From the Memphis Business Journal — “One of the supposed benefits of the Affordable Care Act is that it makes health insurance accessible to everyone and affordable. The ability to buy subsidized insurance on the insurance exchanges could potentially free people to start their own businesses because they won’t have to rely on employer-sponsored coverage. But will…
Dishonest contractors cheat their workers
posted by Nathan S. Gibson •
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…
Are you actually an independent contractor? A rough diagnostic.
posted by Nathan S. Gibson •
From the The Washington Post — “Perhaps the most relevant question in the workplace today — and one that’s becoming harder to answer — is “whom do you work for”? Increasingly, employers would like for the answer to that question to be “yourself”: You take on the responsibilities of being the sole proprietor of your own independent…
Texas business, labor interests team to push for reforms
posted by Nathan S. Gibson •
From the News Tribune – ” An unlikely alliance between business and labor advocacy groups is pushing business-friendly Texas to adopt state and local reforms in order to bust private companies that cheat on taxes owed to the federal government on public projects. The contracting scheme is used by construction companies that mislabel workers as…
Tax cheats prey on immigrants in construction trade
posted by Nathan S. Gibson •
From The Seattle Times — “A nationwide McClatchy investigation found that in Southern states, where there’s a lack of unions and a supply of eager immigrants like Barreda, as many as a third of construction workers have been wrongly classified as independent contractors instead of employees.The problem persists across the nation, and each year the practice costs…