1099 Contract Labor vs W-2 Workers

#Hire Professionals. Then Let Them Be Professionals.

Almost every day, I see another notary post in an online group about receiving messages asking, "Have the documents been dropped yet?"

The assignment was scheduled after the last FedEx pickup.

Everyone involved knows the documents cannot go out until the next business day.

Yet the questions keep coming.

I understand why title companies and signing services care. Those documents are important. A delayed package can delay funding, recording, or closing. They have every right to expect that the package will be delivered as soon as reasonably possible.

What I don't understand is why experienced notaries are so often treated as though they need constant supervision.

I've completed nearly 5,000 loan signings over the past six years. Delivering the package is every bit as important as obtaining the signatures. If I fail to return the documents, I don't expect to be paid. That's part of the job.

But being asked repeatedly to explain the obvious—or worse, being told when I should drive to FedEx—is something different.

I'm a 1099 independent contractor.

That means I'm responsible for managing my own schedule.

I decide whether today's route makes more sense with one FedEx stop or three. I decide whether tomorrow morning's signing should be completed before making a single document drop. I decide the most efficient use of my time while still meeting my contractual obligation to return the package promptly.

That's exactly what independent business owners do.

Recently, another notary suggested I should make a special trip to FedEx on my day off—even though the package couldn't leave until the following business day anyway.

No.

I already work six long days each week. I'm not making an unnecessary trip simply to satisfy someone's perception that documents should already be sitting in a FedEx office. Tomorrow I have a morning signing. After that signing, both sets of documents will be dropped together. That is the most efficient use of my time, my vehicle, and my business resources.

Some companies even expect notaries to be standing in line when FedEx opens at 8:00 a.m., regardless of what the day's schedule looks like.

Why?

If my first appointment isn't until 10:00 a.m., and both packages can be shipped immediately afterward with no delay in service, what business purpose is served by requiring an extra trip?

Efficiency isn't negligence.

It's good business.

Of course, newer notaries sometimes need reminders. Every profession has people who are still learning.

But there comes a point where experience should earn trust.

If a notary has consistently demonstrated that they show up on time, complete the signing correctly, and return documents promptly, stop managing every mile they drive and every minute of their day.

Hire professionals.

Set clear expectations.

Judge us by the results.

Then let us run the businesses you hired us to operate.