Well, if the kind of work you are trying to get done is not your “specialty,” I would suggest hiring a sub - because you pay them for the work and they become your contractor and you become their client and they have full liability (just like you have for the client).
If you’re confident in your skills to preform a certain work, just hire the employee and make sure he does a good job 
Hope I was able to help!
Good Luck,
The SolAir & Energy Team.
Same as the Solar Energy team said, except in our case, being generals we only sub out when we have need for a specialty we don’t have in house already.
When I’m using the same sub more than 30 hours a week, and business is looking strong for the foreseeable future, I start looking for a similarly skilled laborer I can hire.
We have five full time guys and will always sub out more than we do in house.
We want to give our clients the best value, and my carpenters cannot install tile at the same level of quality as a good tile sub contractor.
I feel sub contractors or more entrepreneurial than employees and tend to work more efficiently.
Also with good subs, you can ask for a fixed price estimate for there task before submitting a job proposal which eliminates your labor risk (employee taking longer than you estimated).
Sometimes the best solution for everyone is for the general to hire a sub. If the particular specialty work is not something that the general could offer enough of to employ someone, the best way to secure the best expertise is to hire a sub. Personally, I am just as selective with subs as I am with employees.
