1099 or W-2? Classifying Seasonal Staff Correctly

Every busy season, businesses bring on extra hands — servers, shop help, project staff, temp workers. How you classify those workers has real consequences.

The basic test

Control is the deciding factor. If you set the schedule, provide the tools, and direct how the work is done, the worker is almost certainly an employee, not a contractor. Paying someone on a 1099 because it is simpler does not make them a contractor.

What misclassification costs

Back payroll taxes, interest, and penalties — often reaching back several years, and often surfacing at the worst possible moment during a review or a claim for unemployment benefits.

Get the paperwork right up front

Collect a W-4 and I-9 for employees, and a W-9 for genuine contractors, before the first check goes out. Chasing paperwork in January, after a seasonal worker has moved on, is far harder than collecting it on day one.