127,000 Workers Found Misclassified In 2013 By New York Regulators, According To State’s Latest Annual Task Force Report On Worker Misclassification

According to this year's Annual Report of the New York State Task Force on Employee Misclassification, which was issued on February 1, 2014, the New York State Department of Labor completed in 2013 over 13,000 audits and investigations, in which nearly 127,000 workers were found to have been misclassified as independent contractors in the state and over $55 million in unpaid unemployment contributions were found to be due. The Report identified the top 12 industries showing the highest incidence of independent contractor misclassification in 2013:

Professional, Scientific and Technical Services; Food/Drink Services; Administrative and Support Services; Ambulatory Health Care Services; Construction; Educational Services; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports and Related Industries; Specialty Trade Contractors; Personal and Laundry Services; Couriers and Messengers; Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries; and Amusement, Gambling and Recreational Industries. The Joint Enforcement Task Force on Employee Misclassification in New York State was established in 2007, and issues annual reports to the Governor on February 1 of each year. The Task Force includes the State Department of Taxation, State Department of Labor, State Workers' Compensation Board, State Attorney General's Office, and the Comptroller of the City of New York.

In addition to the audits and investigations last year, the Task Force Report notes that its members conducted joint agency enforcement "sweeps" in 2013 at construction sites, bars and restaurants, automotive tire and repair centers, grocery stores, adult entertainment venues, and retail establishments, uncovering over $62 million in unreported wages.

The Report also notes that since August 2007, enforcement and data sharing activities of the Task Force members have identified over 114,000 instances of companies misclassifying employees and discovered nearly $1.8 billion in unreported wages. One of the many instances noted in the latest Report included a company in Florida that misclassified workers who were utilized as "brand ambassadors" promoting various alcoholic beverages at local bars and restaurants in New York.

The Report lists the Task Force's "Goals for 2014," which include "continuing to focus on unemployment insurance fraud and its prevention," conducting "industry-specific proactive investigations in industries with a high incidence of misclassification," and "working with other states to pursue employers...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT