QUESTION
Do I have rights as a Contingent Worker?
Asked on Aug 28th, 2013 on Labor and Employment - Virginia
More details to this question:
I have been working for a large Telecommunications Company as a contingent worker for over 8 years doing the same job and have worked under 3 different managers in the same department. Once again our group is being reorganized and I will be changed over to another manager (4th) in my 8 years. Lots of talk that I will be let go because the new manager wants to change things up. I feel that even though I was hired as a contingent worker I work directly with management, do the same job daily/month/yearly, do employees work when needed, I attend staff meeting and other meeting just like an employee and the only contact I have with the staffing company is to turn in my time and they pay me. Other than that I deal totally with the company I contract for. Do I have any rights to get compensation if let go after so many years. I'm told they can just tell me to leave and not come back.
1 ANSWER
“Permanent temps” are not forbidden by Virginia law and are subject to the employment at will doctrine—just like full-time employees. If you don’t have an employment contract, you can be fired at any time for any reason or no reason, so long as it’s not an illegal reason (usually, discrimination based on race, gender, religion, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, or military status). You can be assigned to a new manager every day; Virginia law doesn’t interfere with a company’s poor management practices, so long as they aren’t illegal for some other reason. You arguably have the right to “reasonable notice” before you are terminated, but that’s about it.
Issues do arise when companies treat permanent temps as “independent contractors” for tax and overtime purposes. If you get a 1099 tax form at the end of the year but spend all day at the company’s offices, work on their computers, and do work that their permanent employees do, you probably should be classified as an employee. That means you don’t pay the “self-employment tax” and may be entitled to overtime, instead of straight time, for each hour you work over 40 in a given week.
Answered on Sep 03rd, 2013 at 8:43 AM