A little background info: I am a registered nurse that provides private duty nursing services. I own my own business and work under my own company name. I perform all of my own billing, taxes, etc. There are other nurses out here that do the same thing. We work independently from one another.

The child's father told all of us that work out here that he wants all of us to be at least 5 minutes early for our shifts and if we are on time then we will be considered late. I am not the best person in the world for being punctual but I do my best. Also we will not be paid for any time that we are there early, only the time that we are scheduled for.

Unfortunately I cannot bill in anything but full hours (there is no option in the billing software to calculate increments other than whole numbers). He threatened to call the insurance company to see if it is possible for him to dock our pay if we are late because we will not be working a full hour. All of us are constantly doing more than is required by our job descriptions. Although I know that this is considered a favor and not required of us I still believe that he should cut us some slack. If not for us their daughter would not have a ride to school most mornings.

I am under the impression that because I am the manager of my company and he is technically a customer to whom I am providing a service that he cannot do anything like this. Am I right and if so where can I get that type of information in writing to show to him?

Huh? What child? What are you talking about?

I'm sorry I thought I had put that in there. There are two other nurses and myself that work taking care of a young child at home on a vent. He actually does not require a lot of medical care and we are constantly doing more than is necessary just to fill time out there.

Since you are an independent contractor labor laws do not apply to you. It's going to depend on how your contract with him is worded.

I'm afraid I don't find it unreasonable for him to expect you to be on time.

Thank you for your response. I do not find it unreasonable for him to want me to be on time either, and I have worked on that problem (I was sharing a vehicle for a while and sometimes circumstances were not in my control). I am rarely ever late at all but when I am I believe that he overreacts. He once said that he was going to call the caseworker and demand that every time I am late she dock my pay by a half an hour, even if I was only late by a minute, or walked in the door at exactly the beginning of my shift.

Again, whether or not he can do that depends on your contract. He would NOT be able to do so under wage and hour law but as I said, as an IC wage and hour laws do not apply to you.