Can he furnish his own desk? Or work at home?

Not sure, though I think telecommuting is out of the question.

I asked him if he could do as he pleased with his rented desk, e.g. cut hair, clean his shotguns, etc. The kicker is that half the office is empty from the previous rounds of layoffs.

I would set up camp on that desk. That's ridiculous. Does Joe Barton own this firm or something?

That is ridiculous and almost sounds like a joke.

this isn't totally off base... the rules for 1099 status are that the independent contractor is supposed to supply all of his own equipment... typically this usually just means that they use their own computer and software... possibly even extending to printing and such... the desk rent may be a bit of a bit of a stretch, but probably correct by the letter of the law...

i'd be more concerned about the low rate... when i was working as an IC a few years ago i was charging around $60/hour for short-term things and around $35/hour for longer term commitments (basically a bulk discount on a contract that was for a minimum of 30 hours/week over 9 months)

Is the friend truly an independent contractor? Go to irs.gov and read what the distinctions are between employee and contractor. By the way, the IRS is very interested in trying to catch employers that unlawfully designate employees as contractors to shift the tax burden to the worker, and I understand they are increasing audits of such types of employment.

I've actually spoken with an IRS agent, and she said the crackdown on misclassified independent contractors has more to do with firms that lay off FT employees and "rehire" them as contractors. Merely bringing in contractors as de facto employees (with offices providing desks, equipment, software, etc.) is not unlawful, IIRC. I definitely tried to clawback taxes using this rule, but to no avail.

Most contractor-type (intern/production) positions follow this model, as far as I can tell.

So basically its like getting $17.50/hr without the desk rent nonsense, assuming a 40 hr workweek?

Given their experience and the current economy, is $17.50 reasonable?

It does sound like more and more employers (not just in architecture) are trying to cut employee compensation down to a bare minimum just to keep their profits at or near the level they were a few years ago.

wisky tango foxtrot over.

last time i went to an interview i pretty much blew them away with the variety of experience I've amassed in such a short career, they were expecting a drafting monkey who would not cost them much money. hopefully they get back to me with a decent offer what do you guys think is decent here in illinois for someone that has PA level of knowledge but is not licensed?

I work for a large international firm that is absolutely scrupulous in our employment practices. We've employed contractors that we've had sitting at extra desks (but using their own laptops and other equipment, as required by law), and we've NEVER charged desk rent. I think this is bogus. The contractors are responsible for their own health insurance, etc., though, of course.

65-70+k, displaced

why would anyone take this insulting job? $12-14 an hour after "desk rent," no benefits, and 30% taxes at the end of the year? that's $8 net. i can't believe anyone would consider this

thanks jk3,
this friend of mine tells me that i should probably not ask for more than 50k because they are known for being stingy, and right now of course the economy so we will see what they offer if they dont give me atleast 50k im going to counter, because i have a feeling im walking into a fubar office situation where everyone got fired and now they are like " oh shit what are we going to do we dont have a big enough team with the knowledge" thats the vive i got at the office, lots of empty desks, only saw like 4 people, it was sad.

1099= write off desk rental/gas/supplies/etc....

also don't go lower than 30-45 an hour for a subcontract setup

displaced ... your comment is misplaced. Should have placed that comment in the "ego" thread.

A contract employee means there must be a contract. Where is it? Or did they go through a temp agency? Negotiate work from home. There is absolutely no need to work in their space full time. I'm sure it will mostly be routine drafting. Outsource it to elance for $4/ hour and sit back and collect the difference. Then go find another one.

... or argue about how insulting this job is.

displaced
I imagine the not-licensed part can come back to bite you no matter what other experience you have blown them away with, at least when it comes time to talk salary anyway
I've seen it happen before, where not having the license can be a justification for a lower salary despite job responsibilities expected of you....especially in this economy


em
I would look at this as a temporary job at best, for the $12-14 an hour salary. Claiming they are paying you more is a joke when they are charging you for your desk spot. So if the $12-14 is ok for now, go for it. Doesnt sound like this should be anything more than a "ok for now while i look for another job" job though

the employer is sincere in believing that the 1099 designation would require the employee, ahem contractor, to provide his/her own desk or otherwise rent one from them, how did they arrive at the rental fee? This is what tells me that they are not sincere, but trying to get essentially free labor. Assuming (and I'm being generous at that) that they really think they legally have to charge an independent contractor for use of a desk (or any other supplies which they are requiring as part of the contract for that matter), then why not set the rate at some nominal fee like $1 per month, similar to how people/municipalities/groups give away property while classifying it as a sale? The need to charge an independent contractor for the use of a desk seems questionable at best, and the fee they are charging seems unscrupulous at best.

I charged $40/hour for contract work when $25/hour would have been my regular employee rate. I think your friend needs to charge a higher hourly fee, and factor in the desk rate.

hold it.. would you have to pay taxes on the gross rate and than clai
back the desk rent as a deduction?

... desk rent is a write off ...make sure to get a receipt though...

best thing to do is get setup as a s-corp first then start contracting yourself out..... pay less taxes in the end

desk rent is bogus. we've hired people contract, by the letter of the law.

my guess is this is the following setup: the firm in question is trying to figure out how much this rate is going to cost them (not at a 'billable rate', but what they can actually get in fees divided by the amount of time it'll take to actually do the work), are figuring out that they might break even on the actual fees, but the amount they negotiated won't cover their normal overhead. in other words, they shorted the fee to get the job, can't pay someone a 'normal' salary and cover their overhead, so they're trying to make that back with the desk fee.

otherwise, if they're doing it to literally cover their arse tax wise, why not a desk fee of 50 bucks and they'll throw in free coffee? i mean, we'd do that with our couple of free desks here...

sorry - forgot one detail - you don't need to rent out the desk. the law provides that the contractor supply their own materials. in this case, we asked them to use their own laptop (and, hence, their own software). also, just because they are 'independent' doesn't mean they can't interface with the office - there are going to be times where they need to hook up to the network for file sharing (an essential part of the job) or print out materials on our printer, etc.

we've tried to stay away from the potential 'confusion' by limiting our contract employees to functions outside the professional staff - meaning it's limited to marketing functions or public relations or accounting. much cleaner for everyone involved.