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Top Five Questions for Determining Independent Contractor Status

Would you know what to do if your employer told you that from now on you’d be working as an independent contractor? Nothing about your job description or your job duties would change. The only major difference would be that you are no longer entitled to overtime and your employer would no longer be withholding employment taxes from your paycheck.

As a Houston service technician who is used to working long, hard hours, you are probably pretty upset about the change in overtime pay, especially since you will still have to continue working more than 40 hours a week.

So what are you to do?
Won’t you be fired for speaking up and asking why this new situation seems so unfair? The best thing for you to do is to know what your rights are under the Fair Labor Standards Act and as outlined by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Here are the top five questions to ask yourself when determining if you can (or should) be considered an independent contractor:

1. Who is giving me instruction in my job? If I must comply with what my boss says on how much I will be paid, when I have to show up to work, and when I can leave, I should not be considered an independent contractor. 
2. Who pays my right-hand man? If the company pays the assistant who comes with me on my service runs, I should probably be considered an employee, too. 
3. Am I paid by the hour or by the job? Typically an independent contractor is paid at the completion of a job, not by the hour. 
4. Does my company provide me with the tools to complete my job? If I am driving the company car, using the company’s equipment, then I might not be an independent contractor. 
5. Do I have a long-standing relationship with this company? I have been with my employer for many years and have no intention of leaving to work for someone else, which could raise a red flag that I am being misclassified.

Want to learn additional questions to ask if you feel you are being misclassified as a service technician? Call the Houston fair overtime lawyers at Kennedy Hodges for your free case evaluation at 888.449.2068. You can also receive a free copy of their book, The 10 Biggest Mistakes That Can Hurt Your Wage and Overtime Claim, by filling out our online form.