World Fence News

WORLD FENCE NEWS • JANUARY 2020 • 75 World Fence News is a proud member of these trade associations: Visit our web site at www.worldfencenews.com Scan with your Smartphone! World F ence ews N News from the World of Fencing, Access Control and Security © World Fence News (ISSN#1054-5185) is pub- lished monthly by World Fencing Data Center, Inc. U.S. subscriptions: one year, $40; two years, $65. Canada and Mexico: $75 per year. Paid subscrip- tion includes annual Fencer's Almanac. Presorted standard postage PAID at Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, Permit No. 415. Un solicited materials not accept- ed. Opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the editors, publishers or ad- vertisers. Any resemblance between images creat- ed in cartoons and persons or objects in real life is coincidental. Advertisers and advertising agencies assume liability for all content – text, representa- tions and illustrations – of advertisements printed, and also assume responsibility for any claim arising therefrom made against the publisher. All advertise- ments, including classifieds, are accepted on the premise that the product or service is properly de- scribed in the advertisement, is available at the ad- vertised address, will be willingly sold to buyer at the price and conditions stated, and conforms to all legal and regulatory standards. Any advertisement not in compliance with those standards will not intentional- ly be displayed in this publication. ©2020. Contents of this publication may not be reproduced in whole or part by any means without the expressed written consent of the publisher. All correspondence should be sent to 6101 W. Courtyard Dr., Bldg. 3, Suite 115, Austin, Texas 78730. Telephone (800) 231-0275 (U.S. & Canada); (512) 349-2536; fax (512) 349- 2567. E-mail editor@worldfencenews.com. ISSUE NO. 441 • JANUARY 2020 Publisher ............................................ Rodger D. Duke Comptroller ...................................... Barbara Jo Duke Managing Editor, Advertising Director & Webmaster ................................. Rick Henderson General Manager ............................... Mary Hummon Production Manager ..........................Tim Wermund Contributing Editor .................................... Jim Lucci Contributing Editors in Memoriam .................. Herb Borner and Jim Hart Contributor ...................................................Tom Luby JANUARY 2020 AFA Gulf South Chapter Christmas Party January 7 — TBA (800) 822-4342 www.americanfenceassociation.com Door and Access Systems Manufacturers Association (DASMA) 2020 Annual Meeting January 13–15 – The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota Sarasota, Florida dasma@dasma.com FEBRUARY 2020 2020 AFA Northeast Regional Trade Show and Seminars February 7–8 Mass Mutual Center / MGM Casino & Hotel Springfield, Massachussets 508-753-8581 / kmiller@millerfence.com North American Fence Contractors Association (NAFCA) 2020 Fence Training School February 9–12 Sebring, Florida info@4nafca.com / www.4nafca.com MARCH 2020 American Fence Association FENCETECH/METALfab 2020 March 3–6 / Exhibit dates – March 4–6 Salt Palace Convention Center Salt Lake City, Utah (800) 822-4342 www.americanfenceassociation.com NTEA – The Association For The Work Truck Industry – Work Truck Show March 3–6 Indiana Convention Center Indianapolis, Indiana www.worktruckshow.com IDAExpo (co-located with AFA and NOMMA) March 4–7 Salt Palace Convention Center Salt Lake City, Utah (800) 355-4IDA (4432) info@doors.org / http://idaexpo.org American Subcontractors Association SubExcel 2020 Annual Convention March 4–7 — Caesar's Palace Las Vegas, Nevada www.asaonline.com / www.subexcel.com APRIL 2020 National Drowning Prevention Alliance (NDPA) 2020 National Water Safety Conference April 5–9 — Fort Worth, Texas www.WaterSafetyConference.org www.ndpa.org MAY 2020 FABTECH Mexico May 12–14 — Mexico City, Mexico www.fabtechexpo.com JUNE 2020 FABTECH Canada June 16–18 — Congress Center Toronto, Ontario, Canada aws.org/events/detail/fabtech-canada www.fabtechexpo.com FENCE AND ACCESS CONTROL INDUSTRY CALENDAR OF EVENTS into the unemployment insurance cof- fers. This area gets particular atten- tion for an important reason: econom- ic survival. "Nothing stops independent con- tractors from applying for state un- employment benefits when their con- tracts are over," cautions Joerg. And that's bad. "States do not want to be paying unemployment ben- efits to individuals coming from em- ployers who have not been paying into the system." Too, workers compensation carri- ers can demand unpaid premiums. Furthermore, investigations into unemployment insurance violations can quickly broaden. "Often, an investigation of one employee's complaint is a 'Trojan horse' that allows the agency to look into a business's employment practic- es as a whole," says Hersh. Private lawsuits Had enough? Even worse may come from an ex-employee's attorney. "Good plaintiff lawyers tend to be even more aggressive than federal and state agencies," said Hersh. "They will look to recover not only double damages for their clients, but will also investigate the possibility of a lucra- tive class action lawsuit. And employ- ers can also be liable for their work- ers' attorneys' fees." In cases where the amount of overtime pay owed to an employee is relatively modest, the attorney's fees can exceed overtime liability by a sig- nificant factor. You may also end up paying large accounting fees while defending your- self from the above. And here's a part- ing thought: Overtime mistakes can also expose you to personal liability. It can all add up. "It can get very expensive not only in terms of dol- lars, but in emotional distress and in time taken away from running your business to deal with the matter," said Joerg, who has seen penalties climb higher than $500,000 for egre- gious cases. "Many companies cannot bounce back and go out of business." Innocent errors Misclassification might not be de- liberate. "Small employers in particular may feel the urge to hedge their bets on new hires, so they tag new workers with a 'contract' or 'temporary' la- bel," said Hersh. "Then they might tell the individuals, 'We are not sure how the relationship will go, so you will be on contract for the first 90 days.'" It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that arrangement creates an independent contractor relationship. But it does not, says Hersh. "Depending on how the business uses those individuals, they may be employees entitled to the same rights and benefits (including minimum wage and overtime pay) owed to the employer's full time workers." What determines employment status is largely the degree of control you have over the worker. For example, do you tell the per- son to come to work at a certain time and require attendance at meetings held at specified times? Such man- dates are more characteristic of an employment status. In contrast, independent contrac- tors usually agree to complete a dis- creet task and then do their work on their own schedules. There are a num- ber of other indicators of employment status. For a rundown, see the sidebar at the end of this article: "Are You Vi- olating Employment Law? Take This Test." Yet another common error is thinking that hiring people from staff- ing agencies bypasses the risk. In fact, agency workers can also be reclassified as employees if you deal with them in ways (described in the sidebar) that indicate an employment relationship. Said Joerg: "Only very strong, independently established in- dependent contractors are 'low risk.'" Avoid trouble How can you stay out of trouble? Follow these tips to keep on the right side of the law: #1. Don't try to mandate employment status. Employers often ask potential hires to sign documents acknowledg- ing independent contractor status. But such documents do not alone prevail. "Just because a worker signs an independent contractor agreement does not automatically mean he or she is not an employee," said Hersh. "Whether the worker is or not is a le- gal question." As noted previously, the answer to that legal question involves an analysis of how the employer inter- acts with the worker. #2. Avoid packaged resources. "I see too many businesses get into trouble by using boilerplate forms from the Internet," said Hersh. "These forms give a false sense of security and often cause more problems than they solve." #3. Don't copy other employers. Don't follow the herd. Be more compliant with the law than other em- ployers. The rising risks of misclassifying independent contractors continued from page 68 continued on page 77

• Cover