“minimum standards of wages
and working conditions in
most workplaces in British
Columbia.” Some employers
will avoid paying you minimum
wage by commissioning you

as an independent contractor,
which exempts you from ESA
coverage. This is technically
legal, but scummy as hell and
exploited too often by the same
people who'll turn around and
ask you to pay for the gas. This
mostly happens in the lower
end of the private sector—it’s
less likely to happen if you
work in the public sector,

since working for public
organizations (Government of
Canada, Armed Forces, RCMP,
airlines, Canada Revenue
Agency) usually makes you

an employee despite your
compensation plan. Public
entities are under heavy
scrutiny and typically meet or
exceed minimum standards,
but that doesn't keep them from
being impersonated.

This isn’t to say that all
independent contractor’s work
is poorly paid; this type of
work is often ideal for a busy
student who doesn’t have the
luxury of working full-time.
However, it’s commonplace to
find exaggerated claims about
earning power—particularly in
commission-based work. Lack
of disclosure often puts people

 

in a bad position. For example,
a contractor has to pay their
own benefits such as Worker’s
Comp, Canada Pension Plan
(CPP), and employment
insurance premiums. As an
independent, you're obligated
to pay 10 per cent of your net
earnings into the CPP when you
file your tax return. Contractors
usually won't receive vacation
or overtime pay or be included
in company health and life
insurance plans. Arguably, a
$10.25 minimum wage with
these basic benefits equals $15
an hour of contractor wage
with no benefits—perhaps
much more, if the company
has a good dental, medical, and
benefits plan.

The overriding point is
that an independent contractor
is really independent. They
set the job parameters, not
the person who hired them
to fulfill the contract. If you
hire someone to fix your roof,
they’re not your employee.
The roofing company is their
employer. In turn, they might
be an independent contractor.
If they, for example, provide all
the materials and arrangements
to do the job, then the company
who contacted you is merely
the sales arm of the deal. By
law, an employer must have an
employee fill out a TD1 tax form
when hired. If you haven't filled

 

one out, or your employer won't
take one from you, you are an
independent contractor and
you need to understand exactly
what your responsibilities are.

Another thing to be
examined are the postings
found in online jobsites like
the Government of Canada Job
Bank, BCjobs, Monster, and
Workopolis. For the most part,
their moderators screen out all
the outright rip-offs. However,
there are still piles of time-
wasting jobs that, while being
strictly speaking “legal,” offer
nothing but utterly meaningless
verbiage to describe the
requirements and conditions of
the job. If you find a prospective
job that has been posted to Job
Bank half a dozen times ina
day, often for weeks (serial job
advertisements) that’s a pretty
good sign that no one keeps
said job for long. These legal
rip-offs generally thrive by
continuously churning out new
entrants, since the pay and the
work are often dismal.

I’m not trying to frighten
people off the Internet or warn
them away from internships.
Everyone's got to build a
resumé however they can, and
sometimes you have to “stoke
the furnace” to get by. These
minimum wage jobs might
be boring and have no future
for advancement, but they are

 

easy to get, serve an economic
purpose, and at least disclose
their intentions. A talented
scammer, on the other hand,
knows that every year there are
fresh batches of post-secondary
graduates ready to do every last
thing to please their potential
employers. Always remember
that you have a right to know
exactly what youre getting into;
you must trust your gut if you
feel your employers are not
forthcoming. Take nothing at
face value. Do your research,
and don't let people who exploit
the anonymity of this affluent
age exploit you, too.

If you or anyone you know
has ever been the victim of an
employment scam, go to the
Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre
website to report your situation
to the authorities and to educate
yourself further on the other
types of scams circulating
the Internet.