Welcome to the Worker Classification Casino!
First, the IRS is scrutinizing the employ/independent contractor issue -- and offering a very nice settlement program to encourage companies to prospectively classify as "employees" workers who they improperly classified as "independent contractor." See our earlier blog piece about the IRS's new program at 2011 Voluntary Amnesty Employee Classification.
Second, the Department of Labor and 11 state governments (Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New York, Utah and Washington) are working together to fight improper classification of workers as "independent contractors."
Please see full publication below for more information.