http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/ The law of working freelance, or as an independent contractor. en Tue, 21 May 2013 10:45:36 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/images/misc/rss.png http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/ http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158417&goto=newpost Tue, 14 May 2013 16:01:16 GMT My question involves independent contractors in the state of: Florida-HQ of company in CA I am currently under a contract on commission that states... My question involves independent contractors in the state of: Florida-HQ of company in CA
I am currently under a contract on commission that states the company will pay commission post termination for 6 months.
The company is changing the entire sales force to company employees in 2013.
They are offering a salary plus a small commission working for the company.
If you do not take the offer they are paying a lump sum commission on open orders booked 6 months out (with a percentage deducted for cancellations/returns)
If you take the offer the first 6 months of "salary" is payed for with the commissions on orders that have already been booked. You do not get a salary plus the commissions on orders already booked 6 months out.
My question is...are there any legal concerns of with the company paying my salary with commissions already earned? i.e. my salary is being paid with my $$$ and not the companies. I am basically paying myself with my commissions the first 6 months. Any legal ground to stand on to get both?

OCFRED ]]> Independent Contractors ocfred http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158417 http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=157855&goto=newpost Mon, 29 Apr 2013 15:41:15 GMT My question involves business law in the state of: Maine I work for a large company out of Canada and currently live in Maine. There are only 3... My question involves business law in the state of: Maine

I work for a large company out of Canada and currently live in Maine. There are only 3 Reps. in the U.S. and all are classified as independent contractors. We file 1099's and do not get direct company benefits. We do not have contracts however we do get reimbursed for vehicle allowance, phone, and have a company credit card for hotels and gas. We get paid once a month. After reading a lot of posts I am not sure where to categorize myself. My big question is should I be required to conform to company directives such as call reports and required number of sales calls in a day?

Thanks ]]> Independent Contractors csgrimm http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=157855 http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=157847&goto=newpost Mon, 29 Apr 2013 08:23:54 GMT My question involves business law in the state of: California

I have been working without a contract. I'm a sales rep for a computer services company. I answered a craigslist ad in Nevada. Went to training in Colorado. Came back home and started selling in Nevada. My situation changed and I had to move to California. The company was OK with the move since they didn't have a rep in the region.

When I went to California, they changed my commission structure (it got smaller). It wasn't much, and I didn't have much of a choice.

I've been working for 5 months in California. Since the commission change, I've been pushing to get a written agreement signed whenever it didn't seem like it would cause a problem. Now, they've finally given me a written agreement.

I reviewed it and they changed my commission structure again. It also says they won't give me my monthly stipend and they won't cover expenses (they've been reimbursing me for taking people out to lunch and a few times I've had to fly to northern california for customers and they paid for planes/hotel/food).

It also says that I have to submit jurisdiction to Colorado for any disputes, and gives me a FIVE year non-compete.

I looked up the law about this as much as google would allow. Apparently, California doesn't allow non-competes, and California has a set of requirements for sales representative agreements that this company doesn't follow. ( http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/di...738.10-1738.17 ) It doesn't meet most of the requirements listed in 1738.13, and 1738.14 looks like California has jurisdiction and I can't waive that.

I brought these issues up and told them I want an agreement that meets the law. They responded by telling me I have three days to sign the agreement they gave me or I'm fired.

I'm an independent contractor, but they pay my expenses, review my work progress daily, and come out to attend sales meetings with me. Lately they've been pushing to meet with customers privately - which is a problem for me because I don't know what promises they are making behind closed doors.

I have three really big deals coming to a head right now that will mean commission checks that are bigger than all the money I've made so far. I feel like they are doing this to try to fire me before these deals close and they have to pay me big commissions.

I have other problems with them. They are constantly late with paying me and the sales director has gotten verbally abusive - yelling at me and insulting me out of nowhere one day, and praising me for my good work the next.

I don't want to sign this thing, but I feel like I have no choice. I'm worried that I'll cave and sign it and they'll still fire me to avoid paying me.

Do I have to sign this contract? Do I have any recourse? What happens if they fire me before my customer pays on the big deals? ]]> Independent Contractors bad_decision http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=157847