If drywall and flooring could talk, it'd probably have a dark story to tell about Wisconsin's ongoing construction boom. Behind projects big and small, say people close to the industry, there thrives an underground economy made up of contractors who cheat their workers out of wages and benefits to deliver projects on time and under budget.

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Gov. Tony Evers on Friday announced appointments to a task force that will examine worker misclassification and payroll fraud in Wisconsin.

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Gov. Tony Evers on Friday announced appointments to a task force that will examine worker misclassification and payroll fraud in Wisconsin.

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As Wisconsin revisits rules to crack down on worker misclassification, a new law that took effect in Minnesota on Monday is attaching criminal penalties not only to that particular abuse but also other forms of wage theft — making it one of the strictest such laws in the country.

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Nearly 20% of jobs in the United States are now some form of non-traditional worker-company relationship, like independent contractor. Independent contractor work is appealing for both the worker and the company. The contractor has the benefit of setting prices, work hours, type of work and completion schedule. It also has the freedom and flexibility to staff to meet their needs and reduce training time and costs.

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State officials on Monday said they are searching for new ways to prevent the abuse of worker misclassification, a persistent source of concern that contractors blame for keeping bids artificially low and giving rise to an underground economy.

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Gov. Tony Evers is convening a task force to recommend ways to combat the abuse of work misclassification.

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A construction lobbying group is pushing for changes to state law that would give Wisconsin companies a bidding advantage on state projects and require companies that misclassify workers to tack the cost of taxpayer-funded health insurance and other benefits onto public bids.

Tagged with: Andrew Disch Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin Inc. Badger Care John Gard John Schulze North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters Wisconsin Infrastructure Investment Now worker misclassification

The state Department of Workforce Development's work to crack down on employee misclassification has netted the state nearly $2 million so far and given rise to nearly 2,000 investigations.

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State officials’ efforts to crack down on companies that misclassify direct employees as independent contractors has generated more than $1 million for the state’s unemployment-benefits system over the past few years.

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