Businesses that treat workers in a single tax year as both a W-2 employee and a 1099 independent contractor (IC) typically raise red flags at the IRS and state workforce agencies. Only in rare cases do agencies or the courts countenance a worker being classified simultaneously as both an employee
Richard Reibstein Esq.
As a leading practitioner of enhancing independent contractor compliance and defending against misclassification claims, Richard represents large and small companies in administrative and judicial matters across the country, in addition to his labor/employment and noncompete/trade secrets practices.
IRS to Reinvigorate its QETP Program in Effort to Crack Down Harder on Independent Contractor Misclassification
By Richard Reibstein Esq. on
Posted in Uncategorized
The Chief of the IRS’s Employment Tax Policy section, John Tuzynski, told lawyers on May 10, 2013 at an American Bar Association’s meeting of tax lawyers in Washington, D.C. that the IRS will soon be pursuing more cases involving independent contractor (IC) misclassification through its Questionable Employment Tax Practices (QETP)…
Cable Company Pays $1.075 Million to Settle Misclassification Case with U.S. Department of Labor for Cable, Telephone, and Internet Installers
By Richard Reibstein Esq. on
Posted in Uncategorized
The U.S. Department of Labor has targeted a number of industries for allegedly misclassifying employees as independent contractors (ICs), and cable companies are one of them. On May 9, 2013, the Labor Department announced in a press release that Bowlin Group LLC, which provides installation services for Insight Communications,…
April 2013 Monthly Independent Contractor Compliance and Misclassification Update
By Richard Reibstein Esq. on
Posted in Uncategorized
April 2013
In the Courts
- New York federal district court grants plaintiffs’ motion for class certification in lawsuit alleging that the United States Tennis Association (USTA) misclassified U.S Open umpires as independent contractors and failed to compensate them with overtime pay in violation of the New York Labor Law and
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3PDelivery: Independent Contractor Misclassification Costs Mount for IC-Dependent Trucking, Delivery, and Transportation Companies
By Richard Reibstein Esq. on
Posted in Uncategorized
My two prior blog posts have focused on the rising costs of misclassification liability for trucking, delivery, and transportation companies and the industry’s efforts to avoid such costs when confronted by state laws governing the status of independent contractors (ICs). One of the ways in which such companies have been…
The 2014 Budget and Independent Contractor Misclassification: “Preventing and Detecting Misclassification of Employees as Independent Contractors” Remains a Funding Highlight in President Obama’s Newest Budget
By Richard Reibstein Esq. on
Posted in Uncategorized
The President’s long-awaited 2014 fiscal year budget was released earlier today, April 10, 2013. One of the “funding highlights” listed in the section of the Budget covering the Department of Labor is to “Maintain support for agencies that protect workers’ wages, benefits, health and safety, and invest in preventing …
$8 Million Independent Contractor Misclassification Class Action Settlement
By Richard Reibstein Esq. on
Posted in Uncategorized
In October of 2010, I reported on a federal court decision certifying a class action of adult dancers that performed services at the Penthouse Executive Club in New York City; the dancers claimed they are “employees” under federal and state laws and had been misclassified as independent contractors (ICs). They…
March 2013 Monthly Independent Contractor Compliance and Misclassification News Update
By Richard Reibstein Esq. on
Posted in Uncategorized
March 2013
In the Courts:
- A Pennsylvania federal district court grants motion of trucking and courier company, American Eagle Express (AEX), to decertify a class of 201 delivery drivers who allege that AEX misclassified them as independent contractors and denied them overtime compensation under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act
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Commentary: The Freelancers Union and Independent Contractor Misclassification
By Richard Reibstein Esq. on
Posted in Uncategorized
Steven Greenhouse writes about the Freelancers Union in a timely article for the Sunday Business section of The New York Times today, March 24. The Freelancers Union is not a labor organization, either in the typical mold or one that is legally recognized as a “labor organization” under the federal…
Worker Classification Issues Are Raised by Affordable Care Act Proposed Regulations
By Richard Reibstein Esq. on
Posted in Uncategorized
Several comments filed by various industry groups on proposed regulations issued in January by the Internal Revenue Service have focused on worker classification ambiguities that are embedded in the “common law” standard for distinguishing between “common law employees” and bona fide non-employee service providers. The IRS had issued proposed regulations…