Employment Arrangements: Improved Outreach Could Help Ensure Proper Worker Classification

[Excerpt] Millions of U.S. workers participate in contingent employment, such as temporary or part-time work, and not in permanent or full-time jobs. The Department of Labor (DOL) enforces several labor laws to protect these and other workers, including the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which provides minimum wage, overtime pay, and child labor protections. In June 2000, GAO reported that contingent workers lagged behind standard full-time workers in terms of income, benefits, and workforce protections, and that some employees do not receive worker protections because employers misclassified them as independent contractors. GAO was asked to update this report by describing (1) the size and nature of the contingent workforce, (2) the benefits and workforce protections provided to contingent workers, and (3) the actions that DOL takes to detect and address employee misclassification. We analyzed DOL survey data on contingent workers and interviewed DOL officials. Contingent workers constituted a relatively constant proportion of the total workforce from 1995 through 2005 and had diverse characteristics. While the population of the contingent workforce grew by an estimated 3 million workers during this time period, the proportion of contingent workers in the total workforce remained relatively constant at about 31 percent. In 2005, there were about 42.6 million contingent workers in the workforce. Contingent workers vary in terms of their demographic characteristics, industries, and occupations. For example, on average, contingent workers range in age from about 35 years for one category of temporary workers to about 48 years for self-employed workers. In addition, contingent workers are employed in a wide range of industries and occupations, including the services industry, construction, and retail trade. A smaller proportion of contingent workers than of standard full-time workers has health insurance or pension benefits, or is protected by key workforce protection laws, including laws designed to ensure proper pay and safe, healthy, and nondiscriminatory workplaces. While 72 percent of standard full-time workers received employer-provided health insurance in 2005, the proportion of contingent workers who received employer-provided health insurance ranged from 9 to 50 percent, depending on the category of contingent worker. With regard to pension benefits, 76 percent of standard full-time workers reported working for an employer who offered a pension, whereas 17 to 56 percent of contingent workers reported working for an employer who offered a pension. One reason that contingent workers are less likely to receive protections is that some laws contain requirements that exclude certain categories of contingent workers. DOL detects and addresses misclassification of employees by investigating complaints, but does not always forward misclassification cases to other federal and state agencies. Some workers do not receive worker protections to which they are entitled because employers misclassify them as independent contractors--a category of contingent workers excluded from many protections--when they should be classified as employees. DOL investigators detect and address employee misclassification primarily when responding to FLSA minimum wage and overtime pay complaints. DOL investigators examine whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor to determine coverage under FLSA. DOL relies heavily on complaints from workers to enforce FLSA, but the FLSA workplace poster does not contain any information on employment classification or provide a telephone number for individuals to register complaints. Misclassification of employees may contribute to an FLSA violation or may violate laws enforced by other agencies, such as tax laws. DOL procedures require officials to share information with other federal and state agencies whenever investigators find possible violations of other laws. However, the district offices we contacted vary in how often they forward misclassification as a possible violation of other agencies\u27 laws

National issues in technology transfer

A well-accepted definition of technology transfer is “the movement of know how, technique, and technology across organizational boundaries.” If you accept this definition, then what is interesting about it is that nobody knows how to do it very well… as a nation, that is. Different nations do different pieces of it better than others. You find the Japanese running around looking at us to see how to do technology transfers from universities to industry, which they do badly. We run around looking at the Japanese to find out how to transfer technology from corporate R&D to manufacturing. And the Europeans are running around looking at both of us

Legal themes concerning obesity regulation in the United States: Theory and practice

Despite national health objectives to reduce the incidence of obesity to 15% of the population by 2010, public health data suggest that the incidence of obesity in the United States is actually increasing. The U.S. recognizes that it (like other industrialized countries) faces an epidemic of obesity and related health conditions. How can U.S. jurisdictions (federal, state, and local) and the private sector respond to this epidemic through laws and policies that are directly or indirectly designed to address obesity? This article analyzes the theoretical and practical roles of law as a tool to curb obesity in the U.S. It proffers ten major legal themes to address obesity among the U.S. population, including: (1) use of incentives to encourage healthier behaviors; (2) use of financial disincentives to discourage unhealthy behaviors; (3) requirements to improve food quality, diversity, or availability; (4) compensation for injured persons seeking recourse; (5) restriction of access to unhealthy foods; (6) regulations aimed at influencing consumer choices; (7) control of marketing and advertising; (8) creation of communities that support healthy lifestyles; (9) physical education/fitness requirements; and (10) insurance coverage mandates

The Income Tax Compliance Cost of Big Business

A survey of 1,329 of the largest corporations m the United States reveals that the average annual cost of compliance with federal and subfederal corporation income taxes is approximately $1.565 million, implying an aggregate annual compliance cost of over$2 billion. As a fraction of revenue raised, these compliance costs are lower than estimates that have been made for the individual income tax. The cost-to-revenue ratio is higher for state corporate tax systems than it is for the federal tax system, presumably reflecting the nonuniformity of state tax systems There is near unanimity among senior corporate tax officers that the Tax Reform Act of 1986 added complexity to the tax system, resulting in a combination of higher compliance costs and less accurate information transmission. They point to, in particular, the alternative minimum tax, inventory capitalization rules, and the taxation of foreign-source income as growing sources of complexity.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/69154/2/10.1177_109114219602400401.pd

Policy Issues Associated With Analyzing Outcomes of Care

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73487/1/j.1547-5069.1997.tb00996.x.pd

A Preliminary Study of Elderly Emergency Service Clients in Chicago and Their Housing-Related Problems

Emergencies to which city agencies respond reveal a connection between homelessness and other housing hardships of the elderly. This study examines a random sample of 125 case records of elderly clients assisted by the Chicago Department of Human Services Emergency Services program between 1984 and 1987. The crises that lead to emergency services, the extent of clients' housing-related problems, and the needs that cluster around shelter placement and other housing related problems are analyzed An extraordinarily broad range of problems and service needs are identified The findings reveal the prevalence of housing problems for the elderly and the relationship between basic needs, patterns of services offered, and certain emergencies, includ ing homelessness. They have implications for improving client services and underscore the importance of ongoing rather than emergency assistance with the elderly. Very old persons without kin who experience crises are at great risk and pose growing dilemmas for urban public agencies.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68265/2/10.1177_073346489201100102.pd

Web Vulnerability Study of Online Pharmacy Sites

Consumers are increasingly using online pharmacies, but these sites may not provide an adequate level of security with the consumers’ personal data. There is a gap in this research addressing the problems of security vulnerabilities in this industry. The objective is to identify the level of web application security vulnerabilities in online pharmacies and the common types of flaws, thus expanding on prior studies. Technical, managerial and legal recommendations on how to mitigate security issues are presented. The proposed four-step method first consists of choosing an online testing tool. The next steps involve choosing a list of 60 online pharmacy sites to test, and then running the software analysis to compile a list of flaws. Finally, an in-depth analysis is performed on the types of web application vulnerabilities. The majority of sites had serious vulnerabilities, with the majority of flaws being cross-site scripting or old versions of software that have not been updated. A method is proposed for the securing of web pharmacy sites, using a multi-phased approach of technical and managerial techniques together with a thorough understanding of national legal requirements for securing systems