Agencies Sign Misclassification Memorandum

Seven States Also Agree To Join Efforts To Protect Workers

Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to improve efforts to end the practice of misclassifying employees as independent contractors in order to avoid the protections of federal labor and employment laws. In addition, labor commissioners and other agency leaders from Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Utah, and Washington signed memorandums of understanding with the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), the Employee Benefits Security Administration, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, and the Office of the Solicitor.

These memorandums of understanding, which arose as part of the DOL’s Misclassification Initiative, will allow the DOL to share information and coordinate law enforcement with the IRS and participating states to ensure that employees receive the federal and state law protections to which they are entitled.

The Misclassification Initiative was launched under the auspices of Vice President Joe Biden’s Middle Class Task Force. Its goals are preventing, detecting and remedying employee misclassification.