US Department of Labor, Virginia Employment Commission sign agreement to protect workers from misclassification

Participants: U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division
Virginia Employment Commission

Partnership description: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division and the Virginia Employment Commission signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding intended to protect employees’ rights by preventing their misclassification as independent contractors or other non-employee statuses. The two agencies will provide clear, accurate and easy-to-access outreach to employers, employees and other stakeholders; share resources; and enhance enforcement by conducting coordinated investigations and sharing information consistent with applicable law.

Background: The division and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service are working with Virginia and 30 U.S. states to combat employee misclassification and to ensure that workers get the wages, benefits and protections to which they are entitled. Labeling employees as something they are not – such as independent contractors – can deny them basic rights such as minimum wage, overtime and other benefits. Misclassification also improperly lowers tax revenues to federal and state governments, as create losses for state unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation funds.

More information on misclassification and the effort are available at http://www.dol.gov/misclassification/.

Quotes: “The Wage and Hour Division continues to attack this problem head on through a combination of a robust education and outreach, and nationwide, data-driven strategic enforcement across industries,” said David Weil, administrator of the Wage and Hour Division. “Our goal is always to strive toward workplaces with decreased misclassification, increased compliance and more workers receiving a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.”

David Weil, U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division Administrator

“Virginia is excited to partner with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division on this important issue. Virginia has increased its emphasis on identifying misclassified workers. This MOU is another tool Virginia has in our effort to end misclassification of workers and the harm it causes.”

Ellen Marie Hess, Commissioner, Virginia Employment Commission