DC Council Urged to Pass Workplace Fraud Bill

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)Workplace fraud — the misclassification of employees as independent contractors — “hurts workers, employers who play by the rules, and taxpayers,” said Metro Council President Jos Williams in written testimony submitted to a hearing yesterday held by the DC City Council’s Committee on Housing and Workforce Development. By illegally misclassifying their employees as independent contractors or by inserting subcontractors between themselves and their employees, many employers avoid legitimate taxes, and attempt to ignore wage and hour laws and many other labor laws, including DC First Source regulations, said Williams. “When employers cheat, misclassified employees are forced to work for substandard wages and benefits and local governments do not receive badly needed revenues.” Williams, along with representatives of DC building trades unions, testified in support of the DC Workplace Fraud Act, which would prohibit employers from misclassifying employees. The bill was introduced by At-Large Councilmembers Michael Brown and Phil Mendelson. - image courtesy of i-sight.com