Commentary and analysis by Jessica Kleinschmidt, ICon Senior Compliance Analyst/Corporate Counsel: In the world of independent contractor compliance, there’s been more activity in the last two years than the last thirty years combined.  So it’s no surprise that Fortune 1000 companies have been scrambling to implement 1099 compliance programs and prevent the financial and PR [...]

The Internal Revenue Service today launched a new program that will enable many employers to resolve past worker classification issues and achieve certainty under the tax law at a low cost by voluntarily reclassifying their workers. This new program will allow employers the opportunity to get into compliance by making a minimal payment covering past [...]

On September 8, 2011, the California legislature passed Senate Bill 459 prohibiting the willful misclassification of individuals as independent contractors. Labeled by some as the “Job Killer Act,” this new legislation creates civil penalties of between $5,000 and $25,000 per violation. In addition to making it illegal to willfully misclassify individuals as independent contractors, the [...]

Secretary  of Labor Hilda L. Solis today hosted a ceremony at U.S. Department of Labor  headquarters in Washington  to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Internal Revenue Service that  will improve departmental efforts to end the business practice of misclassifying  employees in order to avoid providing employment protections. These  memorandums of understanding arose as [...]

The labor Department is signing agreements to share information with nine states and the Internal Revenue Service as it gets more aggressive in its program to crack down on businesses that cheat workers out of their hard-earned wages. The information will help Labor officials target businesses that improperly label workers as independent contractors or as [...]

A Bridgeport drywall company recently was cited by the Connecticut Department of Labor for violation of wage and workplace standards.  Golden Drywall, a subcontractor on the project, was found to have four workers who were misclassified as independent contractors in order to skirt federal and state employment laws covering workers’ compensation, unemployment taxes and payroll [...]

Independent contractors are a popular solution to mitigate the risk of over-hiring.  But leveraging independent contractors isn’t all sunshine and roses.   There are significant benefits to the shift to independent contractors, but companies shouldn’t underestimate the challenges. To achieve a quality outcome, make sure you have access to the right experts from a legal, management, and administrative [...]

Four US Open umpires served up a class-action suit against the US Tennis Association yesterday over claims they were cheated out of wages and overtime.  The four umpires fault the USTA for classifying them as independent contractors. Click here for additional information.