Traps to Avoid in 2011

If the total job (materials & labor) is over $1,000 you must use a licensed, insured subcontractor OR your own W-2 employee.  Otherwise the ROC will consider you to be aiding and abetting an unlicensed contractor .  penalty: a cease & desist order and $200 to $2,500 fine.

IF you hold the personnel folder for your employees, DO NOT keep the I-9 form in there with the application and other new hire information.  If audited by Dept of Labor you may recieve a $500 fine/per employee.

IF you are reporting your own FICA, FUTA, SUTA etc. quarterly, and they are received just 5 days late you may have penalties & interest added to the late charge. You might not even hear about it until 3 months later! To avoid these traps, outsource to Trigon Staff Administrators.

If your employee is injured at the jobsite and you do not have him covered under a Work Comp policy, the Industrial Commission will make you pay for his medical treatment as well as fine you and can even close your operation until you get a Work Comp policy in place.

If your employee is not covered by Statutory benefits (Work Comp) he can sue you and/or sue the owner of the jobsite where he was injured.  The IRS and Work Comp statutes have a list of criteria that determine the status of "employee" VS "independent contractor" and they are not the same.

If you sub work out and do not have your subcontractor sign your subcontract agreement and give you a certificate of insurance, naming you as Additional Insured on their policy, you may not have coverage under your policy for a claim caused by that subcontractor.

If you sign a contract to do a job without understanding what the insurance requirements are, you may find that to comply with the contract will cost more money that you did not put into your bid.

Most of you have reduced your payroll and cost of subcontractors  because 2010 was a bad year.  As business picks up in 2011, be sure to call us to increase your exposures so you do not get hit with a large additional premium at audit!

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