The Executive Office of Labor
and Workforce Development (EOLWD) said a task force recovered $15.6 million in
unpaid wages, back taxes, unemployment insurance premiums, fines and penalties
after thousands of investigations in 2013.
The Joint Enforcement Task
Force on the Underground Economy and Employee Misclassification (JTF) carried
out compliance checks under the direction Gov. Deval Patrick, who established
the JTF in 2008 as a way to recover money owed to employees and the state by
businesses operating in the "underground economy," a term that
describes businesses that don't adhere to state regulations when it comes to
employment practices and taxation. Common violations include deliberately
misclassifying employees to avoid paying unemployment insurance and wage law
violations.
To date, the JTF has
collected nearly $56 million by enforcing labor, licensing and tax laws,
according to EOLWD.
"Companies and
individuals who willfully avoid the law by misclassifying employees … or engage
in fraudulent employment practices of the underground economy put workers'
safety at risk, place legitimate businesses at a disadvantage and burden
taxpayers," EOLWD Secretary Rachel Kaprielian said in a statement.
Source: Worcester Business
Journal
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