Light on Law-Independent Contractors and Employees
The IRS and state taxing agencies are auditing yoga studios and wellness businesses over the use of independent contractors. New York and California are targeting specifically the yoga community. If you are audited and you have misclassified your teachers as independent contractors, you may be liable for back taxes, fees and penalties.
As a business owner the burden is on you to prove that your teachers and other workers are independent contractors.
Do you know the difference between an independent contractor and an employee and have you properly classified your teachers and other workers?
This book has chapters on the federal and state laws on independent contractors, how to properly classify your teachers and workers, how to protect yourself from liability for misclassification, federal and state employment laws and tax issues.
Many studios are converting their independent contractors into employees because they no longer wish to face the risk of an audit. This book contains a new chapter on the conversion process, a checklist and extensive resources.
There are over 180 federal laws that regulate employees and every state has its own system of laws. Do you know the laws that govern the interviewing, hiring, managing and termination process? Are you using best practices for hiring and firing employees? Are you using professional employment agreements? All of these questions are answered in the book.
This book is a full color, 200 page PDF book. It includes 10 legal agreements (including model agreements for independent contractors and employees) and many other resources.
The list price of the book is $29.95.
Here is the table of contents from Light on Law for Independent Contractors and Employees:
1. The Meeting of the Minds' tags
- How Do I Make My Own Legally Binding Agreement?
- Do Not Use Oral Agreements
- Amend Your Agreements
- Read and Understand Your Agreements
- The Many Types of Agreements
2. Protecting Yourself Against Liability: The Three Limbed Strategy
- Introduction
- The Release of Liability
- Effective Insurance Coverage
- Careful Teaching Strategies
- Current Litigation in the Yoga World
3. Starting and Running Your Yoga Business' tags
- Getting Started
- Should I Use a Legal Entity for My Business?
- What Type of Legal Entity Should I Use?
- How Do I Organize My LLC?
- What Are The Legal Responsibilities For My LLC?
- What Is A Buy-Sell Agreement?
- Be Protected By Your Legal Shield!
- Independent Contractors and Employees
- Nuts and Bolts-Permits, Registration and Taxes
- What If Someone Wants To Buy My Yoga Business?
4. Legal Agreements
- Start Using Agreements!
- Your Teaching Agreement
- Release Me!
- Membership Agreements
- Workshop Agreements
- Retreat Agreements
- Teacher Training Program Agreements and Immersions
- Coaching Agreements
- Webinars, Telecourses and Online Classes
- Corporate Yoga Agreements
5. Branding Your Yoga Business
- What Is A Trademark?
- How Do I Trademark My Brand Name?
- What Is Trademark Infringement?
- Why Should I Do A Trademark Search?
- Create A Distinctive Trademark To Get Protection
- How Do I Register A Trademark?
6. Creating and Protecting Your Content
- What Is Copyright And Why Do I Care?
- How Do I Protect My Teacher Training Materials?
- How Much Stuff From The Internet Can I Use?
- How Do I Get Copyright Protection?
- Is Registration of A Copyright Required?
- How Long Does A Copyright Last and What is Public Domain?
- Penalties for Copyright Infringement
7. Websites and Social Media
- Clear The Domain Name For Your Website
- How To Conduct A Trademark Search
- Establish Your Common Law Trademark Rights
- Use Your Trademark To Protect Your Domain Name
- Use Copyright To Protect Your Website
- Make Sure Your Website Content Does Not Infringe
- Can I Use Content I Have Downloaded?
- Selling Products Through Your Website
- Website Terms of Use
- Privacy
- The CAN-SPAM Act
- Blogging
- Current Issues in Social Media
- Website Designers and Building Your Website
8. Independent Contractors and Employees
- Are Teachers Independent Contractors or Employees?
- What Should Yoga Teachers Do?
9.Taxation and Regulation
- Independent Contractors and Employees
- State and Local Tax and Regulatory Issues
- Tax Savings For Independent Contractors
- Bartering and Work For Trade
- Do Not Practice Medicine
- Be Aware of Laws Regulating Day Care Centers
10. Best Practices for Teaching Students With Pre-existing Medical Conditions
- Executive Summary
- The Legal Perspective
- The Duty of Reasonable Care
- Intentionally Assuming The Higher Duty of Care
- Yoga Therapy and Private Lessons
- Pre-Natal and Open and Obvious Conditions
- What If a Student Volunteers Information About A Condition?
- Power and Hot Yoga
- Place the Burden of Care on the Students
- Soliciting Medical Information From Students
- Touch
- Confidential Treatment of Private Information
11. How To Work With Lawyers Without Losing Your Mind and Your Wallet
- When Should I Hire A Lawyer?
- How Do I Find A Lawyer?
- Use Paralegals
- How To Choose A Lawyer
- Twelve Strategies To Lower Legal Your Fees
12. Appendices and The Forms Library
- Appendix A- Independent Contractors Under Federal Law
- Appendix B-Independent Contractors Under California Law
- Appendix C-Buy-Sell Triggering Events
- Appendix D-Privacy Resources
Appendix E-The Legal Forms Library
(You can copy the legal agreements from the book, paste them into Word and revise them for your specific situation)
(You can copy the legal agreements from the book, paste them into Word and revise them for your specific situation)
- A-1 Consignment Agreement A-2 Blogging Policy
- A-3 Business Planning and Inspiration
- A-4 Coaching Agreement
- A-5 Content Release
- A-6 Copyright and Trademark Resources
- A-7 Copyright Legends
- A-8 Employment Agreement
- A-9 Form of Amendment to Agreement
- A-10 Form of Letter Agreement
- A-11 Non-Disclosure Agreement
- A-12 Privacy Policy
- A-13 Private Student Input Form
- A-14-The Model Form of Release and Waiver of Liability
- A-15 Independent Contractor Agreement for Teachers
- A-16 Teacher Training Program Agreement
- A-17 Telecourse and Webinar Agreement
- A-18 Terms of Use-Not Selling Products
- A-19 Terms of Use-Selling Products
- A-20 Terms of Use-Short Form
- A-21 Workshop Agreement
- A-22 Yoga Retreat Agreement
- A-23 Corporate Yoga Agreement
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