AGREEMENT BETWEEN US DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, OREGON BUREAU OF LABOR PROVIDES EDUCATION, ENFORCEMENT TO PROTECT WORKERS FROM MISCLASSIFICATION

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

WHD News Brief:
04/04/2016

Release Number:
16-0414-NAT

Participants:
U.S. Department of Labor’s
Wage and Hour Division
Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries

Partnership description:
The division and bureau signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding intended to protect employees’ rights by preventing their misclassification as independent contractors or other non-employee statuses. The two agencies will provide clear, accurate and easy-to-access outreach to employers, employees, and other stakeholders; share resources and enhance enforcement by conducting coordinated investigations and sharing information consistent with applicable law.

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BREAKING: McCrory issues executive order on worker misclassification (NC)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Posted by : Rob Schofield
Friday, December 18, 2015

 

Gov. McCrory took a step in the right direction this afternoon on the issue of employee misclassification – the persistent problem that plagues thousands of North Carolina businesses wherein workers are improperly treated as contractors when they ought to be employees.  As we have reported on multiple occasions this year (and as Raleigh’s News & Observer documented a while back in its special series “Contract to Cheat,”) this is a huge problem that harms workers and honest businesses and robs the state of tax revenue. Doug Burton, a Triangle area contractor put it this way:

“Treating employees as independent contractors when in fact they are regular employees is a fraudulent business practice that has become an epidemic. Some call this ‘misclassification,’ but it is in fact fraud that lets these cheating businesses – many from out of state – off the hook for basic protections, including minimum wage, overtime pay, workers’ compensation, health and safety protections, unemployment insurance, federal and state tax withholding, social security withholdings and matching and more.

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NY Task Force to Combat Worker Exploitation Gets Boost

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

October 16, 2015

NEW YORK – Gov. Andrew Cuomo this week announced new measures to advance the state’s Task Force to Combat Worker Exploitation, but advocates are concerned it may not be enough.

The measures include funding to coordinate outreach, investigations and prosecutions, and a new anti-retaliation unit for workers who stand up for their rights. According to Anita Halasz, executive director of Long Island Jobs with Justice, many of the workers who will benefit are immigrants.

“We definitely commend the governor for taking this very important step,” she said, “because, oftentimes, immigrant workers are working in the shadows and are unable to represent themselves.”

Worker advocates, however, are concerned that the additional $700,000 in funding is too little to address the problem of worker exploitation statewide.

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More than $39 million in grants awarded to improve performance, integrity of state unemployment insurance programs and reduce worker misclassification

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

43 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico receive funding

 

ETA News Release 9/22/2015
Release Number: 15-1888-NAT

WASHINGTON – More than $39.3 million in federal grants awarded today will enhance unemployment insurance programs in 45 states and territories, and reduce the misclassification of employees as independent contractors, the U.S. Department of Labor announced.

The funding will help prevent and detect improper benefit payments, improve program performance, address outdated information technology systems, and combat employee misclassification that underpays and denies benefits to workers and hurts local economies.

“For more than 80 years, the unemployment insurance system has been a crucial lifeline for millions of working people who lost their job through no fault of their own,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez. “These grants will help states use every tool at its disposal to ensure payments are available to those who are eligible, and take important steps to reduce and recover improper payments. The funds will also identify new ways to level the playing field for responsible employers.”

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More than half of states now onboard with feds’ IC misclassification fight

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

September 08 2015

 

Vermont signed a three-year memorandum of understanding with the US Department of Labor to fight misclassification of employees as independent contractors – it’s the 26th state to do so, following Alaska in August and Kentucky in July.

“Misclassification deprives workers of their hard earned wages and undercuts businesses that follow the law,” said David Weil, US Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division administrator. “This agreement sends a clear message that we are standing together with the state of Vermont to protect workers and responsible employers.”

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DOL is Watching: Are You properly Classifying Employees?

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

posted on: Wednesday, September 16, 2015

 

Recently, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) issued an Administrator’s Interpretation regarding the classification of independent contractors under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA or Act). Much has been written about this “interpretation.” In review, the interpretation is best understood as an aspirational view based on an administrative belief that all workers should be employees. While DOL’s interpretation is supported by case law, in many cases, the supporting law constitutes minority or aberrational positions. Whether DOL’s position is ultimately sustained by the courts or not, it is important to understand DOL’s enforcement position.

The DOL takes the position that “most workers are employees under the FLSA’s broad definitions.” This pronouncement strongly signals that the DOL will continue to aggressively pursue misclassification claims. The DOL has entered into memoranda of understanding with at least 25 state enforcement agencies, as well as the IRS, in order to bring enforcement actions regarding alleged misclassifications.

Michael F. Sabitoni: I’m thrilled to see crackdown on bad R.I. businesses

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on
By Michael F. Sabitoni

Posted Sep. 18, 2015 at 2:01 AM

A $730,000 fine! That is what a construction subcontractor hanging drywall recently voluntarily agreed to pay to Rhode Island for misclassification and wage and hour violations on just one public works project.
According to the Sept. 1 news story “R.I. construction firm settles with DLT to pay more than $730,000 in back wages, penalties,” the subcontractor’s lawyer actually commended the owner of the company for coming “to the plate” and working “to make things right” rather than fleeing the country and/or filing bankruptcy. Wow, what an upstanding citizen!

When someone blatantly exploits workers in such an egregious way, we in the trades do not know how anyone could commend the perpetrator in any respect. The fact of the matter is the only reason this contractor is coming “to the plate” is not because of character, it is because of money and/or profits. It goes to show you how lucrative cheating is in the construction industry.

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Misclassification of workers called a ‘serious’ problem

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Laurie Merrill, The Republic
8:13 p.m. MST April 1, 2015

 

The federal government is using enforcement and education in its ongoing battle to stop construction businesses from hiring off-the-books laborers to cut costs, a Labor Department official said.

“There are, sadly, businesses out there that use misclassification as a business model,” David Weil, U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division administrator, said at a construction industry seminar in Phoenix Wednesday.

The practice of paying lower wages to untrained workers by misclassifying them as independent contractors is growing, Weil said. By doing so, companies avoid paying taxes, employment insurance, liability coverage and legal wages. Underpaid employees often are afraid to come forward.

“The misclassification of employees as independent contractor presents one of the most serious problems facing affected employees, employers and the entire economy,” Weil said.

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