Are you an independent contractor being treated like an employee?

Virtual Professionals are on the rise in the employment world. As this is an emerging field of expertise, the boundaries are still being defined. Many clients hiring virtual professionals expect a boss/employee relationship. I think this mind set needs to shift from hierarchal to linear. Clients and virtual professionals are team members working towards a common goal.
This post on Bnet offers one foundational block to helping clients define the boundaries of working with a virtual professional.

clipped from www.bnet.com How to Manage Independent Contractors Who decides where and what time the person works, what tools or equipment they use, or which subcontractors to hire to assist with the work? Who is responsible for training? Examples: An independent trucker is a contractor if you hire him to make deliveries using his own truck and he sets his own schedule and hires his own assistants. The driver is not a contractor if you give him a daily schedule, a driving partner, and the truck to make the deliveries. Financial Control To what extent does the worker have unreimbursed expenses or make services available to the public? Can the worker make business decisions that would affect their profit or loss? Are they paid regardless of whether the work is completed? Examples: A cabinet maker is a contractor if she contracts with your company to do a job for a fixed fee. She buys her own materials and tools, and makes a profit only if she has charged you more than her costs.