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LEGAL EASE

done, if you simply have
the right to do that, you’ve
got an employee. And
that’s true even if the per-
son only works for you
part time or you pay him
by the job. An independ-
ent contractor is some-
body who usually
provides his own equip-
ment or tools to do the
job and offers his services
to the public as part of his
business. Or somebody
who provides the services
at his place of business
rather than yours (i.e. a
nanny who takes care of
multiple babies at her
house rather than coming
to your house).
If you find that you’ve
got an employee, then you
need to determine if he is
legally eligible to hire.
There are only four cate-
gories of people you can
legally employ. They are
(1) U.S. citizens, (2) noncitizen nationals of the U.S. which are peo- sanely time consuming bureaucratic paperwork of trying to get
ple from American Samoa, people born abroad of U.S. nationals, them a “green card” or other legal document authorizing them to
and a few other, very limited exceptions, (3) lawful permanent res- legally work here. So, what’s the take home lesson from all this?
idents, (4) aliens specifically authorized to work such as by having What’s the easy way out? Here’s what you can do.
an EAD card. Now, note this well. It is your legal burden to verify
the person is legally eligible to be hired. You and your new em- 1. Let’s not ignore the obvious. Just hire U.S. citizens or non-cit-
ployee are also required to complete a U.S. Citizenship and Immi- izens who can demonstrate their legal authority to work here.
gration Services form I-9 which you can get at www.uscis.gov/i-9.
The form has to be completed no later than the first day the em- 2. The next easiest option is to make sure you’re hiring them as
ployee works. You don’t have to complete this form if the employee an independent contractor. That’s especially easy if you only
is used just for occasional or irregular domestic work in your home need help sporadically and can show you’re just hiring them to
(i.e. a babysitter). While not mandatory, if you are hiring an em- get the job done but leaving the ins and out of how to do it to
ployee, you may want to consider having a written contract if for them.
no other reason to make sure the relationship is “at will” so you can
fire the person without proving cause. 3. If none of the above works, then hire through a licensed
By now you realize that hiring a non-citizen can be a hassle. It agency. It will cost you a fair bit more, but they’ll handle all the
can be even more of a hassle if you want to work through the in- paperwork, taxes, documentation, etc.

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