I was hired to work for a company a year ago as a w-2 employee and about 5 months ago was told I was being switched to 1099. I was naive and went along with it even after having to look up what it even was. Nothing about my role changed. I was still expected to be in office, still had the same duties, had to log my hours on a time sheet, paid hourly, etc. everything was the same. From what I read on the DOL website, I should be an employee.
This week I was told that basically I was being laid off and this was my last week, the company would be pausing due to finances and I was not an expense they could afford. This is a very small business. Now I am left without a job and income but with my classification as 1099 I don’t think I even qualify for unemployment. What are my options here?
I do not want to be a “bad guy” and get the owner in trouble (I do not believe they did this maliciously at all) but I feel like I am being left in a terrible situation. How do I approach this?