The Weekly Independent: January 25, 2016

Being a successful independent contractor or a client of choice isn’t just about doing the best work or having the best perks. It also means staying one step ahead of the curve. That’s why each week we bring you The Weekly Independent, a quick-hit digest of news of note from around the web.

• Amazon is the latest company to find themselves embroiled in a misclassification suit. The e-commerce giant tested super fast delivery and found themselves slapped with a suit alleging that workers were mistreated — much the same as claims against Uber, Bloomberg Business reports.
• Georgia has made a priority of dealing with misclassification issues this year. We predict other states will follow; the article cited a study in Illinois that showed losses of income tax revenue amounting to 125 million dollars, while reports from North Carolina estimate losses of 467 million in state and federal taxes from employee misclassification in the construction industry alone.
• Companies pay top dollar for independent workers — learn why a talented coder left his budding career at Google (at age 27!) to become self-employed. Here’s a hint: he makes more money this way. Also joining the ranks of famous freelancers? Vogue’s Grace Coddington, who this week announced she is going out on her own.
• New research from Spend Matters in partnership from Fieldglass has important insight into managing your contingent workforce population.
• Still digging out from Winter Storm Jonas? Use this tips to manage working from home when your kids have a snow day. Remember, snow shoveling is non billable time.

Of course, we’d love to talk virtually as well. Share your thoughts with us at MBO Partners on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, and we’ll see you again next week!