Am I an employee or an independent contractor?

Applies to: all workers — this article explains the concept and routes you to your country's specifics.

Summary: Everywhere Ascen operates, workers fall into one of two buckets: employees (taxes withheld from pay, employer contributions, employment-law protections, a year-end wage statement) and independent contractors (paid gross, run their own business, handle their own taxes). What the buckets are called — and the exact legal test — depends on your country.

The two buckets, in any country

Employees: the company directs the work, provides the tools, withholds taxes from each pay, contributes employer-side payroll taxes, and provides legally required protections (minimum wage, overtime, leave). At year-end you receive a wage statement to file your taxes with.

Independent contractors: you run a business — you control how the work is done, can typically serve multiple clients, carry your own costs and risk, and are paid without any tax withheld. You report the income and pay your own taxes.

Classification is decided by how the relationship actually works, not by what a contract calls it — every jurisdiction applies some version of a control/risk/independence test, and misclassification has real consequences for both sides.

Your country's specifics

• United States → Am I a W-2 employee or an Independent Contractor (1099)? (US) — W-2 vs 1099-NEC, the IRS common-law test.

• Canada → Am I a T4 employee or a self-employed contractor? (Canada) — T4 vs self-employed, the CRA six-factor test (and Revenu Québec in Quebec).

• Outside the US and Canada → Ascen engages international workers either as employees through in-country employment (EOR) or as independent contractors — see Which countries does Ascen support (and which are excluded)? and your onboarding instructions.

A quick heuristic

Look at your onboarding: if you completed a Form I-9 and W-4 (US) or provided a SIN and TD1 (Canada) and taxes come out of your pay — you're an employee. If you completed a W-9 or W-8BEN/W-8BEN-E and are paid gross against your invoiced work — you're an independent contractor.

If your classification doesn't match how you actually work day-to-day, raise it with Ascen at support@ascen.com. Classification is an employment question and Ascen is your employer of record, so we're the ones who can review it — your staffing partner can't change how you're classified.

This isn't legal or tax advice — classification questions can be consequential; consult a professional or your national tax agency.