Employer Agent Program

The Fiscal Assistance Employer Agent program offers an option for people with disabilities to employ the caregivers they prefer without the worries of processing the related paperwork. The F.A. Employer Agent program will provide payroll services including preparing and disbursing payroll checks, processing employment related documents, withholding and filing employment taxes, bill payments, obtaining workers compensation insurance and administration, and record keeping services for consumers who wish to hire individuals to provide supports or services in their homes or in the community.

Once you have identified a potential worker you wish to hire, it is extremely important to assess the relationship between the employer and the possible employee. Very few service workers will be considered to be independent contractors by the IRS. There are many standards that must be met on both the Federal and State government levels before an individual can be considered an independent contractor and not an employee.

• The Internal Revenue Service uses a general guideline stating that anyone who performs services for you is your employee if you can control what will be done and how it will be done.1 The IRS has more specific guidelines that can be found in IRS Publication 1779 which can be accessed on the IRS website www.irs.gov.
• The State of Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development is more specific. In order to be classified as an independent contractor the potential worker must satisfy 7 of 10 criteria.2 These criteria can be found in the Unemployment Insurance Handbook for Employers Publication No. UCB-201-P which can be accessed on the DWD website dwd.wisconsin.gov.

If it is determined by the employer that there is indeed an employer/employee relationship then those payments to the worker will be considered employee wages and will be subject to all applicable taxes and regulations. The F.A. Employer Agent program can assume many of the employer obligations for you.

If there is any question regarding a worker's employment status, Fiscal Assistance of Dane County will require that the consumer file an IRS Form SS-8, Determination of Worker Status for Purposes of Federal Employment Taxes and Income Tax Withholding and submit the IRS determination to us before the worker is processed as an independent contractor through the SDS program.

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