Change To Win Hails Bill To Stop Wage Theft Due To Misclassification

May 22, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, DC – The following is a statement from Change to Win executive director Greg Tarpinian on the introduction today of federal legislation to prevent the misclassification of employees as independent contractors.

“Change to Win applauds the introduction of the Employee Misclassification Prevention Act of 2008. This legislation will go a long way to prevent and redress theft by unscrupulous companies that misclassify their employees as independent contractors in order to deny them legal wages and benefits.

“Workers who are misclassified are cheated out of their basic rights to minimum wage and overtime pay, as well as unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation. Misclassification allows low-road employers to undercut and underbid responsible employers. And every year, all levels of government are cheated out of billions of dollars in revenue, which means law-abiding employers and taxpayers end up paying more than their fair share.

“The Employee Misclassification Prevention Act of 2008, introduced by Reps. Rob Andrews, D-N.J., Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., Michael Michaud, D-Maine, and Chairman George Miller, D-Calif., would clarify that misclassification is a prohibited act under the Fair Labor Standards Act. It would increase penalties under appropriate circumstances, and it would require the Department of Labor and the states to work together to better detect misclassification.

“Passage of this worker rights legislation, combined with the Taxpayer Responsibility, Accountability, and Consistency Act introduced last month that takes aim at tax avoidance by employers that misclassify their workers, would constitute a double-barreled solution to this insidious and growing abuse.”

Source: Change to Win

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