Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is scheduled today to announce proposed measures to crack down on companies that misclassify employees as independent contractors.
A Hartford Business Journal investigation last summer found that the state’s two-year effort to stem the practice had resulted in more than 220 stop-work orders at construction sites statewide.
One University of Connecticut economist said the practice is part of an underground economy that costs state taxpayers about $10.5 billion in, among other things, uncollected workers compensation and payroll taxes, and unreimbursed medical care for workers.
HBJ’s investigation found that Connecticut’s enforcement efforts were hampered by a lack of staff and provisions in state law to bar repeat offenders from getting private work.
Neighboring New York and Massachusetts, however, have in place such provisions and have mustered a more effective crackdown.
Expected to join Blumenthal at a noon press conference at his office are representatives from the Chief State’s Attorney’s Office, labor unions and business.
