Agenda - Council Work Session - 07/28/2026

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HOME - FACTS - TABLES - VIDEOS - INFOGRAPHICS - AGENCIES - RESEARCH Holt, Josh. (2021). "Virginia Joins the Trend of States Cracking Down on Worker Misclassification in the Construction Industry." Common Sense Contract Law. Kev Finding: Virginia's 2020 employee classification law assumes all workers are employees unless the employer can prove they are contractors under the IRS's employment relationship test. The bill specifically targeted construction by barring known violators from bidding on public projects for two years and allows the Department of Taxation to impose penalties between $1,000-$5,000 per offense. LaBarbera, Gary. ( ). "Viewpoint: Measure Will Fight Wage Theft in Construction Industry." Times Union. Kev Finding: The President of the New York State Building & Construction Trades Council says that $300 million in stolen wages were recovered for exploited workers since 2011, but fraudulent contractors still retain hundreds of millions more. Obernauer, Charlene. (2021). "Op -Ed: Wage Theft is a Crime — It's Time to Put an End to It." amNY. Kev Finding: The Executive Director of the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health says that a "tell -tale sign of unsafe working conditions are whispers of wage theft violations against workers on private construction projects." Leberstein, Sarah. (2021). "The Next Big Step in Stopping Wage Theft in the Construction Industry." Gotham Gazette. Kev Finding: An employment attorney hears daily from construction workers cheated out of their wages by subcontractors, especially those on nonunion and residential sites where many immigrant workers are employed. Castro, Manuel. (2021). "Opinion: Wage Theft is Rampant in NY's Construction Industry. Albany Can Act Now to Curb It." City Limits. Kev Finding: Addressing wage theft and giving exploited workers a more secure path to recouping unpaid wages would represent a major step towards making sure that immigrant workers are given dignity though hard and important work. Sproule, William. (... ). "Op -Ed: Construction Industry Tax Cheats Need to Be Held Accountable." Metro Philadelphia. Kev Finding: Construction industry tax cheats fail to pay their workers fair living wages and rarely provide medical coverage, while also evading federal, state, and local taxes, overtime, and workers' compensation premiums. This gives them a tremendous competitive edge when it comes to bidding on both public and private jobs against law-abiding contractors. Construction Industry Tax Fraud. (2021). Construction Industry Insurance Fraud. StopTaxFraud.net. Kev Finding: This one -page fact sheet describes workers' compensation insurance premium fraud, notes that losses are estimated at $2 billion nationwide, and tells people how they can help. Construction Industry Tax Fraud. ( ;: ). Construction Industry Poor Safety Standards. StopTaxFraud.net. Kev Finding: This one -page fact sheet notes that contractors who skirt workers' comp, wage, and tax laws often cut corners with safety and that tax fraud robs state and federal governments out of $8.4 billion per year. Construction Industry Tax Fraud. ( ). Construction Industry Wage Theft. StopTaxFraud.net. Kev Finding: This one -page fact sheet describes wage theft, notes that construction workers have $946 million a year stolen from them, and tells people how they can help. Ormiston, Russell; Dale Belman; Julie Brockman; and Matt Hinkel. (2020). Rebuilding Residential Construction. In Paul Osterman (Ed.), Creating Good lobs: An Industry -Based Strategy, 75-113. MIT Press. Kev Finding: An investigation of 71 drywall installers by Carpenters Local 525 in Kalamazoo, MI found 94% of contractors misclassified workers; 73% of 1,840 workers were misclassified or working off -the -books. This book chapter describes the prevalence of illegal labor practices in residential construction and makes policy recommendations for incentivizing compliance with labor and employment law. 52