[Gen.Blather]

I’ve worked as a contractor for TRS inc. (www.gotrsinc.com)

They’ve handled everything from hourly workers to $150/hour professionals. Long term “contracts” have gone on for years. I put it in quotes because if the employer stops paying then the contractor is gone overnight.

They simply plan on paying the penalty for not offering insurance.

[Vigilanteman]

See my post #19. That type of arrangement has gone on for years in Japan for various reasons. In a previous life, I even did personal services contract work for the CEO of Tempstaff KK, a very, very wealthy woman who owned one of the largest such agencies in the country. She was actually quite a nice person. Very decent and fair.

She accidentally stood me up for an appointment once. When I arrived, her assistant handed me an envelope with the full cash payment for the services I had been scheduled to render, including my transportation costs and a little extra for my trouble.