New legislation that went into effect April 10 is intended to curtail misclassification of transportation industry workers as independent contractors instead of employees. The Commercial Goods Transportation Industry Fair Play Act significantly restricts the use of independent contractors and imposes other new requirements on New York transportation industry employers.

The law is another step in the state’s effort to crack down on the use of independent contractors—and to recoup tax revenue not captured when a worker is classified as a contractor, not an employee. Employers must withhold state taxes from employee pay; not so for payments to independent contractors.

Originally published in The HR Specialist, New York Employment Law - June 2014