Do you prefer Ic's or Employees?

[Sky Daddy Bingo]

For those of you who hire other MT's, which do you prefer IC's or employee.  We discuss the MT's position all of the time but not the employer.  I can see pros and cons on both sides.Thanks in advance for any advice.Robyn

 

[Jade S]

We hire employees. Since the main owner is a CPA she knows the rules and the way we have our clinic set up the therapists there are definitely employees by IRS standards.

Our therapists work set schedules and are required to be there during their set time. If they don't have a client, they're not required to sit there but if they leave they need to be back in time for their next massage. The clients are considered to be clients of the clinic, not the individual therapist.

This is what has worked well for us for over 13 yrs.

Angie

 

[marshell]

Employees

But we can't always afford them. In some states the Unemp Ins. is 5%!

 

[stephyy1019]

Well....if you're not a CPA then when the IRS or state taxman busts you for treating "employees" as independent contractors you can always claim ignorance. With our owner being a CPA she can't do that.

We decided that the way we wanted to run our clinic required us to have employees. We want things done a certain way, we wanted to make sure that the schedules were covered ect.......

It does cost more to have employees but for us, it's worth it. We pay their SS tax, unemployment tax, workers compensation and on and on.
We give them paid vacation, paid holidays, we supply everything they need to do their massage, after a certain #years they are also eligible for us to pay for their CEUs, license renewal and liability insurance.

We treat our employees well because we learned a long time ago that it's in the best interest of our clinic to have long-term employees. Clients don't like having to go to a different therapist each time because the one they had the last time no longer works there. We have 2 therapists who have worked for us for over 13 yrs. Another one will hit 12yrs next month. Another one is nearing 10 yrs. One of our "newcomers" has been there for almost 5 yrs.

We are successful because we hire quality therapists and keep them around. Happy therapists = happy clients.

Angie

 

[Des]

It does not take a CPA to comply with the law

We treat our ICs as ICs, and are well familiar with the statutes governing them.

I would rather deal with all employees, but in states like IL where the UI is out of control, the difference between IC and Employee compensation scares most folks off, even though they end up with the same $ in their pocket at the end of the year. There is a very negative psychological effect in taking a 20% Gross Pay cut, even though the net is no different and you get health insurance too!

Massage schools are doing their students a disservice by not teaching them the basic economics of running a business, so they have some pie-in-the-sky ideas about compensation. When they hear their instructors go on and on about making $70 an hour from their clients, and then you offer them $35- $40 to be an employee, they immediately assume you are evil and trying to screw them, just like their instructors warned them!