Being a business owner means that one has to make a lot of difficult decisions. Knowing what is best for one’s company in the long run is not always easy. One thing that company owners in Georgia and elsewhere have to consider when business planning is how they will classify their employees. Failing to properly classify one’s employees can cause significant issues down the line.
The importance of employment classification has come front and center in a recent federal lawsuit filed against United Van Lines. This case was filed in another state by a man who has worked for the company for over a decade. He claims that he was classified as an independent contractor rather than a full-time employee. With this status, United Van Lines was able to avoid paying him overtime and was even allowed to force him to pay many job-related expenses out of his own funds.
According to the plaintiff’s complaint, he worked many 16 hour days, and his average pay ended up being less than minimum wage. He is now seeking compensation for all the money he has lost over the years because of how his job status was classified. This case has been filed at class action status. It is unknown if any other current or former employees of United Van Lines have come forward to join in on the lawsuit. If the plaintiff wins his case, this could cost the company a good chunk of change.
At the end of the day, employee classification matters. Business owners in Georgia must consider both the positive and negatives of the different classification statuses in order to determine how they will hire and pay their staff. Making the wrong choice could have severe financial consequences. An experienced attorney can assist company owners make this and many other important decisions when going through the business planning process.
Source: stlrecord.com, “Delivery truck driver alleges United Van Lines misclassified employee status“, Noddy A. Fernandez, June 11, 2017