Today’s Los Angeles Times reports on a crackdown by the California government on businesses that don’t pay minimum wage – or who classify people as ‘contractors’ who should properly be employees.
The program, led by Attorney General Jerry Brown, is called a ‘crackdown on the exploitation of workers’, but it’s really not new.
The state and federal governments are closely looking at all businesses who have Independent Contractors (1099’s), because many businesses use this classification to avoid payroll taxes, workers’ compensation, etc.
If you have 1099’s, make sure to review their status (this is a helpful IRS page). You don’t want to be on the wrong side of this issue.