DISCUS Academy: Where to Hire Consultants & When to Keep in House

Classifying a worker as an employee or an independent contractor has a significant effect on the cost of employing that individual. For this reason, the IRS and Department of Labor pay close attention to worker classification issues to ensure that employers are making the right determinations. This course provides a logical framework to determine when it is more appropriate to hire an independent contractor versus an employee.

Learning Outcomes:
1. Understand the key legal, accounting, and tax differences between classifying a worker as an independent contractor versus an employee and the organization’s responsibilities to both parties
2. Learn the benefits of hiring a contractor versus employee
3. Apply course work theory to real-world situations to determine when it is best to hire an independent contractor versus an employee
4. Identify the implications to organizations for failure to properly categorize a worker as an independent contractor or employee
5. Perform a cost-benefit and risk analysis to determine if outsourcing makes more sense financially than hiring an in-house employee