If you are a subcontractor and have been paid for a year and a half for job piecework can your employer force you to change to a lower hourly rate and if so who should pay for the supplies?

Answer 1

The company may have decided to reorganize how they produce their product. If they are offering an hourly wage PLUS benefits (insurance, 401K, disability, etc.), then you may be better off in the long run. As a subcontractor, they have little say about the conditions that you work in and how you do the job. As an employee you would probably have a company-set schedule and procedures to follow. You would show up to a specific place and do a specific job. You could verify that they provide supplies, but it is most likely that they would. If you choose not to work this way, then you need to find another business that would "hire" you to work as a sub-contractor. Generally we are all considered "employees at will". That means at the will of our employer. As a sub-contractor (not even an employee), your expectation of continuation of being the one he contracts should be even less than an employee. You are just a vendor, and a company can decide to change vendors at anytime. Just like you decide who/where you'll buy your groceries, gas, or whatever. If you don't like the terms offered to be an employee, it is your option to negotiate or reject. Find someone else willing to pay you the way you want to be paid for what you do. You understand that as an employee (which is generally better for the worker) you will get certain benefits, (like unemployment, disability, etc), and the employer side of FICA (%7.65 of earnings) paid by them that contractors don't?