§ 861-A — Legislative findings and intent

§ 861-a. Legislative findings and intent. The legislature hereby finds\nand declares that New York state's construction industry is experiencing\ndangerous levels of employee misclassification fraud. Unscrupulous\nemployers are intentionally reporting employees as independent\ncontractors to state and federal authorities or workers' compensation\ncarriers in record numbers. In addition, there has been an explosion of\nemployers who operate in the underground economy and fail to report all\nor a sizable portion of their workers.\n The legislature hereby finds and declares that recent studies of New\nYork city's construction industry alone suggests that as many as fifty\nthousand New York city construction workers -- nearly one in four -- are\neither misclassified as independent contractors or are employed by\nconstruction contractors completely off the books. Construction industry\nfraud reduces government revenue, shifts tax and workers' compensation\ninsurance costs to law-abiding employees, lowers working conditions and\nsteals jobs from legitimate employers and their employees.\n Therefore, the legislature hereby finds and declares that government\nhas an obligation to curb this underground economy, enforce\nlong-standing employment laws, ensure compliance with essential social\ninsurance protections and eliminate the unfair competitive advantage\nfrom contractors in the underground economy by and through the enactment\nof the New York state construction industry fair play act.\n