I remember (from studying history) there was a time before the 1940s when companies would come up with all kinds of excuses to avoid paying employees they contracted with for the work they did. Thise employees has no recourse, and suffered accordingly. By the Great Depression things had to change. Labor laws were enacted that put employees in first place as creditors of companies, with strong penalties (e.g., jail/prison, steep fines, corporate death penalty) for not meeting payroll.
I remember an incident from my days as a Fortune 50 exempt employee. It was my first month on the job, and on payday all my coworkers got an envelope except me. (This was in the stone age, before email and virtual records, when everyone got either a paper check or paper direct deposit record on payday.)
Anyway, I mentioned it to my boss, who asked the payroll department in HR. Suddenly everyone in HR was freaking out--rushing around like headless chickens--to figure out and rectify what happened. I was presented with a paycheck less than 2 hours after asking my boss. They all knew that someone would get in serious trouble if an employee were not paid on time for their work.
Most Independent contractors don't yet have the legal status throughout the nation that would make stiffing them a crime, but travel/delivery gig contractors have been working on it. Maybe one day it will become real for the rest of us.