The holiday season marks the busiest time of the year for retailers.
Filled with holiday cheer, many shoppers look forward to availing themselves of ever-enticing holiday deals. To fully capitalize on the most wonderful time of the year, many retailers expand their store hours and rush to hire seasonal employees to provide support for the annual surge in shopping and foot traffic. Though this is a joyous time, retailers should be mindful of inherent employment law risks to remain off the naughty list after the holiday season ends.
Here are a few tips to avoid common employment law pitfalls during the holiday rush.
When retailers are looking to hire seasonal workers, it is important that they carefully consider whether these new elves are employees or independent contractors. During the chaos resulting from the holiday rush, retailers are susceptible to misclassification, which can result in potential exposure in the form of class-action lawsuits to recover unpaid wages and large statutory penalties, as well as tax penalties.
To avoid potential liability, retailers should assess whether to classify a new elf as an independent contractor. Part-time or defined-scope work does not mean the person is not an employee. One primary analysis is the degree of control retailers exercise over the individual and how the person performs the work. If the hiring entity dictates things like schedule, pay rates, dress code, and performance...
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