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Payroll Fraud & Underground Economy

Worker Misclassification in Washington State Leads to Millions in Revenue Losses, New Harvard Report Details

December 16, 2019

Widespread misclassification of workers could mean millions of dollars uncollected and thousands of workers underpaid and without benefits

OLYMPIA, WASHINGTON — The number of employers engaging in worker misclassification in Washington state has risen substantially over the last 10 years. Misclassification has resulted in the denial of pay and benefits for tens of thousands of workers as well as millions of dollars in lost revenue, according to a new study from researchers with Harvard Law School’s Labor and Worklife Program.... Read more about Worker Misclassification in Washington State Leads to Millions in Revenue Losses, New Harvard Report Details

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Press Conference to release “Confronting Misclassification and Payroll Fraud” report

June 26, 2019

Massachusetts Atorney General Maura Healey held a press conference at the State House to highlight the LWP report  “Confronting Misclassification and Payroll Fraud,” by Mark Erlich and Terri Gerstein. The report details the increasing role of state agencies in enforcing misclassification laws and providing worker protections, crucial in an era of lax federal enforcement. 

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“Confronting Misclassification and Payroll Fraud”

June 25, 2019

Report details increasing role of state agencies in enforcing misclassification laws and providing worker protections, crucial in era of lax federal enforcement

by Mark Erlich and Terri Gerstein 

BOSTON, MA – Researchers from the Harvard Labor & Worklife Program, a program of Harvard Law School, released on Wednesday a report detailing the expanding and increasingly inventive role of state-level agencies regarding enforcement of worker misclassification laws and upholding workers protections. The report, “Confronting Misclassification and Payroll Fraud: A Survey of State Labor Standards Enforcement Agencies” is published in the midst of a decades-long trend of employers increasingly misclassifying workers as independent contractors. More urgently, within the past two years, the federal government, through the United States Department of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board, has been increasingly rolling back worker protections and enforcement.

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1099 Nation spreads its tentacles: Employees in every sense of the word — but without the benefits

April 10, 2018

 MARK ERLICH
Commonwealth Magazine

For the past 40 years, employers have pursued a strategy of shedding obligations to their employees as part of a broader outlook that views labor as one more risky liability to move off a balance sheet. For some, this has meant the purposeful misclassification of employees as independent contractors, a tactic adopted by Beldi’s disreputable construction contractors as well as more high-profile and celebrated firms such as FedEx and Uber.

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Lost wages, serious illness and poor labor standards: The dangers of rebuilding Texas and Florida

September 11, 2017
By CASEY QUINLAN, Think Progress
[Sharon] Block is also worried about whether there are enough resources at the agency. In addition to the proposed cuts and business-friendly approach of the administration, there is no OSHA chief. She states, “Based on their level of staffing and resources and everything else about their approach on worker protection issues, I’d be worried about how workers post-Harvey and post-Irma are going to be effective.” 
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How Gig Economy Businesses Can Create Good Jobs--or Destroy Them

September 7, 2017

By Leigh Buchanan
Inc. magazine
"A congressional hearing Wednesday explored how the sharing economy must evolve to ensure fair wages and stability for workers....Yes, flexibility is desirable. But it is no substitute for security, said Sharon Block, executive director of the Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School."

Also reported in: shrm logo"Are Federal Regulations Needed for Today's Sharing Economy?" By Kathy Gurchiek
Sep 12, 2017, Society for Human Resource Management

Also reported in: jd supra logo "September 2017 Independent Contractor Misclassification and Compliance News Update: Legislative Initiatives: CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE HOLDS EXPLORATORY HEARING ON CHANGES TO LABOR AND TAX LAWS AFFECTING THE GIG ECONOMY" by Locke Lord LLP and Richard Reibstein
October 10, 2017, JD Supra

... Read more about How Gig Economy Businesses Can Create Good Jobs--or Destroy Them
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Sharon Block addressed the 2017 Interstate Labor Standards Association

August 24, 2017
LWP Executive Director Sharon Block addressed the 2017 Interstate Labor Standards Association in Little Rock, Arkansas on LWP’s new project on Payroll Fraud and the Underground Economy.  Block previewed for ILSA members a survey that LWP fellows Terri Gerstein and Mark Erlich are developing to gain insights into new frontiers in misclassification and effective strategies for combatting it.
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Terri Gerstein

Director, State and Local Enforcement Project
LWP Fellow
Research on Labor Standards Enforcement

Terri Gerstein is the Director of the State and Local Enforcement Project at the Harvard Law School Labor and Worklife Program, and also a Fellow in the Program. She recently completed an Open Society Foundations Leadership in Government fellowship. Previously, she worked for over 17 years enforcing labor laws in New York State, including as the Labor Bureau Chief for the New York State Attorney General’s Office, and as a Deputy Commissioner in the New York State Department of Labor. Before her government service, Terri was a nonprofit lawyer in Miami, Florida, where she represented immigrant workers and also co-hosted a Spanish language radio show on workers’ rights.

Her work has appeared in publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Nation, The Guardian, and The Hill, among others; a complete listing can be found here. She has also appeared on Democracy Now, Univision and Telemundo. She’s a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School.

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tgerstein@law.harvard.edu
Twitter: @TerriGerstein
Ph.D. Françoise Carré and Randall Wilson. 4/25/2005. The Social and Economic Costs of Employee Misclassification in the Maine Construction Industry . Cambridge, MA: Construction Policy Research Center Labor and Worklife Program, Harvard Law School and Harvard School of Public Health. Publisher's VersionAbstract
You can call a construction worker by any other name , but they're still a construction worker, right? Not according to a recent study sponsored by Harvard Law School's Labor and Worklife Program. Construction workers, whose job duties remain unchanged, seem to be turning into "independent contractors," a label that's not only misleading but carries with it important worker compensation insurance and tax collection implications. The study, "The Social and Economic Costs of Employee Misclassification in Construction," conducted by Dr. Francoise Carre and Randall Wilson at UMass Boston's Center for Social Policy documents an alarming pattern of employee misclassification in both the Maine and Massachusetts construction industries between 2001-2003
Françoise Carré and Randall Wilson. 12/17/2004. The Social and Economic Costs of Employee Misclassification in Construction. Cambridge, MA: Construction Policy Research Center and Labor and Worklife Program, Harvard Law School and Harvard School of Public Health. Publisher's VersionAbstract
You can call a construction worker by any other name, but they're still a construction worker, right? Not according to a recent study sponsored by Harvard Law School's Labor and Worklife Program. Construction workers, whose job duties remain unchanged, seem to be turning into "independent contractors," a label that's not only misleading but carries with it important worker compensation insurance and tax collection implications. The study, "The Social and Economic Costs of Employee Misclassification in Construction," conducted by Dr. Francoise Carre and Randall Wilson at UMass Boston's Center for Social Policy documents an alarming pattern of employee misclassification in Massachusetts construction industry between 2001-2003.

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