It's a new year, and the usual predictions abound about what will be hot in 2012.  Based on what we've been reading and hearing, here are the recruiting trends we think recruiters should keep an eye on:

1. Social Media Recruiting Wars - The race is on to see which social network, if any, will unseat LinkedIn as the recruiter's social network of choice.  When it was released last year, a lot of people had their money on Google+ due to it's ability to…

For various reasons, some workers prefer to be paid on 1099 instead of a W-2.  But it's not worker's decision.  The IRS guidelines determine whether a worker is classified as a 1099 independent contractor or a W-2 employee.

Still, recruiters and their clients often get push back when trying to convince…

As the crackdown on 1099 independent contractor misclassification continues to intensify, Congress has reintroduced legislation to help stop misclassification.

The Employee Misclassification Prevention Act was originally introduced in June 2010.…

Many of the questions we receive from recruiters revolve around the proper classification of workers as either 1099 independent contractors or W-2 employees.  One recent inquiry we received was particularly interesting, and we thought other recruiters could learn from it as well.

The recruiter in question works for a large firm. This particular recruiting firm has a standard practice of asking each contract candidate whether they would prefer to be…

If you have clients who have been misclassifying W-2 employees as independent contractors (ICs), the IRS is providing a way for them to come clean.

Through the agency's recently launched Voluntary Worker Classification Settlement Program, if employers voluntarily reclassify their ICs as…

The Department of Labor (DOL) is requesting $46 million in the Fiscal Year 2012 budget to allow the agency to "redouble its efforts to combat worker misclassification."

Over the past couple of years, the DOL has been cracking down on employers who misclassify workers who should be W-2 employees as 1099 independent…

The Department of Labor (DOL) recently recovered more than $219,000 in back wages and liquidated damages on behalf of 44 workers who were misclassified as independent contractors, providing a real-life example of how serious the government's crackdown on misclassification is.

The employer had moved a…

Some of the most frequent questions we get at Top Echelon Contracting revolve around the proper classification of workers: When is it OK to classify them as 1099 independent contractors? What are the ramifications of misclassifying workers? When should they be W-2 employees? What triggers an IRS audit?

If you get these same types of questions from your clients, you may want to check out my video chat with…

A recent fine levied against an Ohio-based company should serve as a warning to employers that simple recordkeeping mistakes on I-9s could cost them big.

According to a recent Human Resource Executive Online article, Abercrombie & Fitch agreed to pay $1,047,110 to settle the fine that was waged after a 2008 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)…

Top Echelon Contracting reported in a previous blog that employers are already looking to hire their temporary seasonal help for the holiday season.

According to a recent Society for Human Resource Management article titled "Staffing Up for Holidays Raises Compliance Issues," those employers need to remember that those temporary workers…