Wrestlers Misclassified?

In our news of the weird for today, as reported by the Connecticut Law Tribune, attorneys for three wrestlers have filed a federal "legal smackdown" against the WWE for misclassifying the performers in independent contractor status, and denying them employee benefits. While seemingly absurd, the lawsuit is yet one more example of increased awareness around the issue of employee misclassification, and raises serious questions of Federal tax evasion. Beyond all that, as a writer for the Advocate quipped, "When you get hit in the face with metal chairs for a living, it's a good idea to have a dental plan."

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New Hampshire Added To List of States Cracking Down on Contractor Misclassification

New Hampshire can now be added to the list of states (including CA, NY, and MA), putting together special task force initiatives to crack down on improper contractor classification.

As reported in today's Nashua Telegraph:

"Labor Commissioner George Copadis said Wednesday his department has received enough complaints about the practice that it is has teamed up with four other state agencies, including the attorney general’s office and the Department of Revenue, to look in to how big the problem really is.

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Rep. McDermott introduces new worker classification legislation

Turning up the heat:

Proper classification of contractors and employees continues to hit the headlines on a regular basis, and the latest news is the release of yet another legislative effort to eliminate worker misclassification and help state and federal tax agencies recover more revenues without raising taxes. Representatives McDermott, Tierney, and Neal introduced The Taxpayer Responsibility, Accountability, and Consistency Act in session yesterday. Adding fuel to the fire, the labor Unions have issued a variety of press releases today praising the measure. The Unions argue that misclassification as contractors prevents workers from being able to join and therefore infringes on their right to organize.

Granted that this is an election year and a variety of powerful lobbies (and not just the unions) are interested in passing this kind of legislation, interest and pressure in the topic of worker classification will only increase in the coming months.

We'll be adding this bill to our Legislation Tracker page as soon as it becomes available on GovTrack, so stay tuned to these pages!

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MA Governor Cracks Down on Misclassification

One by one, the states are turning up the heat on independent contractor classification. On March 12, 2008, Mass. Governor Deval Patrick signed Executive Order 499 creating a joint task force to identify and crack down on illegal misclassification of workers as independent contractors.

"Through joint efforts, the Task Force is charged with combating the underground economy and employee misclassification, including efforts to: (a) foster compliance with the law by educating business owners and employees about applicable requirements; (b) conduct joint, targeted investigations and enforcement actions against violators; (c) protect the health, safety and benefit rights of workers; and (d) restore competitive equality for law-abiding businesses."

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Fedex Owes $319 million

IRS says Fedex owes $319 mln
in back taxes: filing
Reuters

Friday, December 21, 2007; 9:30 PM
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Fedex Corp (FDX.N)
said on Friday that the U.S. Internal Revenue
Service found that its FedEx Ground independent
contractors should be reclassified as employees
for tax purposes and that the company faced
related taxes and penalties of more than $319
million for 2002.

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