State Rep. John Galloway announced that he is working with his colleagues to introduce 15 recommendations contained in the Joint Task Force on Employee Misclassification’s preliminary report to the General Assembly released earlier this month.
The Joint Task Force created by Act 85 of 2020 and championed by Galloway studied the issue of worker misclassification and its impact on Pennsylvania. Misclassification of employees occurs when a business wrongfully classifies a worker as an independent contractor even though the nature, type and oversight of their work determines they should be considered an employee under the law. Misclassification can impact industries from home health care to construction to online businesses, like Uber and Lyft drivers.
“I fought to have my bill enacted because I was sick of seeing how employee misclassification was hurting Pennsylvania,” Galloway said. “I knew the legislature could level the playing field by preventing honest, hardworking Pennsylvanians from being wrongly classified as independent contractors and suffering from lost wages, medical bills and lack of unemployment compensation; law-abiding businesses from struggling with the impact of lost profits and competitive bids; and the taxpayer and state government from losing out on rightfully owed revenue that could be used to improve services and infrastructure.
“Criminals use employee misclassification to get rich in Pennsylvania at the expense of the financially vulnerable and the law abiding. I hope the legislature will adopt the proposals to end this unfair and unethical practice, which is currently bleeding the state dry so that we can build a better Pennsylvania with better jobs, better roads, better bridges and better infrastructure for everyone.”
Residents can review all 15 task force recommendations by reading the Joint Task Force on Employee Misclassification’s report at this link: pahouse.com/files/Documents/2022-03-08_031751__Act%2085%20Annual%20Report%202022.pdf
