State recovers $15.6M in underground economy violations
The Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development (EOLWD) said a task force recovered $15.6 million in unpaid wages, back taxes, unemployment insurance premiums, fines and penalties after thousands of investigations in 2013.
The Joint Enforcement Task Force on the Underground Economy and Employee Misclassification (JTF) carried out compliance checks under the direction Gov. Deval Patrick, who established the JTF in 2008 as a way to recover money owed to employees and the state by businesses operating in the “underground economy,” a term that describes businesses that don’t adhere to state regulations when it comes to employment practices and taxation. Common violations include deliberately misclassifying employees to avoid paying unemployment insurance and wage law violations.
To date, the JTF has collected nearly $56 million by enforcing labor, licensing and tax laws, according to EOLWD.
“Companies and individuals who willfully avoid the law by misclassifying employees … or engage in fraudulent employment practices of the underground economy put workers’ safety at risk, place legitimate businesses at a disadvantage and burden taxpayers,” EOLWD Secretary Rachel Kaprielian said in a statement.
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