The Contingent Workforce: Employer Expectations and Legal Realities

It has become common in the legal field for law firms to rely upon the so-called 'contingent workforce,' but even law firms need to be aware of the potential problems that can arise in utilizing 'contingent workers.' The contingent workforce provides a convenient mechanism for employers to fill essential personnel needs quickly, while not (they assume) increasing the ranks of the regular employee population or placing themselves at legal risk under employment laws. In using the contingent workforce, however, law firms, just like other types of employers, may find themselves immersed in very complicated legal issues. Such issues arise most often, although not exclusively, when an employer utilizes contingent workers to provide services which are in substance identical to those services provided by the employer's regular, full-time employees, or when such workers are not properly excluded from employee benefit plans.