The workers need to have enough freedom to work “on demand” and control their hours before they can be considered 1099. 
The workers need to have enough freedom to work “on demand” and control their hours before they can be considered 1099.
That’s the beauty of 1099 - they can bring it home and then put their kids to work too.
I know we’re totally OT here, but my family definitely did this piecemeal work when they were first starting out and it’s the definition of 1099 - pick up materials, go home, do work, deliver finished goods and collect money. ZERO control.
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Ha! Who says that wasn’t happening all this time at these sweatshop sewing operations?
I’m not saying that, because I know from personal experience it’s true. It’s just more low-key to have your kids work at home vs at the warehouse.
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They had choices, I’ve seen older Chinese who went further out to find work but those who didn’t want to be forced to work in an English environment choose to stay in their comfort zone, I know that sounds bad but nobody forced these people to take these jobs and I’m not saying the employers are innocent but I’ve seen this first hand being that my mother use to work piece rate and forced me to help her out (whoo child labor!) but not all situations are so black and white.
With the case of Yum Cha Cafe, the owner was known to hire people who just immigrated to the US from China, speak little or no English, and would usually find work through referrals by friends or family. And since they’re need to get work quickly in order to start earning money (plus the fact that they’re unfamiliar with local labor laws), they’ll accept a job at whatever pay offered to them at places like Yum Cha Cafe. I’ve been told many didn’t last very long and would quit because they’ve been overworked and under paid.
my mom did piece work - and had the more lucrative pieces assigned to others to motivate them. my mom just upped the productivity so the paycheck was the same. and then they’d take that away and assign her something else, with the same result. after a couple of decades of this, someone handling payroll pointed this out to mgmt, who rewarded her with free medical insurance. with it being a tax free benefit, it was essentially a 40% raise. i should mention this was in ohio where my mother worked for a(n american) company that made parochial school uniforms.
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This thread spotlighted in the LA Times today!
I guess Mr Peterson is a poster or lurker here…
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.latimes.com/food/la-fo-vanishing-chinese-restaurants-san-gabriel-valley-20190515-story.html%3FoutputType=amp
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The online version was posted on the Times website on Tuesday. There was actually a link posted on FTC but it’s at the bottom of another thread so it’s good to have a separate thread here.