have the right to take time off when babies are born under the Family and Medical Act. While they are out under the act their jobs must be held.

In contrast, other workers that are hired for work by a business are not given these provisions and protections under the law. Oftentimes, depending on the nature of a  business, it makes sense to instead of using employees or staffing all functions with employees, using these other workers to fill positions makes sense. Freelancers and the like can prove to be more efficient, come at a lower cost, and have less hassle.

Speak with a California Business Attorney Today

Even when it looks like your California business would benefit the most from freelance and contract workers it is important that the workers you hire fall under the guidelines showing that they are not considered employees. In California, the factors that make a worker an employee versus a freelancer have been changed to make classifying someone as something other than an employee quite difficult. Don’t take the risk of sorting your people out into categories until you speak with a Los Angeles business attorney at the Leiva Law group who is well-informed on California employment laws during a free consultation. Call today at (818) 519-4465 so you can learn how to save the most money working with other parties while doing so legally.