Independent Contractors vs. Employees - Part I: Written By New York Entertainment Lawyer And Employment Attorney John J. Tormey III, Esq.

As an entertainment attorney practicing in New York, I see people and companies struggling to address the definition of independent contractor vs. employee, frequently. Anyone who hires workers or is thinking of doing so, in New York or elsewhere in the United States, should be aware of the following. Before hiring anyone, it is critical that one carefully determines with one’s accountant and entertainment attorney or other counsel whether the new hire is to be an “employee”; or, alternatively, an “independent contractor”. The terms have legal and financial import; they are mutually exclusive; and one should never use them interchangeably.