Contract Employees Vs Regular Employees

So it is contract employees vs regular employees. What is the best option? There always is plenty of debate on the subject. The best way is to compare the benefits of hiring contract employees Vs regular employees.

There is this theory that contract employees are not loyal or considerate of organizational goals but reality contract employees work far more professionally and deliver quality work because it is their work and their reputation related with it that enables them get more work. Regular - on board - employees can be a bit laid back because they know for sure that there check would be ready for them at the month end.

Contract workers receive no benefits where as regular employees have plenty. Contract workers gets no workman's compensation, no unemployment insurance, no medical /dental/life insurance, no paid vacation, no sick time, no 401 matching. In the benefits department in the race between contract workers Vs regular employees, contract employees lose big time.

If one hires contract labour, he or she needs to issue a 1099. For contract employee one doesn't need to pay employment taxes and for on board employees one needs to pay them. Contract workers cannot sue the employers but regular can sue the employers for unfair labor practices or discrimination.

The contract employees vs regular employees debate continues with the theory that contract workers are not loyal or considerate of organizational goals but in reality contract workers are far more professionally and deliver quality work because it is their work and their reputation related with it that enables them get more work. Regular - on board - employees can be a bit laid back because they know for sure that there check would be ready for them at the month end.

In tax department too when it is contract vs regular worker, contract employee shells out more on taxes. As a labour on contract one needs to pay both the employee and employer portion of the Medicare taxes and social security. As a regular employee one needs to pay just the employee portion of the Medicare taxes and social security.

The rate of hiring an employee via contract esp. in the IT sector is too high compared to the regular employees. Using outside resource and manpower for a short term project by hiring on contract sometimes makes more sense than adding more staff and investing in resources which may not be used regularly after the concerned project is over.

There is greater flexibility in hiring via contract. With one phone call you can have a team of skilled employees working for you on a project and if not satisfied you can send them home with another phone call, and have another team on your doorstep with third phone call. Instead if you add additional staff as regular employees and if the work is unsatisfactory you will have difficulty in sending them home. So for employers this flexibility factor in the debate of contract employee vs regular employee makes more sense. It ultimately depends on the need and specific requirement and both contract employees and regular employees have their own pluses and minuses, that need to be considered before opting for one

Ryan Fyfe is the CEO of http://www.shiftplanning.com/ - An intuitive and free online employee scheduling tool for businesses of all sizes in all industries.