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Brentwood Press - Index

Brentwood Press - BrentwoodPress_10.03.08 - Index

OCTOBER 3, 2008 COMMUNITY BRENTWOODPRESS.COM | 13A
Families
and Cub
Scouts
from
Oakley
Pack 152
helped
with the
recent
Marsh
Creek
cleanup.
Photo courtesy
of Carrie Melot
Marsh Creek cleanup
Some 30 Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts
and parents from Pack 152 in Oakley
participated in the recent Marsh Creek
Cleanup.
Among the objects they removed from
the creek at Creekside Park were seven car
tires, a scooter and lots of wooden planks.
The Scouts were about to head back in to
the cleanup station when wasps swarmed
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them and stung six of the group (who are
just fi ne now).
At Monday’s Pack 152 meeting, held
at Vintage Parkway Elementary School
and led by Cubmaster Gary Melot, Cub
scouts were awarded patches for their
community service, and a special award
went to everyone who endured a wasp
sting.
Visit our booth at the
Brentwood
Art, Wine & Jazz Festival
Oct. 11 &12
It’s a Matter of Law
By Barbara A. Frantz
IS THERE ANY RELIEF IN SIGHT?
Independent Contractors vs. Employees:
My last story: Brian owned a sales company that
sold tools to contractors. He was a bit confused
about how much deductions needed to be taken
out of each paycheck for his workers. So he called
them all independent contractors and told them
they were responsible for their own taxes. He
had happy workers. Their take-home paychecks
were higher than they had ever received from
other companies they worked for. A couple of
years went by, and John, one of the sales reps was
audited for not paying taxes.
The IRS determined that John as an independent
contractor had never paid a quarterly
estimate. He actually had not even prepared a
yearly return. He was penalized for not doing
either. The IRS sets its tax rates based on regular
payments. If you don’t pay them quarterly, you
have to pay a penalty.
The audit led the IRS agent to Brian’s facility,
in which he used the criteria found in my
free report (which you may request by email or
phone) and determined that Brian actually had
employees not independent contractors. Brian
was fined several hundred thousand dollars.
Strategy 5: If you are contacted by an
agency, have a plan of action in advance.
Brian called me immediately. He knew that
once the agency was involved, he was in trouble.
I was able to negotiate a significant reduction in
fines and help him to set up his staff correctly as
independent contractors. His plan included written
polices and procedures for hiring, training,
and terminating the relationships with the sales
reps. It also included staying out of the picture if
any agency did show up.
Strategy 6: Use your independent contractor
agreement to do more than just assure
that your new hire is treated as an independent
contractor.
Brian used my services to make sure that: his
proprietary information on potential clients was
safe from misuse by independent contractors who
might leave to set up their own business, there was
certain information that his workers would keep
to themselves, the money that he was paying his
workers would result in comprehensive data about
his potential customers, and his employees would
remain loyal over the long haul.
Don’t be lulled into thinking that your company
is too small to suffer the effects of wrongfully
designating workers as employees or independent
contractors. There are powerful ways to create
rich relationships with your workers, benefits for
both of you. You’ll be glad that you took the time
to set up your business correctly.
The information above is not a substitute for
seeking legal advice. Barbara Frantz, local resident
for 16 years, has 30 years of legal experience
offering proven solutions for business owners to
increase revenues and achieve their long range
goals. For a FREE special report on “Independent
Contractors versus Employees”, please call her at
925-516-1617 or email her at barbara@bfrantz.
com. Law Offices of Barbara A. Frantz
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