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HOME — FACTS — TABLES — VIDEOS — INFOGRAPHICS — AGENCIES — RESEARCH <br />Sproule, William. (2023). "Opinion: The Deadly Serious Consequences of Illegal Employee <br />Misclassification." City & State Pennsylvania. <br />Opinion: The Deadly Serious Consequences of Illegal Employee Misclassification <br />Low wages and employee misclassification often go hand -in -hand <br />with unsafe job sites where safety rules are sometimes ignored. <br />City & State Pennsylvania I By William Sproule I May 1, 2023 <br />There are an estimated 2.16 million construction workers in the U.S. who are illegally paid and misclassified as <br />independent contractors every year by thousands of unscrupulous contractors, intent on defrauding federal, <br />state and local governments out of an estimated $8.4 billion. The Pennsylvania Joint Task Force on the <br />Misclassification of Employees found that such misclassification resulted in an annual loss of $91 million to <br />Pennsylvania's Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund. <br />Greed is the prime motivating factor that drives more and more contractors to underpay their workers, offer <br />no benefits or medical coverage, and routinely use labor brokers to keep their employees off the books and <br />avoid paying taxes, Social Security benefits and insurance coverage. This illegal practice allows those who cheat <br />to substantially underbid their law-abiding competitors, who absorb all appropriate employee costs— including <br />paying all required taxes, health insurance, retirement and workers' compensation benefits. <br />Misclassification puts ill-gotten gains in the pockets of tax cheats, while also defrauding the government. It <br />encourages lawlessness and an environment where workers are exploited, taken advantage of, and <br />endangered. The UC Berkeley Labor Center found that "28% of families of construction workers in Pennsylvania <br />are enrolled in one or more safety net programs at a cost to the state and federal government of $428 million <br />per year." Compared to all Pennsylvania workers, construction workers are more than twice as likely to lack <br />health insurance (7% compared to 16%). <br />Low wages and employee misclassification often go hand -in -hand with unsafe job sites where OSHA safety <br />rules are often ignored, if nonexistent. The failure to enforce job safety requirements has had deadly <br />consequences — and law enforcement and local prosecutors are now paying attention and taking action. <br />One case involved a 27-year-old Irish immigrant with an American wife and an infant son. He tragically lost his <br />life working as a misclassified subcontractor for a Delaware County company that was criminally charged with <br />unlawful labor practices, including multiple counts of Workplace Misclassification, Deceptive Business <br />Practices, and Insurance and Worker's Compensation Fraud. <br />Another recent case involved an immigrant from Belarus who left behind a wife and a three -month -old child <br />after he was killed on a job where the contractor was cited by OSHA for general safety and health violations <br />and a failure to provide fall protection. <br />Misclassification has severe consequences beyond the financial loss to federal, state and local government <br />coffers. It is a symptom of an illegal business model that cuts corners, pays low wages, fails to play by the rules <br />and is willing to risk workers' lives. It's time to increase enforcement and prosecution of those who willfully <br />break the law and misclassify their workforce while ignoring job site safety requirements — all to enrich <br />themselves. <br />William C. Sproule is Executive Secretary -Treasurer for the Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of <br />Carpenters where he represents over 43,000 carpenters from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, <br />Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia. <br />22 <br />