Labour- dependent contractor? Contractor? Employee? HELP!

I'm going to qualify a bit over ringing the alarm over their payroll habits. It is possible you are in a one-off situation with them... and being late with you may be more a consequence of crisis management. [IE, there is only one of you, and they dont get around to you, etc.]

But it sounds like they have some regular hourly employees- even if they pay them as contractors too. If people have routine work hours, and there is a pay period, and they are late paying those folks too- that is an unequivocally bad sign.

munchie wrote:

I have been given a "promotion" and have people working under me, but they are people that were hired by the company, not by me. I am made to follow their codes and do not negotiate each contract. They simply send me work with no negotiation.

I feel that to a certain extent they are attempting to cover their asses by having us as contractors, since they are a relatively small business and might not have a lot of money and they are less accountable to us this way.

They have you as contractors because it saves them payroll taxes- like 7% of your wages for their share, plus workers comp. [Which is even more illegal for them to avoid, but typically not enforced unless there is an accident.]

The promotion, being under their direction, and directing others all make you an employee. When you were working at home that does not necessarily make you a contractor in Revenue Canada's eyes. If from home you were directing other people that they hire and fire, you were an employee then as much as when you were in the office.

Not to mention that if Revenue Canada did audit them, the very fact that they called you an employee without your job changing would in itself deem you to have always been an employee.

Are you aware that as a self-employed person you owe 10% of your pay for CPP? If you arent declaring the income you dont want to be talking about that here, but thats another exploitation trap. You get used to and dependent on not paying taxes, and your employer is the actual beneficiary.... because they can pay you less knowing that is the norm. You are the one taking the risk [if you get caught, you'll get the shaft, and they'll get a wrist slap.... if Revenue Canada can even get money out of them], you arent eligible for EI, and nothing is going into your CPP.

Not directly in response to your question but this situation does raise a red flag for me in the unfortunate event that you ever get hurt at work.

If your employer says you are an independent contractor AND you're not declaring income (if that is the case), you would have severe difficulty ever successfully claiming workers' comp. This is a huge problem when there are catastrophic injuries that eliminate workers ability to work in their trade, or in heavy labour, or at all. The problem goes away to a large extent when there is declared income from only or at least primarily one source. That`s likely the only way you would ever be able to get Compensation to apply their industry organizational test, ie to challenge the employer`s assertion that you were essentially self-employed. If you have declared earnings -- at least to some reasonable extent -- you can always go back later and refile your taxes, if a major injury occurs, and eat the penalties out of your increased compensation proceeds. Not to be alarmist too but in my experience these situations almost always involve high risk occupations -- that`s a big reason why these employers don`t want regular employees, due to the high cost of workers comp in these rate groups.

NB this is strictly a workers' comp lens however -- I cant comment on how declaring earnings as a contractor might impact on other potentially huge issues, such as civil or criminal liability for injuries to others that may occur on your job site... also, workers comp in BC I believe pays a lot less than it does here in Ontario, so it might not be worthwhile to you in any case.

Itès a question of how much compensation is actually ever paid out to injured workers. I donèt have the numbers but from what I have heard, after years of rabid right-wing partisan OIC appointments, BC employers WC exposure is exponentially lower than it is in Ontario. A friend of mine who is a lawyer in the field recently moved here because there is simply no work in BC -- employers no longer even bother to hire counsel for WC -- whereas here, on the workers side we are not infrequently up against the most costly Bay St firms.

munchie wrote:

I am at my wits end and can't seem to track down any useful information. Although I found a thread on this site that was years old that seemed somewhat helpful. Please help!

I am working for a company. I was "Hired" as a "contractor". I responded to a help wanted ad, was trained to follow their policies and to do the job that they had created and was given a title at this company. After a few months I was invited to be hired as an employee and moved from working at home to working in the office. My job essentially didn't change at all, I just did it in an office they owned instead of from my house. Then after a month or two, they decided that they were closing the office and that I had to go back to working as a "contractor" (ie from home with no rights). 

I am an 'expert' in this area. As an employer of both employees and contractors, I can confirm that you are an employee, not a contractor. The 'contract' you signed is meaningless.

As an employee, you are entitled to EI  and CPP contributions from your employer federally and holiday pay, stat hols and workers compensation coverage at no cost to you.

Any wages paid to you are considered net of deductions by CRA and your employer is liable for remittance of all deductions for federal tax, provincial tax, employment insurance and CPP (both worker and employer contributions for EI and CPP).

YOU are completely covered. The onus is on your employer to meet the contractor threshold with CRA and you do not meet that threshold. Not even close. If the employer gives you a hard time, simply apply for EI and the CRA will deal with it.