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Employee Misclassification Hurts Businesses and Employees
Employee vs. Contractor
- Unemployment benefits for individuals (UI) Unemployment Insurance
(English/Spanish/Polish)
- Workers' Compensation
- Minimum wage and overtime
- Social Security
- Tax withholding
- Employee Classification Act - construction workers who believe they have been misclassified may also want to visit the Illinois Department of Labor
- IDOL Employee Misclassification Complaint Form
Employee or Contractor? It's as easy as 1, 2, 3:
Service performed by an individual for an employing unit, whether or not such individual employs others in connection with the performance of such services, shall be deemed to be employment unless and until it's proven in any proceeding where such issue is involved that:
- Such individual has been and will continue to be free from control or direction over the performance of such services, both under his contract of service and in fact; and
- Such service is either outside the usual course of the business for which such service is performed or that such service is performed outside of all the places of business of the enterprise for which such service is performed; and
- Such individual is engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, profession, or business.
Establishing an IDES account: Every newly-created employing unit in Illinois must file a REG-UI-1 Report within 30 days of the date upon which it commences business.
Consequences of Misclassifying Employees as "Independent Contractors" may include:
- Interest on delinquent unemployment insurance trust contributions at an annual rate of 24 percent
- Financial penalties for failing to report wages paid to employees
- Financial penalties for willfully failing to make contributions to the unemployment insurance trust.
- Additionally, officers and employees who willfully cause a business to fail to make payments into the system can now be held personally liable for the payments due from the business.
Workers' Compensation: An employer that knowingly and willfully fails to obtain insurance may be fined up to $500 for every day of noncompliance, with a minimum fine of $10,000. Corporate officers can be held personally liable if the company fails to pay the penalty. In addition, corporate officers who are found to have negligently failed to obtain insurance are guilty of a Class A misdemeanor; if they are found to have knowingly failed to obtain insurance, they are guilty of a Class 4 felony. An employee who is injured during the time the employer was uninsured may sue the employer in civil court, where damages are unlimited.
