<!doctype html public «-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en»> http-equiv=content-type> Recent business developments directed at ever-greater flexibility and cost savings have led companies to hire more workers under “sham” work contracts as a way of circumventing the legal consequences of an employment relationship. In these cases the work contract is being misused. The use of such sham work contracts may have adverse legal implications for the firm.