NYCPHP Meetup

[Tim Gales]

> Here is a post that clearly states the employer wants a full-time, 
> on-site programmer to work as directed on the core product of a new 
> business, and even requires "significant night and weekend effort". 
> And it quite clearly states it is to be "contract work" for 
> an "independent contractor".
> ... but the tone and intent of the proposal appears to 
> strongly suggest they intend this as a way to hire someone full-time 
> for a trial period, without legally treating them as an employee 
> (or paying the requisite payroll taxes, social security benefits, 
> following the labor laws, etc). 

This maneuver is sometimes referred to as a 'try and buy'. 

Usually these situations arise when the prospective 
employer has some complicated or 'one-off' system and 
must hire someone for a couple of months in order to  
see if the worker can handle the complexity or the 
'strangeness' of the system before making a fulltime 
job offer. 

The risk the employer wants to avoid is the expense of 
letting someone go, which can be considerable if a 
large compensation package is being negotiated. 

In the ad you are quoting from the advertiser says:
"Team is run by an experienced architect and senior developer.  
Fantastic learning experience for a junior programmer..."

Junior programmers can be brought on for probationary 
periods with comparatively little risk, since they don't 
get huge pay packages.

Further if the project leader is truly experienced, he 
should be able to pick someone who has the potential to 
grow into the job -- especially if it will be under his 
tutelage. 

I would say there is something not quite right about 
this job offer -- but it is not the fact that the 
person accepting the job would not be legally an 
independent contractor.

T. Gales & Associates
'Helping People Connect with Technology'

http://www.tgaconnect.com