Small Business Glossary and Definitions

Contingent Staff are interim employees who work for an employer on a temporary basis. They also are known as consultants, independent contractors, temporary contract workers, independent professionals and freelancers. These temporary employees provide advantages such as flexibility in labor resources, reduced payroll tax and benefits cost, access to otherwise unavailable expertise and saving in long-term labor costs. Disadvantages include lack of loyalty, training costs and disruption of the business’ culture and morale. Contingent staff also aren’t supposed to be shown how to finish a task because they work for themselves, which puts the focus on the finished product instead.