US Department of Labor Joins Forces with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor to Address Employee Misclassification

Posted by cregerlaw on

By: Christina M. Reger 
 
Well, it’s not like I didn’t warn you that this day was coming. 
 
Today, the United States Department of Labor issued a press release stating that it has signed a three year agreement with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry to “provide 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.” 
 
Right… 
 
Dr. David Weil of the U.S. DOL describes the program as follows: “The Wage and Hour Division continues to attack this problem head on through a combination of a robust education and outreach, and nationwide, data-driven strategic enforcement across industries. 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.” 
 
The Press Release can be found here. 
 
For more information on the misclassification issue, click on the DOL resource here. 
 
Think your independent contractors may be misclassified, check out the factors in my July 20, 2015 post. 
 
So what does this mean for you? 
 
Big brother is not just watching, but he’s coming to a theater near you. If you have independent contractors and you have not evaluated whether they truly are independent contractors, now is the time, lest you be buying Uncle Sam a big bucket of popcorn to join you for the double feature.