On July 14, 2009, Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley signed an Executive Order establishing The Joint Employment Task Force on Workplace Fraud (Download PDF). Maryland businesses which fail to properly classify individuals as employees as opposed to independent contractors will face large fines, penalties and assessments by treating an individual as an independent contractor when that individual should be treated as an employee. Employers may have heard about recently enacted language focused on the construction and landscaping business, but this Executive Order establishes a Task Force that may affect all Maryland businesses.
This Executive Order comes on the heels of the passage of Maryland Senate Bill 909, the Workplace Fraud Act of 2009, which will take effect on October 1, 2009, and will affect construction and landscaping businesses operating in Maryland. The Executive Order on The Joint Employment Task Force on Workplace Fraud seeks to coordinate and expand in areas other than construction or landscaping. One of its goals is "to develop strategies for systematic investigations of workplace fraud within those industries in which misclassification is most common," and "to consult with representatives of business, organized labor and other agencies to improve and expand upon the operation and effectiveness of the Task Force and its members." This new executive order is a "preview of coming attractions" for Maryland employers other than construction and landscaping contractors. Any Maryland employer utilizing "independent contractors" needs to carefully evaluate its practices because if the newly created law dealing with construction and landscaping contractors expands into other areas at the recommendation of the Joint Employment Task Force on Workplace Fraud, it is conceivable and even likely that the draconian logic of the newly enacted workplace fraud law will be expanded to other types of businesses. Click to Continue...
