n LAW
weekends when she needs to. Both the manager and the cli-
The tougher rule on contractors could pose a challenge
ent think she deserves to be salaried since she’s “the kind of
in today’s economy in which gig workers provide much of
worker who wants to get the job done without tracking time,” the fuel powering new companies. In the past, startups
Arsich explains. The office manager wants to be salaried — without much money used contractors to both ramp up
she thinks there’s prestige in being exempt. But none of that production during their launch and to evaluate who would
is relevant to what the law requires, says Arsich.
make a good fit as permanent hires, Stevenson says. A
For others, it’s willful blindness. Some of those who
recent survey of 700 companies shows how important con-
contact Stevenson tell her they don’t care what the law says
tractors have been: 45 percent of company executives said
— they’re going to continue doing business as they have. Oth- they expected their companies’ demand for independent
ers say they can’t be profitable if they have to stay within the
contractors to grow in the following five years.
legal confines. “Until they feel the pinch, they’re going to
Given that reality, new companies should make full
continue to do what they’re doing,” Stevenson says.
use of the f lexibility they have in hiring employees. Arsich
Getting caught misclassifying someone as exempt inst