Millions Of U.S. Workers Are Cheated By Mis-Classification As Contractors

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.laborradio.org/node/13011

Submitted by Doug Cunningham on February 25, 2010 - 4:03pm
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By Doug Cunningham

Millions of workers in America are being mis-classified by their employers as independent contractors. The Department of Labor estimates as many as 30 percent of companies are mis-classifying workers. Chris Sloan is Government Affairs Director for the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades.

: “An employer who is looking to evade paying the proper taxes in terms of social security, unemployment insurance, worker’s compensation and other payroll taxes will mis-classify or re-classify their employees as independent contractors.”

Sloan says it’s a huge problem – particularly in the construction trades - that cheats both workers and taxpayers.

: “In construction, over 20 percent of the construction workforce was being mis-classified. It's a huge problem in terms of how workers are being treated on the job site, whether they are able to provide for their families and whether or not state and local governments that are going through huge budgetary constraints now are able to pay for services like hospitals and schools for our kids."

The Obama administration is cracking down on the problem, adding a hundred new enforcement officers. Legislation is also being introduced in Congress to prevent the mis-classification of employees.

[tridim]

1. My former boss almost got away with this..

The UI office made the determination that he was evading UI taxes and made him pay, problem is he only paid on a portion of my salary, so I'm only receiving about 25% of the UI benefits I should receive. Gee, thanks boss. I'm certain there are other taxes he never paid, and so far there is nothing I can do about it. He also still owes me $34,000 on a completed contract.

[whyverne]

2. Definitely against the law.

A simple rule of thumb is if they tell you what time to come to work and what time to leave then you are an employee. If you show up when you want and leave when you want then you are a independent contractor.