The Department of Labor (DOL) is adding firepower in its fight against companies that commit worker classification mistakes.
As part of its 2012 budget request, the DOL is planning on allocating $150,000 to the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) to train its safety inspectors to spot worker classification errors.
The DOL’s Wage and Hour Division is also asking for an additional $12 million in 2012, which will be used to expand its enforcement efforts and hire 90 new investigators.
Turning the heat up on employers even more, the DOL’s planning a $10.9 million pilot program that will reward the states that are the most successful (or improved) at detecting and prosecuting employers that fail to pay the appropriate taxes because of worker misclassification.
More money, more investigations
As a result of these increased enforcement efforts, the DOL says its Wage and Hour Division will conduct approximately 3,250 additional investigations, targeting employers in industries with higher rates of violations — such as construction, home health care and landscaping.
So if you haven’t done so already, now’s a good time to revisit any individuals your company has classified as independent contractors — and make sure those classifications will stand up to the Internal Revenue Service’s strict testing.
