House Bill 482, Employee Misclassification Reform, Passes the House

House Bill 482 passed the House yesterday, August 12, 2015.  Employer misclassification of employee status to independent contractors and related payroll fraud has been a constant but growing problem that creates an unfair advantage to businesses willing to play loose with the laws over other law-abiding businesses. These unlawful acts also create hardship for workers through the loss of workers compensation insurance and potential health insurance coverage. This practice hurts workers and honest businesses, and costs the state millions of dollars. Legislators in the House of Representatives have reacted with a bipartisan bill, supported by numerous trade associations, referred to as Employee Fair Classification Act.  Enactment of the statute would increase notice provisions, allow for greater coordination between agencies, provide greater civil penalties and would authorize the State Licensing Board for General Contractors to refuse to issue or renew, revoke, suspend, or restrict a license or take disciplinary action if a civil penalty was imposed on a licensed general contractor pursuant to a violation of the Act.  Now that it’s passed the House, it’ll be interesting to follow through the Senate.

To see the Bill Summary click here: http://www.ncleg.net/Applications/Dashboard/Chamber/Services/BillSummary.aspx?sSessionCode=2015&sBarcode=H482-SMRN-78(CSRN-34)-v3

To view the Bill click here: http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2015&BillID=h482