/worker-classification

Runs the applicable classification tests for the jurisdiction and flags where the proposed arrangement doesn't match the structure you're trying to use. Prospective only — for existing relationships, consult counsel.

Instructions

1. Load ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/employment-legal/CLAUDE.md → jurisdictional footprint, escalation table.
2. Run the full workflow below.
3. If the attorney provides details upfront, extract what's available and ask only about the gaps. Do not re-ask information already provided.

Examples

/employment-legal:worker-classification
We want to bring on a data scientist for 6 months, working out of our
SF office, using our tools, embedded in our analytics team.

/employment-legal:worker-classification
Is our recruiter contractor arrangement okay? She works exclusively for
us, sets her own hours, uses her own laptop, project fee per placement.

/employment-legal:worker-classification
(skill will ask for details)

Matter context

Matter context. Check ## Matter workspaces in the practice-level CLAUDE.md. If Enabled is ✗ (the default for in-house users), skip the rest of this paragraph — skills use practice-level context and the matter machinery is invisible. If enabled and there is no active matter, ask: "Which matter is this for? Run /employment-legal:matter-workspace switch <slug> or say practice-level." Load the active matter's matter.md for matter-specific context and overrides. Write outputs to the matter folder at ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/employment-legal/matters/<matter-slug>/. Never read another matter's files unless Cross-matter context is on.

Purpose

The most expensive classification decision is the one nobody made consciously. Someone describes what they want ("a contractor"), the engagement starts, and two years later the facts look like employment. This skill walks the applicable tests on the proposed arrangement before it starts — and tells you when what you're describing doesn't match the structure you're trying to use.

This skill teaches the reasoning pattern. It does not state the law. Every test formulation, statutory citation, threshold, and carve-out must come from current research for the applicable jurisdiction.

Prospective-only hard gate — run BEFORE intake

This skill analyzes a PROPOSED engagement before the work starts. Before any substantive intake (Step 1), ask:

Has this work already started? Is the worker currently engaged, or have they been performing work under this arrangement for any period of time (days, weeks, months, or years)?

If the answer is yes — the engagement already exists, in any form, for any duration — STOP. Do not proceed to Step 1 intake. Classifying an existing arrangement is not a planning exercise; it's a liability assessment with remediation implications: back pay (OT, meal/rest premiums), unpaid employer-side payroll tax, benefits eligibility that was denied, unemployment and workers' comp back-exposure, state penalties (in CA, PAGA), IRS § 530 relief analysis, and — in strict-test jurisdictions with ongoing work — the prospective exposure of letting it run another day. That analysis is privileged, led by counsel, and coupled with a remediation plan.

Output exactly this block and wait for a response:

Out of scope — existing arrangement.

…