Q: With the IRS concerns about Independent Contractors versus employees, does LERN have any guidelines we can provide to Independent Contractors to help them understand what is expected? We use both Independent Contractors and employees, so we want to make sure we not treating them the same.
A: The issue regarding independent contractors is more dependent upon how YOU treat these workers than on their behavior. The most important aspect of the relationship deals with the independence from employer control of independent contractors. Having a letterhead, invoicing you for their work, working for others, being part time, and providing services to you as an adjunct to a regular, full-time job are not sufficient to establish the contractor relationship. The workers must be independent of employer control so that if you provide training, require reports, set criteria for performance, require attendance at meetings, specify time and place of work, provide equipment, etc. you may be found to have an unacceptable level of control over your workers. If the individual him or herself must provide the service--e.g., cannot assign the work to someone else, you may not be able to classify them as a contractor. The best source of authority on this question would be the legal advisors for your school district. I have enclosed some links that may be helpful to you.
https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/employee-or-independent-contractor-know-the-rules
http://media.lern.org/webinars/Safe-Havens.doc
http://media.lern.org/webinars/White-Paper.doc