What do you do when you need more people for a short period of time or just for a specific project? Or what if you need more help because you're going through a busy season? Maybe you can't recruit full-time employees who have the advanced skills you need. Most companies are either chronically short or suffer talent droughts. Faced with these problems, many company's have hired independent contractors or temporary employees. That can be a great solution. In fact the U.S. Department of Labor says that approximately 8.5 million people in the United States are working as independent contractors, independent consultants or freelance workers. But using such "contingent" workers can also be a management nightmare. Temps and independent contractors are not regular employees, and treating them as such can be a devastating mistake. For example, Microsoft Corporation will probably spend over $100 million to settle claims based on its use--or misuse--of independent contractors and part-time employees. This series explores how to use contingent workers successfully. You will learn how to meet your company's human resources needs and control the legal risk. It investigates strategies for identifying and meeting the needs of your company. You'll learn how to save time, money and headaches by hiring contingent workers and avoid the devastating consequences of misclassifying employees.