Exposing the Truth

19 Mar Exposing the Truth

There are a lot of house painting companies in the Kansas City Area who sub contract out their work.
How it works: You contact a company- and an appointment is made for either an owner or salesperson to come out to your home. You like what they say and they have a reasonable price – but what they may not have told you is they award your contract to a group of independent contractors who have nothing to do with their business.

Why would they do this?
Simple…it is much easier to agree upon a price with independent contractors and award the job to them- there is no need for these companies to be present unless there is a problem-or to collect payment. This allows them to go and pursue more jobs without worrying about watching what the contractors are doing (they already know how much they are making off your job) but what happens Is these independent contractors try and perform their work as fast as possible so they can move on to the next home- quality is not something they generally care about- as they are not concerned with upholding any warranty. It allows companies who perform business this way to get out of the hardships that come with day to day employee activities- and it alleviates their tax and insurance liabilities.

10-99 versus Payroll employees
THIS HAPPENS ALL THE TIME! A true painting company has employees that are on payroll, not 10-99. A payroll employee is covered under work comp- a 10-99 independent contractor is supposed provide their own insurance- and legally cannot be affiliated with the company you hired. What generally happens though is 1 of the independent contractors (might) have insurance (the guy that receives the check from the company you hired) but the guys beneath him most likely do not. What happens are you having individuals working on your home who are not properly insured AND YOU CAN BE HELD LIABLE, EVEN WITHOUT KNOWINGLY PUTTING YOURSELF IN THAT POSITION. Ask your home repair or house painting contractor if their employees are payroll or 10-99, and ask for a work comp certificate. You owe it to yourself!