<prompt> Human: This all takes place in Illinois, by the way. My previous post can be seen at the link below:So for those out of the loop on my last post, I was told that the CEO of our company is potentially not paying us anymore. I was an hourlyfull time employee with reduced hours. But theyre not even paying the checks that are due to us today. Essentially, my coworkers and I are out of 3 weeks of pay, and our CEO just vacated. We were told he was mismanaging money, but also claims were made against him that he was outright stealing.I met with the rest of the company yesterday afternoon; two guys that own the building are starting up their own company to swallow the assets of the company that I worked for in the same building. They say that nothing will change for us, including wages, supposedly the only difference is the company name... BUT instead of being employed, he claims that for the short term he wants for us to work as 1099 contractors for his company.What types of things should I be demanding due to the change of employment? What kinds of things should I expect from being a 1099 contractor vs typical employment? What should I be doing right now, basically?I will be letting my coworkers in on this as well so we really appreciate any help from you all. Most of us are in our early 20s with probably little saved, so we need to act fast. In the other post I talked about a company that interviewed us, that was previously hoping to swallow our clients and employ a few of us; I am still DEFINITELY following up with them, as well. I understand that this new company is going to have a volatile year, at least, when it comes to holding clients and acquiring new ones. Right now Im going to the unemployment office to tell them about how Im essentially out of a job 3 weeks ago, and that my old CEO has been potentially pocketing my tax money.Again, we all really appreciate any help or insight you can give us. Thank you.tl;dr-- Business dead. CEO gone. He possibly stole our tax money from paychecks. The owners of the building are starting up competing business and hiring us all on as 1099 contractors, supposedly until the company acquires stability and then we will be officially hired. They claim our wages will not change.EDIT: I just filed for unemployment with my state. I havent received pay since 414, but they said they cant backdate it any further than 430. And apparently I am only getting 151 per week? Thats...like...groceries and a couple small bills per week.I ALSO followed up with the Dept of Labor. They told me that since my old company is out of business, they cant do anything. They also said that I could take him to small claims, but since hes known for dodging out on creditors, he will likely just evade me and I wont see a dime anyway.I also looked into misclassification of workers, and you all are absolutely right. Ill bring that to everybodys attention today.Assistant: That sounds like it could be a case of employee misclassification with an intent to evade taxes. I would consult with an actual labor attorney for the skinny, though.Your effective wages would change - youll be taxed an extra 7 for being self-employed.You need to do some soul searching to decide whether its worth staying with this company or jumping ship. Edit, 7 not 15.Human: Wouldnt it be worth it to at least stay with the company until I land something better?Im not too familiar with 1099s. So I should be asking for 15 wage increase? And even though Im contract, Im still able to jump ship the moment I find more stable work, right?  <response>: Start looking for a new job asap. If it seems more reasonable the take it. Hopefully you have some savings to weather not being paid.Good luck. 