Independent contractors serve our community | Guest Column

These days, for small-business owners like me, access to independent contractors can sometimes serve as a lifeline to stay afloat. At other times, they are essential for continued growth.

In either case, our local economies depend on the service of independent contractors — professional men and women who serve their community, provide for their families and deliver skilled services to businesses like mine.
Hiring independent contractors is very commonplace in countless industries across the country. From computer software engineers, ER physicians, hair stylists, power plant engineers to the carpet and tile installers whom my business depends on, independent contractors are everywhere and fulfill an important function, which often includes creating much-needed jobs for others.
Despite the fact that there are 10 million independent contractors in the United States — attributing $473 billion in personal income — the federal government is attempting to over-regulate their independent status. Pushed by labor interests at both the national and state level, the campaign against independent contracting, if successful, will have severe consequences on an independent contractor’s ability to grow and prosper and a company’s ability to hire locally on a pay-for-performance basis.
For more than 36 years, I have been granted the opportunity to carve out a successful entrepreneurial niche in Columbia. In addition to serving customers, my business serves a wide range of markets including retail sales, construction, insurance, real estate and contract and commercial work.
Hiring independent contractors not only significantly cuts overhead expenses and helps ease the burdens of small businesses, but it also allows me to be far more responsive to my customers’ needs while allowing installers the flexibility of being their own bosses and pursuing their own entrepreneurial ambitions while creating jobs for their helpers.
As many Missourians struggle with persistent unemployment, higher prices and slow income growth, the focus should be on creating jobs, not taking them away. Independent contracting is a winning combination for businesses and citizens alike. The hardworking people of Missouri should have the freedom to turn obscurities into opportunities.
Why independent contracting is under attack
• States are facing a financial “double-whammy.”
• More citizens demanding unemployment/worker’s comp benefits
• Fewer contributions/contributors to these funds because of job loss
• The IRS is focused on finding opportunities to raise more revenue.
• Labor unions are seeking to reverse declines in membership and member dues. They are pressing state regulators and legislators to classify independent contractors as employees that can be organized into unions.
“For decades the IRS has played a game of find-the-freelancer at businesses where independent contractors remain on the payroll for months or even years. Companies, especially small ones, increasingly rely on such workers because they offer greater flexibility — and because they’re cheaper. Employers can save as much as 30 percent on wages by avoiding payroll taxes, unemployment insurance, worker’s compensation coverage and benefits they provide regular employees.” — Anne Field, Bloomberg Businessweek, April 2010
Who are independent contractors?
Wikipedia defines an independent contractor as a person, business or corporation that provides goods or services to another entity under terms specified in a contract or within a verbal agreement. Independent contractors range in size from one-person operations to large organizations with many employees. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and Chamber of Commerce, an estimated 10.3 million people work as independent contractors, or about 7.4 percent of the U.S. workforce.