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Microsoft abused subcontractors to deny them benefits even though they were de-facto employees. It doesn't matter what bullshit excuses Microsoft or anyone else comes up with, because they treated people like garbage.

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It's not Microsoft's responsibility to provide benefits for contractors or subcontractors. It's up to those contractors' actual employer (assuming W2) or themselves (if 1099) to provide those benefits. If you're a contractor under W2, you need to take that up with your direct employer, not MS. If you're a 1099, you need to negotiate a sufficient rate to provide yourself with ability to provide yourself with the benefits. I formed my own S-Corp and hired myself as an employee when I was contracting. Better rates than going through a higher agency. Made sure my rate was high enough I could afford health insurance (~$400/month as an individual). You have to negotiate these things, not just take an offer or leave it. Group you're contracting for is always going to low ball it, if you accept it as is, you're at fault. Contracts are negotiable, not take it or leave it. If they say it's take it or leave it, you leave it - they're not going to be worth working for, anyway, and they're going to have a really hard time filling their need.

That entire post sounds an awful lot like the kind of 3-year old tantrum someone at Microsoft would have if employee's decided to negotiate for themselves, or to work together through collective bargaining.

Also, condoning grift is unbelievably short-sighted. A fraction of people are badly taken advantage of or get trapped in bad situations, and when you allow that to happen around you, you are also condoning the <I>violence that inevitably ensues those situations and the violence that becomes a part of the local community, of which you may be a target</I>.

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