Employee vs Independent Contractor
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Before you start looking for a work-at-home job, you should probably ask yourself several questions. One of them is, do you want to work as an employee or as an independent contractor?
There are benefits to both, but you need to figure out which is more beneficial to YOU.
Do you need benefits? Do you need to set your own schedule? Do you want to be responsible for your own taxes? These are important questions you’ll need to consider when searching for a remote job.
Let’s take a look a the differences between the two.
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What is an Employee?
Employees actually work for the company. They can be either hourly or salaried. The company takes out federal, state, and employment taxes from each paycheck and files them with the federal, state, and local governments. At the end of the year, the company sends a W-2.
Also, employees can be subject to overtime and usually receive benefits such as health insurance, sick leave, and vacation pay.
Employees also have legal protections like worker’s compensation and unemployment.
What is an Independent Contractor?
Independent contractors are basically freelancers. When an independent contractor does work for a company, they are contracted and not considered actually “employed” by the company.
Independent contractors can be contracted with more than one company at a time. They are usually free to work when they want as long as the work is completed by the scheduled time, although this is not necessarily true in all cases.
Independent contractors are usually considered self-employed and must pay their own taxes. The company sends them a 1099 tax statement at the end of the year. Even though an independent contractor may receive an hourly wage, they must keep track of the hours they work each week and submit an invoice to the company in order to be paid.
Also, independent contractors don’t receive any benefits from the company, such as paid time off or health insurance. They must buy their own insurance.
Independent contractors don’t have the legal protections that employees have, such as unemployment compensation and worker’s compensation.
The federal government has guidelines that companies must go by in determining if a worker is an employee or an independent contractor. If you’d like to read them, you can visit the IRS website here.
What Companies Hire Employees to Work From Home?
Allstate offers insurance services. They hire Customer Insurance Representatives to work from home. They supply equipment along with an employee benefits package.
Amazon is a technology company based in Seattle. This company hires employees for several remote positions, including Seasonal Customer Service Representative. They recruit for these positions several times a year. The starting pay is $15 per hour, and they also provide the equipment needed to do your job. You’ll need to have high-speed, hard-wired internet service and a landline telephone.
Anthem is based in Indiana and offers health insurance products. They hire employees to work from home in a collection of different positions, including Customer Care Representative.
Capital One offers credit cards and banking services. This company hires Fraud Contact Center Associates and Customer Service Representatives to work remotely from home. They require you to live within 100 miles of the hiring location.
Enterprise Holdings specializes in vehicle rentals and owns other rental car companies such as Alamo and Hertz. They hire Reservation Sales Representatives to work at home, taking reservations from rental customers.
Humana is a health insurance company. This company always has a variety of different work-from-home jobs open. They also hire Customer Care Specialists.
PNC is based in Pittsburgh and offers banking and financial services. This company hires Customer Service Representatives to work from home.
Progressive is headquartered in Ohio and was founded in 1937. They specialize in automobile insurance. This company hires Customer Service Representatives, Claims Representatives, and Sales Representatives to work from home.
Support.com is based in California offers outsourced technical support to companies. They hire Technical Support Agents to work from home, assisting customers with technical issues through telephone and live chat.
Fortune 500 life and disability insurance company that is headquartered in Tennessee. This company hires Customer Service Representatives to work from home, along with a collection of other remote positions.
What Companies Hire Independent Contractors to Work From Home?
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Accolade Support
Accolade Support is a business process outsourcing company that provides customer service, sales, and technical support services to their business clients. They offer 24/7 service and support to their clients’ customers, so they have a variety of shifts. All positions are independent contractor positions.
ACD Direct is a call center services company that’s been in business since 2000. They offer outsourced customer service and technical support to their clients and hire independent contractors as Agents. To be considered for an Agent position, you’ll need to complete their 5-step application process.
Advanis is based in Canada doing business since 1997 and specializes in social and market research. They hire independent contractors as Telephone Research Interviewers. The working hours are typically late afternoon, evening, and weekends.
Belay Solutions specializes in offering virtual assistant services. They hire remote independent contractors for virtual assistant and bookkeeper positions. They prefer you to have a bachelor’s degree, but it’s not mandatory. You’ll need to be available to work during business hours, Monday through Friday, so no evening hours are available. The pay is anywhere from $15 to $19 per hour.
BlingABC is an online ESL platform that has been in business since 1993 and is based in China. They offer language classes to students 5 to 12 years old. In order to be considered for a teaching position with them, you must have a bachelor’s degree or higher, be a native English speaker, and have a language teaching certificate. They require some ESL teaching experience, although how much is not stated. These positions are independent contractor jobs, and the base pay is $21 to $27 per hour.
Brighten Communications specializes in B2B telemarketing services. They hire independent contractors to call businesses and set appointments. You can work when you want as long as it’s between the hours of 8:00 AM Eastern Time and 5:00 PM Pacific Time, Monday through Friday.
BSG offers payment processing services to telecommunications companies and e-merchants. They hire independent contractors as Live Operators. These are part-time positions that start at $8.50 per hour.
Customer Service Review specializes in call center monitoring for its clients. They hire independent contractors as Monitors to contact call centers and evaluate the customer service reps. The positions are part-time, working 3 hours per day.
LiveOps offers outsourced call center services to businesses. They hire independent contractors as Agents for customer service and sales. Agents are paid for each minute of talk time.
Based in California, ModSquad offers social media services to brands and has been in business since 2007. They hire independent contractors as moderators to work from home and employ over 10,000. To be considered for this independent contractor position, you must have a desktop or laptop computer, high-speed secure internet service, and a private workspace.
Final Thoughts
Before you start looking for a work-from-home position, it’s a good idea to decide what type of job would be best suited for you.
If you’re looking for something with flexible hours, then an independent contractor job is probably better. But if you need benefits like health insurance, then you’ll definitely need a W-2 position.
Also, it may be a good idea to speak to a tax professional if you’re considering an independent contractor position. They’ll be able to give you all the information you’ll need to be able to make your decision.
