Agenda - Council Work Session - 07/28/2026

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HOME - FACTS - TABLES - VIDEOS - INFOGRAPHICS - AGENCIES - RESEARCH National Employment Law Project (NELP). (2016). Contracted Out: Findings from a National Voter Survey. Kev Finding: In a national survey of 1,000 registered voters, 84% of Americans said that companies misclassifying workers as independent contractors is a serious problem and 78% said that workers are better off when they are employees. 78% favor making it harder for companies to misclassify workers as independent contractors, including 73% of Republicans. Respondents of both political party affiliations support policies that make misclassification more difficult or shift legal liability to employers for contractors who do not pay their full amount due in taxes. Cooke, Oliver; Deborah Figart; and John Froonjian. ( ). The Underground Construction Economy in New Jersey. Stockton University. Kev Finding: An estimated 35,000 workers were misclassified or unreported (roughly 16% of the state's payroll labor force in construction), with unreported wages totaling between $284 and $528 million. This amounted to $20 million in lost state income tax revenue and up to $7 million in lost UI premiums. Galvin, Daniel. ( ). "Deterring Wage Theft: Alt -Labor, State Politics, and the Policy Determinants of Minimum Wage Compliance." Perspectives on Politics, 14(2): 324-350. Kev Finding: Employers base their wage theft strategies on the expected probability of detection and the monetary cost of a violation being detected. State laws that increase the costs of violations that are detected have led to statistically significant declines in wage theft, if coupled with equally strong enforcement mechanisms. Katz, Lawrence and Alan Krueger. (2016). The Rise and Nature of Alternative Work Arrangements in the United States, 1995-2015. Harvard University; Princeton University. Kev Finding: From 1995 to 2015, non-traditional employment rose from 11% to 16%, with online intermediary work, such as Uber and TaskRabbit, accounting for only 0.5% of workers as of 2015. Workers in non-traditional employment relationships earn less when compared to similar workers in traditional employment relationships. Duncan, Kevin and Jeffrey Waddoups. (2016). The Release of Davis -Bacon Certified Payroll Records, Exemption 4 of the Freedom of Information Act, and the Question of Competitive Harm to Contractors. Colorado State University -Pueblo; University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Kev Finding: Labor is a relatively minor portion of overall costs (14%-27%) in construction, so subcontractors making payroll information public will likely not allow competitors to outbid them. Trade secrets are not revealed in any meaningful way through payroll information. Making payroll information public would not put an employer in a less competitive position in future bids but would assist government regulators in enforcing labor laws related to wage theft. Schoonmaker, Derek. (2016). "Suit Against Trump Spotlights All -Too -Common Wage Theft." San Francisco Chronicle. Kev Finding: Wage theft is a crime against workers, against taxpayers, and against honest businesses. It is prevalent in low - wage industries such as construction, food services, custodial services, and landscaping. Juravich, Tom; Essie Ablaysky; and Jake Williams. (2015). The Epidemic of Wage Theft in Residential Construction in Massachusetts. University of Massachusetts Amherst. Kev Finding: Due to the transient nature of undocumented workers, many working in the construction industry never receive the wages they are owed. Employers in the examined construction projects reduced their building costs by 30% by engaging in wage theft. Many employers liquidated their businesses to avoid repayment of stolen wages. Cho, Eunice Hyunhye; Tia Koonse; and Anthony Mischel. (2015). Hollow Victories: The Crisis in Collecting Unpaid Wages for California's Workers. National Employment Law Project; University of California, Los Angeles. Kev Finding: Only 42% of unpaid wages due to wage theft were recovered after being awarded to victims by the California Department of Labor Standards Enforcement. The low chances of repayment combined with the exhaustive litigative process dissuades many from filing claims of wage theft. In response to low rates of repayment of stolen wages, wage liens can be used to prevent employers from dissolving their company to avoid repayment. When a wage lien is in place, a company dissolving or declaring bankruptcy must retain funds to pay the lien before liquidating. 56