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Hiring Independent Contractors + Sending Them to Client's Homes

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J

joshlevin11

Guest
What is the name of your state?
Massachusetts

Hello,
I'm launching a service start-up that will send experts to people's homes. It's an LLC, and I'm assuming the experts will be independent contractors. They will each be working about 4-12 hours per week. I'll have only one full-time employee, and I'm thinking of starting her as an independent contractor as well in order to reduce paperwork. From these things, the following questions arise:

-Can Independent Contractors receive bonuses?
-Can Independent Contractors be paid by the hour?
-Can Independent Contractors be paid for travel time?
-Can Independent Contractors receive health care insurance from the company?
-In the non-compete agreement I have my experts sign, can I write in a monetary penalty for competition? - e.g. "Said contractor will owe $100,000 in punitive damages competitive contracting is proven in a court of law."
-Bonus Question in the insurance field:
What do we need to be protected from lawsuit from both the independent contractors and the clients? Do the independent contractors need liability insurance? Do they need professional liability insurance? Who should provide these things, the company or the independent contractors individually? Can we have them just sign a “work at your own risk” agreement for now? If so, how do we still protect ourselves from the clients?
I will be very thankful to anyone who can answer any of these questions,
cheers,
Joshua
 


W

willingtocope

Guest
Some problems...

There are a lot of problems in what you're proposing. The IRS has a set of 19 or 20 questions that are intended to determine is someone is an independent contract or should really be classified as a W-2 employee. Paying for benefits is one of the no-no's.

Non-compete agreements are also sticky.

You're going to need a good employment lawyer to look over your entire plan.

If you'd like to talk about this in private, send me a private message with your email address. I've got some suggestions on how it might work.
 

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