As the Obama administration’s ongoing fight against Independent Contractor misclassification rages on, more legislation has been introduced to support this crackdown.
The newest bill is the Fair Playing Field Act of 2010, recently introduced in the house, according to a recent Wage and Hour Counsel blog post by Littler. If passed, it would close what legislators call a “tax loophole” under section 530 of the Revenue Act of 1978 that allows employers to classify workers as Independent Contractors for federal employment tax purposes if the employer relies on a past IRS audits, plublished rulings or judicial precedent, or long-standing recognized practices in the industry.
This new piece of legislation joins the Employee Misclassification Prevention Act in a long list of efforts by Congress, President Obama, and individual state governments to crackdown on employers who misclassify W-2 Employees as Independent Contractors. In addition, President Obama’s budget for 2011 includes provisions targeting misclassification that will raise more than $7 billion in revenue over 10 years.
