Small Business Labs

FedEx Contractor Classification Law Suit Update

Workforce Management has a good update on the various legal skirmishes going on related to the worker classification suit the IRS has filed against Federal Express.  Their description of the issue:

"Companies can create a more flexible workforce through the use of contractors, in addition to being able to avoid paying employment taxes. But worker advocates argue that such arrangements often amount to shams that let companies shirk both taxes and their responsibilities to workers who actually are employees under the law."

What is missing from this description is that a growing number of people want to be contractors.  They are seeking the flexibility and work/life balance advantages contract work brings.  Many also believe their contract wage rate more than makes up for lost benefits, and that being independent is actually more secure these days than working for a company.

We've posted in more detail on this issue in the past. 

Elance Survey on Outsourcing Every Day Tasks

Elance - the online marketplace that helps small businesses easily and efficiently hire freelance talent - sponsored a survey by Harris Interactive looking at personal service outsourcing.  The survey found the majority of Americans would gladly outsource a wide variety of tasks.  Key quote from the press release via Reuters:

"the majority of U.S. adults dread, and would happily outsource, a wide variety of tasks (64 percent). More than 70 percent also said that hiring a virtual assistant would give them more time or reduce stress in their lives.  Most U.S. adults (75 percent) also believe that personal assistants are not just for celebrities."

Small businesses are increasingly looking to outsourcing - both big tasks and little tasks.  Outsourcing is quicker, provides organizational flexible, and is often cheaper than hiring full time staff. Like many buisness trends, outsourcing started with large organizations but is now becoming a viable option for small businesses. 

For more on this see the Small Business Trends post on this topic.