A Taste of Things to Come for All Employers in New York
Governor Paterson recently signed into law the Construction Industry Fair Play Act. Targeting the construction industry, it creates a presumption that anyone working for on a construction project is an employee. It also provides for monetary and criminal penalties for misclassification of workers as independent contractors.
The Governor’s Press Release would have your believe that law abiding employees are done wrong by their seemingly evil employers who want nothing more than to harm them. While this may in fact be true for some employers, I can assure you that there are many that want to comply with the law.
The real reason for this new law is essentially money. The state is broke and this is a way to force the issue. The problem here is that this is probably a signal of things to come. At some point I am sure that this type of legislation will be proposed for all employers in New York, not just the construction industry. All of the small employers who don’t have the resources to comply with all of the regulations we now have will have yet another to comply with.
My experience shows that in my dealings with small employers in particular, that many workers come to them and present themselves as independent contractors. They often refuse to go on payroll and convince the employer to hire them. Then, when there is no more work, they miraculously think that they are eligible for unemployment insurance benefits. Funny how they refused to have their employer collect taxes and insisted on working off the book – often by concocting a story that they really are in business for themselves – yet, this is all the employer’s fault.
If you think I am kidding, think again. I’ve had unemployed people for years offer to work for me as long as I pay them as a “consultant.” When I insist that they are employees, they are suddenly uninterested when they actually have to pay taxes. Heck, I even had an employment lawyer (one who ought to know better) who insisted on being an independent contractor!
I think the message here is pretty clear. All employers are evil and are at fault and they will pay.
