NJDOL, Treasury Raid Worksite In First Joint-Enforcement Motion to Fight Employee Misclassification  – Insider NJ

NJDOL, Treasury Raid construction site In the first joint enforcement action to combat the misclassification of workers

TRENTON – A team of more than 60 investigators of the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDOL) and the Ministry of Finance, supported by other state agencies, conducted an unannounced investigation into a construction site at 88 Regent Street in Jersey City in response to allegations of misclassification of workers.

Within weeks after Governor Murphy signed a new bill to bolster the state’s already tough misclassification laws, the Department of Labor’s Pay and Hour Compliance and Public Safety and Health departments joined the Tax Department on July 28 Ministry of Finance To investigate complaints about workers who have been wrongly identified as independent contractors or who have been denied the benefits of proper employment by paying cash. The allegations also include that workers are not paid adequately for overtime and that workers do not pay adequate taxes on purchased building materials.

The names of the companies are withheld during the investigation.

“With our partners in the Department of Taxation of the Treasury at our side and other supporting agencies, we are reinforcing our message that the wrong classification of employees, including paying cash, the crime is not worth it, ”said Joseph Petrecca, Assistant Commissioner of Wage and Hour Compliance. “Together we recorded statements from dozens of employees who work for more than 20 different subcontractors. I am proud of the professionalism, accuracy and coordination of our teams in this large-scale operation and look forward to further joint responses with our sister agencies. “

Corresponding results of the investigation will be passed on to other government agencies for further cooperation in enforcement.

“This government-wide approach shows the Murphy administration’s commitment to ensuring New Jersey workers have better wages and access to the rights, protection and benefits they need and deserve,” said Treasurer Elizabeth Maher Muoio. “I would like to thank all agencies involved for the cross-departmental coordination. Working together gives us the best chance to make a real difference when it comes to creating a more balanced and fair playing field. ”

Misclassification is the practice of illegal and improper classification of workers, which deprives workers of the right to minimum wages and overtime, workers’ compensation, unemployment, earned sick leave, job-protected family leave, temporary disability and equal pay and leaves them defenseless against discrimination. It also harms the vast majority of employers who abide by the rules by putting them at a competitive disadvantage over those who disobey the law.

The NJDOL, in a 2018 audit of 1 percent of New Jersey companies, found more than 12,000 workers misclassified, resulting in undisclosed wages of more than $ 460 million and lost contributions of 14 million US dollars for unemployment, disability, family vacation, and personnel programs. Since this test only covered 1 percent of the organizations, it is believed that the true scope of the misclassification is far greater.

In July 2019, Governor Murphy releaseda comprehensive report by the Task Force on Employee Misclassification, created in response to widespread misclassification of employees. Governor Murphy then signed a legislative package To tackle worker misclassification in January 2020, including empowering NJDOL to give employers who violate wage and working time laws a stoppage, and simplifying the inter-agency exchange of tax information.

This spring, for the first time, NJDOL exercised its authority to suspend all operations of a company due to repeated and persistent violations of state wage and working time laws. Earlier work stoppages were ordered at a certain construction site due to suspected violations.

For more information about New Jersey wage and hour laws, visitmyworkrights.nj.gov. To report a suspected misclassification, visit www.nj.gov/labor/wageandhour/.

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