Dive summary:
A study by a construction-worker advocacy group and University of Texas at Austin faculty found that as many as 20% of construction workers in the state are wrongly classified as independent contractors, and the state has enacted a law aimed at cracking down on the practice with fines.
Some estimates say that contractors who declare all their workers properly and pay unemployment insurance tax and workers compensation costs can find themselves underbid by 15% to 20%.
The law sets up a $200 fine for each worker found to be fraudulently declared an independent, though the Texas Workforce Commission is still figuring out how to catch violators through its auditing process.
From the article:
The loudest criticism of the law has been that it doesn’t go far enough and has no teeth for enforcement. The two largest agencies representing Dallas-Fort Worth government contractors endorsed it. ...
