From the baltimoresun.com —
“What is misclassification, exactly? Well, most federal and local wage laws apply only to “employees” — and rules such as overtime pay apply only to “non-exempt employees.” To avoid extra costs, about 30 percent of employers play brazen (and unlawful) games with these legal definitions.
Want to hire people without paying them the minimum wage — or unemployment insurance, or worker’s compensation, or Medicare tax, or many other expenses? Just don’t call your new hires “employees,” even if that’s what they are. Call them “independent contractors,” and see if anyone notices….
Under current federal law and the law of most states, workers can’t just sue their employers for misclassification. Instead they must file complaints with understaffed government agencies and wait for justice or, perhaps, permission to file their own lawsuit….
The simplest way to fight today’s plague of misclassification — and the acceleration that’ll be triggered by hikes in the minimum wage — is to allow private lawsuits from the beginning. With an attorney in their corner, workers can take on powerful corporations”
Read the full story at Employers skirt wage requirements
