Employee time and classification regulations face changes on Capitol Hill
The wrongful classification of workers as independent contractors is drawing attention from federal legislators, who claim that the practice costs citizens millions of dollars because of improper employee tracking.
The misapplication of the independent contractor title is common in fields including television installation, construction and janitorial services, according to The Sacramento Bee. Because independent contractors do not receive benefits and are responsible for organizing their own federal and state tax payments, some cash-strapped businesses have wrongly labeled their workers and have not kept proper time and attendance information.
The Internal Revenue Service says the key defining attribute of independent contractors is that "the payer [of the contractor] has the right to control or direct only the result of the work and not what will be done and how it will be done."
A bill introduced by Sen. Bob Casey would make the wrongful classification of an employee an offense under the Fair Labor Standards and create financial penalties for violations, according to The Bee. The bill will also create regulations to inform employees of their official status.
With an added focus on the proper categorization of employees coming from Washington, the use of efficient and accurate recording of employee attendance for hourly wage earners will help abate claims of misclassification.
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