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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US Department of Labor signs agreement with Hawaii’s Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to protect workers from misclassification

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

WHD News Brief: 9/04/2015
Release Number: 15-1761-SAN

 

Participants: U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division and the State of Hawaii’s Department of Labor and Industrial Relations

Partnership description: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division and Hawaii’s Department of Labor and Industrial Relations have 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 joint investigations and sharing information consistent with applicable law.

Quotes: “The Wage and Hour Division continues to attack this problem head on through a combination of a robust education and outreach campaign, and nationwide, data-driven strategic enforcement across industries,” said David Weil, administrator of the Wage and Hour Division. “Our goal is always to strive toward workplaces with decreased misclassification, increased compliance, and more workers receiving a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.” – David Weil, U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division Administrator

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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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WAGE STEALERS WATCH OUT: Seattle Police join forces with Labor Dept. to catch wage thiefs

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

April 04, 2015

 

(SEATTLE, WA.) — The City of Seattle and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division have agreed formally to share information and coordinate enforcement efforts to combat wage theft, a major problem across the U.S. and an even bigger problem in low-wage industries.

“A Memorandum of Understanding – the first signed by the Wage and Hour Division with a city in its western region – aims to boost the Seattle Police Department’s ability to investigate alleged wage theft cases and, when warranted, forward them for review by the City Attorney’s Office,” according to a Seattle Police statement.

In 2011 the City Council made wage theft – the intentional failure to pay or underpay an employee for work – a gross misdemeanor, punishable by up to 364 days in jail and a $5,000 fine.

Wage theft is the illegal withholding of wages or the denial of benefits that are rightfully owed to an employee. Wage theft, particularly from low wage legal or illegal immigrant workers, is common in the United States, according to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports.

DOL Signs Agreement with RI Department of Labor and Training

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

The agreement is a new effort by the agencies to work together to protect the rights of employees and level the playing field for responsible employers by reducing the practice of misclassification. 

May 08, 2015

 

The U.S. Department of Labor and the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training signed a three-year memorandum of understanding intended to protect the rights of employees by preventing their misclassification as independent contractors or other non-employee status. Under the agreement, both agencies will share information and coordinate law enforcement, according to DOL’s release.

The agreement is a new effort by the agencies to work together to protect the rights of employees and level the playing field for responsible employers by reducing the practice of misclassification. Before the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training agreed to partner with DOL, Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming agencies also signed similar agreements.

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For more information on misclassification, visit (DOL/Misclassification)

 

US Labor Department and Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development sign agreement to reduce misclassification of employees

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

WHD NEWS Brief: 1/20/2015 
Release Number: 15-0062-NAT

Description: Officials from the U.S. Department of Labor and the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development signed a memorandum of understanding with the goal of protecting the rights of employees by preventing their misclassification as independent contractors or other nonemployee statuses. Under the agreement both agencies will share information and coordinate law enforcement.

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(Copy of MOU)

US Labor Department signs agreement with Florida Department of Revenue to reduce misclassification of employees

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on
U.S. Dept. of Labor
Wage and Hour Division 
Release Number: 15-34-NAT
Date: January 13, 2015 

WASHINGTON — Officials from the U.S. Department of Labor and the Florida Department of Revenue today signed a memorandum of understanding with the goal of protecting the rights of employees by preventing their misclassification as independent contractors or other nonemployee statuses. Under the agreement, both agencies will share information and coordinate law enforcement. The MOU represents a new effort on the part of the agencies to work together to protect the rights of employees and level the playing field for responsible employers by reducing the practice of misclassification. The Florida Department of Revenue is the latest state agency to partner with the Labor Department.

In Fiscal Year 2013, WHD investigations resulted in more than $83,051,159 in back wages for more than 108,050 workers in industries, such as janitorial, food, construction, day care, hospitality and garment. WHD regularly finds large concentrations of misclassified workers in low-wage industries.

“Misclassification deprives workers of rightfully-earned wages and undercuts law-abiding businesses,” said Dr. David Weil, administrator of the Wage and Hour Division. “This memorandum of understanding sends a clear message that we are standing together with the state of Florida to protect workers and responsible employers and ensure everyone has the opportunity to succeed.”

“Working with the states is an important tool in ending misclassification,” said Wayne Kotowski, the Wage and Hour Division’s regional administrator for the southeast. “These collaborations allow us to better coordinate compliance with both federal and state laws alike.”

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Feds, Florida reach deal on construction industry rip-off

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

BY NICHOLAS NEHAMAS
01/13/2015 7:39 PM

 

Taxpayers were cheated.

Workers were swindled out of a fair shake.

Law-abiding businesses were forced to cut corners or go belly up.

A year-long investigation by Miami Herald and McClatchy Newspapers published in September found all this and more in Florida’s construction industry during the recession.

Publicly available documents and interviews with workers around Florida showed that contractors broke state law and cheated on their taxes in order to get work on the federally financed projects that were the lifeblood of the building industry between 2009 and 2013.

Now the U.S. Department of Labor has announced an agreement with the state Department of Revenue to crack down on the accounting trick that bad actors use to evade taxes and cheat their employees.

The problem, known as “worker misclassification,” happens when companies treat their workers as independent contractors instead of permanent employees. The companies don’t withhold income tax or file payroll taxes on those workers. They don’t pay unemployment taxes.

Labor Department Sharpening Focus on Misclassification

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Wednesday, November 19, 2014
By K. W. Mitchell

In combating employee misclassification, the Labor Department is taking strategic misclassification enforcement to the next level by placing greater priority on measures that are tactical and swift, a department official said.

“To carry out our job, we must be prudent and strategic in our enforcement actions,” said David Weil, administrator of the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division.

“We need to create ripple effects that impact compliance far beyond the workplaces where we physically conduct investigations, or the organizations to which we provide outreach directly,” Weil said Oct. 31 in a blog post.

Additionally, the division needs to be persistent in discovering ways to “make our investigation of one employer resonate throughout that particular sector and influence the behaviors of employers across that entire industry, to promote compliance across networks of business organizations,” Weil said.

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US Labor Department signs agreement with New Hampshire Department of Labor to reduce misclassification of employees

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

WHD News Release: [11/12/2014]

WASHINGTON – Officials from the U.S. Department of Labor and the New Hampshire Department of Labor  has signed a memorandum of understanding with the goal of protecting the rights of employees by preventing their misclassification as something other than employees, such as independent contractors or other nonemployee statuses.

Under this agreement, both agencies will share information and coordinate law enforcement. The memorandum of understanding represents a new effort on the part of the agencies to work together to protect the rights of employees and level the playing field for responsible employers by reducing the practice of misclassification. The New Hampshire Department of Labor is the latest state agency to partner with the Labor Department.

“Misclassification of employees deprives workers of rightfully-earned wages and workplace protections and undercuts law-abiding businesses,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez. “Which is why combating misclassification is one of several important strategies to promote shared prosperity to help ensure that our economy works for everyone.”

(Read More)