Legal Question in Employment Law in Florida

On 4/6/2010 I signed a 1099 with a company to work for $16 an hour (the pay rate was a verbal agreement).

On 4/12/2010 I signed a W2 to work full-time for $13.50 an hour (the pay rate was a verbal agreement).

On 4/20/2010 I was informed that I'd been moved back to 1099 (although no further paperwork was provided). I was also told that they originally intended to pay me $13.50 for the days I'd worked technically at $16 an hour (retroactively applied from when I signed the W3 somehow??) and that the move back was actually beneficial to me.

My question is, I feel as if I've been manipulated by the company. Signing the documents to work as a full-time employee and then less than a week later being informed I'd been reverted back to a contract worker is shady business, in my opinion. I'm also under the impression that is possibly falls under "treating contract workers as full time employees", since technically, for 8 days, I was a full-time employee, now somehow I've been retroactively considered a contract employee once again.

The fact that they originally intended to pay me the lesser amount for the original hours I'd already worked without my consent to getting a deduction in pay for that time-frame should give you an idea of what kind of mind-set the company has. I'm guessing it is cheaper for them to have me work as a contractor at $16 an hour than bring me on full-time at $13.50. I'm also aware that my original contract project has come to an early finish and might be grounds for them switching me back to contract rather than full-time... as it makes it easier for them to discard me once they've fully used/abused me.

Any help or advice is greatly appreciated.


Asked on 4/20/10, 8:24 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Scott Behren Behren Law Firm

I have a posting on my employee rights blog about misclassification of employees by employers and 1099's. Take a look at www.takethisjobnshoveitblog.com. If you have questions, drop me a line.

Scott Behren

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Answered on 4/25/10, 9:18 pm


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