Define "Employment"

In the last 24 hours I've run across two places where massage therapy organizations (one of which was the AMTA, sigh) were using the term "employment" incorrectly. Drives me batty so let me lay out a simple truth here.

Are You Employed? 

Employed means you work for someone else as an employee. It has a specific legal definition. It's not just a general term for "I work for pay" or "I work within an organization as a massage therapist".

Do You Work For Yourself?

When you are an employee you have an employer who files W2s and W4s for you, withholds taxes (and submits them to the government for you), etc. An employer has greater control over your day-to-day work world (schedule, dress code, work protocols, etc.) than you do so they take greater responsibility for you (providing tools, space, clients, etc. you need to do your job).

Are You Self-Employed?

When you are an employee you don't get to claim any of your work-related expenses as business expenses. This is important!

Are You An Employee?

If you are not an employee, you are self-employed. You may work out of your home or a rented space; you may work in someone else's organization as an independent contractor.

If you are working in your home or office space, no one provides you any paperwork to show how much you made this year. That's your job. If you are an independent contractor (and you receive more than $600 from an organization in a year), that organization will send you a 1099 to use when filing your taxes. In either case, you have to withhold your own taxes and mail them to the government quarterly.

You get more control over your work environment (or should insist that you do) because the organization you are working with is taking less responsibility for you.

When you are self-employed, your work-related expenses are tax-deductible.

Where Do You Work?

Am I just being a fussy word-geek? I certainly can be but I'm not in this case. The words we use have the power to define our reality. They also represent how we understand the world. If we use the word "employee" or "employed", the odds are good that the subconscious picture in our head is of, well, traditional legal employment with all the rights, privileges, and restrictions thereof. Odds are if that's the picture in your head, you will act accordingly. 

Who Do You Work For?

 

 

If you don't embrace the reality of being self-employed -- in all its permutations -- you risk not recognizing when and how to stand up for yourself, to say no, to draw healthy business boundaries. Even worse, you risk sounding like an ill-informed fool when you bitch and moan about not getting the kinds of benefits and support due an employee when you are not an employee.

 

We hate it when people use the wrong word -- masseuse -- to refer to our profession. If you care enough about language to care about that, then you also need to care enough about language to use "employed" and "self-employed" correctly.