Companies in many businesses that had to go through the pain of layoffs in recent years are reluctant to hire employees until the owners are more confident of an economic recovery. The answer has been to hire consultant-type workers, but that may be less useful than many think.

Attorney Renea I. Saade of Oles Morrison Rinker & Baker LLP in Washington state and Alaska has advice for companies trying to thread the space between hiring employees and having enough workers.

"Companies with existing independent contractors must self-audit arrangements with those workers (preferably with the assistance of legal counsel) to identify any ticking time bombs and verify everyone is classified properly," she writes in Construction Executive magazine.

Saade reports:

"A 2000 study commissioned by the U.S. Department of Labor stated up to 30 percent of employers misclassify at least some of their workers. In light of the recent economic downturn and changes in the marketplace, that percentage most likely has increased dramatically. Indeed, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently stated it believes 80 percent of workers classified as independent contractors actually meet the legal definition of 'employee.'"