Record Numbers Hear Hollrah in Fourth NARMS Webinar

A record number of NARMS International Members took advantage of the opportunity yesterday to listen to Russ Hollrah, ESQ as he presented - Independent Contractor Status, 2009 & Beyond!, sponsored by Synergy Systems Inc. Hollrah took the audience through the jumps of pending legislation regarding the classification of labor resources and what that may mean to companies who use Independent Contractors to deliver at-retail merchandising and marketing to their manufacturer and retail clients. This was a great opportunity to hear from an expert in the field of I.C. classification, not only discuss the current rules and regulations, but also analyze the post-election implications. This was the fourth installment of the NARMS webinar series that seems to be taking hold as a very popular member service. Two more webinars are planned for December.

Hollrah led off the discussion with a review of the legal implications of using I.C.s which provided a valuable refresher on the pros and cons of using this flexible resource. He then spent a few minutes on the common law test used by the Federal Government and the 20 factors that the IRS uses to determine I.C. Status. Next, he spent time looking at Section 530 of the Revenue Act of 1978 which establishes a narrow “safe harbor” protection for companies who use I.C. resources against reclassification of those workers.

The recently completed elections come into play due to the introduction of several pieces of legislation, the Taxpayer Responsibility, Accountability, and Consistency Act of 2008, H.R. 5804 and the Independent Contractor Proper Classification Act of 2007, S. 2044. These bills could significantly effect how and if your company could continue to use I.C.s. Although relatively little has happened since these bills where introduced, the latter by President Elect, Senator Obama, Hollrah believes the introductions were a signal of intentions of the new 111th Congress. He was also quick to point out that the legislative priorities of a U.S. Senator will not be necessarily the same as a sitting President of the United States.

After Hollrah’s presentation, many of the highly engaged audience asked questions via the chat function, a feature of the webinar service powered by ReadyTalk. The lively Q&A session provided additional clarity on some industry specific situations. The final message was a call to legislative action to establish relationships with your Senate and Congress representatives and let them know the implications of this pending legislation.

The NARMS Webinar Series is gaining traction as valuable learning tool in our arsenal. There are two more events planned for December including the December 8 event, scheduled for 2 p.m. EST entitled, “Assessment of the US Economy in the Coming Year” to be led by Anthony Miyake, GroupM Business Science, click on the link https://cc.readytalk.com/r/6nfzxndn44jz to register. Also, December 11 brings “Marketing Tools That Work in Challenging Times”, to be led by Carolyn Weiland, StarWorks Marketing & Communications, click on the link https://cc.readytalk.com/r/19a5s31g01jsj to register.