Hide Notes 

Slide 1: Independent Contractors Workers can be classified into two basic categories: employees and independent contractors. This distinction is not without a difference. For example, employees are generally entitled to minimum wage and overtime pay, and are covered under their employer's workers' compensation insurance if they are injured on the job. The wage requirements do not apply to independent contractors, who also are responsible for paying for their own workers' compensation coverage. Employers have frequently been too quick to mis-classify their workers as independent contractors, in order to avoid some of the responsibilities they would have if the workers were treated as employees. But you do not have to accept the label that your employer puts on your work status. Just because you may be called an independent contractor, or may have even agreed to that status, that does not necessarily make it so. The true facts of your employment situation will determine what your status is, and how you are treated under the various laws. Take a look- California Contractor Insurance Illinois law has addressed some of these areas, to help ensure that workers in this state get the benefits that they are entitled to. Under the Illinois workers' compensation laws, a set of criteria will be considered to determine if you were properly classified as an independent contractor. All of the factors together will determine if you are entitled to coverage under your employer's insurance. Some of the factors that Illinois workers' compensation laws take into account are: whether you set your own hours, whether you make your own decisions about how you do your job, whose materials and tools are used for your work. What these and other factors point to is the crucial question of who has the right to control your work. If your employer actually has the right to control how and when you do your job, then regardless of what you have been labeled, you should likely be covered under their workers' compensation insurance. Have a look- California Contractors Insurance Another area of the law in Illinois that protects workers from being wrongly labeled as an independent contractor, covers workers in construction jobs working for contractors. This law says that the workers are presumed to be employees, and therefore entitled to the benefits that the construction industry provides employees including minimum wage, overtime, and workers' compensation. Under this Illinois law, in the construction industry, to be considered an independent contractor, you have to fall within a specific set of criteria. These criteria include the control over your work, but also relate to the type of services both you and the contractor provide. There are penalties for wrongly classifying a worker as an independent contractor, which can include a lawsuit.