Indiana House of Representatives Approves Bill

The Indiana state Department of Workforce Development found more than 71,000 misclassified workers between 2004 and 2008 in Indiana, Niezgodski told his colleagues on the House floor. The peak year was 2006, when department audits of Indiana companies discovered more than 17,000 misclassified workers ?EUR??,,????'?????<

 

Construction companies that cheat the tax system by misclassifying their employees as independent contractors will have a harder time getting away with it under a bill the Indiana state House of Representatives approved.

Rep. David Niezgodski, D-South Bend, wrote the bill to help Indiana regulators find and punish companies that intentionally classify workers as independent contractors, instead of wage-earning or salaried employees, to avoid paying Social Security, unemployment insurance, workers?EUR??,,????'?????<

This bill will allow the state to assess violators civil fines of $500, and it will also raise fees independent contractors pay when registering with the state from $5 to $25 to help cover the cost of a new computer system to track misclassification cases. The bill also says that companies that have accidentally misclassified workers will be given seven days without penalty to correct the error.