The American Staffing Association has released new guidance aimed at helping staffing agencies and their clients stay informed about the risks of misclassifying workers—and encouraging enforcement action to investigate potentially unlawful practices.
A growing number of app-based online job platforms that place health care workers may be avoiding payroll taxes and other employee-related costs by misclassifying the nurses and nurse aides they place as independent contractors instead of as employees. This practice exposes the caregivers, and the health care facilities to which they are assigned, to significant liability for unpaid taxes and other obligations.
In the paper, ASA outlines recent legal developments regarding misclassification at the state and federal level and discusses the potential liabilities if workers are misclassified as independent contractors. The guidance also includes checklists clients can use to determine whether an online platform provider is properly classifying workers.
“Worker misclassification poses a serious threat to health care facilities and caregivers,” says ASA senior counsel Ed Lenz. “ASA is encouraging all health care staffing agencies to help spotlight this pernicious problem.”
Issue Paper: New ASA Issue Paper Warns of Legal Risks in Misclassifying Health Care Workers
# # #
About the American Staffing Association (ASA)
The American Staffing Association is the voice of the U.S. staffing, recruiting, and workforce solutions industry. ASA and its state affiliates advance the interests of the industry across all sectors through advocacy, research, education, and the promotion of high standards of legal, ethical, and professional practices. For more information about ASA, visit americanstaffing.net.