From the The Bellingham Herald — “Fortunately, Washington is one of the states aggressively chasing the cheaters. Olympian reporter Melissa Santos found that in 2013 state Labor & Industries caught 14 percent of the nearly 4,000 employers it audited misclassifying workers.
Although the state recovered the $12.7 million in unpaid workers’ compensation premiums, it sent only three to criminal prosecutors. And L&I is convinced it isn’t catching everyone.
To do better, state enforcement officers now cross-check government databases. If a worker who is classified as an independent contractor isn’t filing business tax forms, something illegal may be occurring.
The federal government and other states could take a lesson from Washington state. And we could prosecute more offenders. It’s good to recover owed revenue, but blatant and repeated criminal activity should be punished…”
Read the full story at Dishonest contractors cheat their workers
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