Texas GOP Vote

As the Texas Legislature begins its 2013 regular session, employers across the state are looking at proposed legislation to place tighter controls on preventing employee misclassification. Misclassification is a practice used by many unscrupulous companies where they take people who should be classified as hourly employees and instead classify them as 1099 subcontractors. This gives them an unfair competitive advantage over companies who properly classify their employees and cheats the state and taxpayers on many levels as 

For over two years now, I have been writing about unethical businesses using employee misclassification as a strategy to create an unfair competitive advantage over legitimate employers in the marketplace. According to an article this week on Construction Citizen, we may finally be moving in the right direction thanks to business leaders, the Texas Workforce Commission, and a bipartisan group of Texas legislators coming together to take action for the upcoming session of the Texas Legislature.

It is time for Republicans in Texas to take a leadership role in solving the problem of employee misclassification and payroll fraud. During the 2011 Legislative Session there was good legislation put forward, but it did not get enough support from Republicans to move forward. These are not Democrat or Republican issues, but rather they represent principles of the rule of law and fairness. Republicans should not be tricked by some business leaders into believing this is anti-business legislation.

Employee misclassification and wage theft continue to be a serious problem that affects individuals, businesses and the Texas economy. Earlier this month, I wrote about an incident of wage theft that involved Houston Independent School District (HISD). The story centered around two people, Marvin Mundo and Marciano Cruz.  These two men had worked on projects for Jane Long Middle School and Sharpstown High School.