It is clearly a way to dodge the expenses of hiring employees and they also do not have to deal with the problems in firing/laying off employees.
The legality will vary from state to state.
This is not an unusual arrangement tho. I have not seen an actual cable, satellite or phone company guy working in the field doing installs for decades. They all seem to be contractors. It must have been litigated.

It probably comes down to the fact that the 1099 is not directly being compensated by the customer so he is not contracting with them.

The only guys I see who might be actual employees are working on the main plant hardware. Even the cable splicers are contractors.

As long as you are a one man band you do avoid most of the insurance requirements. You probably don't even need a business license although I had one when I was a 1099.

I bet that the 1099 guy is going to end up being liable if he drills a hole in someone's antique book case or falls off the ladder onto their Benz.
He might not be required to have insurance but he should.
The reality is everyone gets named in the suit tho. The contractor will have insurance but only to protect the company, not the 1099 guy.



Greg Fretwell