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§ 933.4. Improper classification of employees

Purdon's Pennsylvania Statutes and Consolidated StatutesTitle 43 P.S. LaborEffective: February 10, 2011

Purdon's Pennsylvania Statutes and Consolidated Statutes
Title 43 P.S. Labor (Refs & Annos)
Chapter 15B. Construction Workplace Misclassification Act (Refs & Annos)
Effective: February 10, 2011
43 P.S. § 933.4
§ 933.4. Improper classification of employees
Currentness
(a) Violation.--An employer, or officer or agent of an employer, shall be in violation of this act and shall be subject to the penalties, remedies and actions contained in this act if the employer, officer or agent:
(1) fails to properly classify an individual as an employee for purposes of the Workers' Compensation Act1 and fails to provide the coverage required under the Workers' Compensation Act; or
(2) fails to properly classify an individual as an employee for purposes of the Unemployment Compensation Law2 and fails to pay contributions, reimbursements or other amounts required to be paid under the Unemployment Compensation Law.
(b) Separate offenses.--Each individual who is not properly classified as an employee shall be the basis of a separate violation of this section.
(c) Order to show cause.--
(1) If the secretary receives information indicating that any person has violated this act, the secretary may investigate the matter and issue an order to show cause why the person should not be found in violation of this act.
(2) A person served with an order to show cause shall have a period of 20 days from the date the order is served to file an answer in writing.
(3) If the person fails to file a timely and adequate answer to the order to show cause, the secretary may, following notice and hearing, do any of the following:
(i) petition a court of competent jurisdiction to issue a stop-work order as provided in section 7;3 or
(ii) immediately assess penalties as provided in section 6.4
(d) Enforcement.--If, subsequent to issuing an order to show cause under subsection (c), the secretary finds probable cause that an employer has committed a criminal violation of this act, the secretary shall refer the matter to the Office of Attorney General for investigation or impose administrative penalties under section 6.
(e) Acting in concert with other parties.--A party that does not meet the definition of “employer” in section 2,5 but which intentionally contracts with an employer knowing the employer intends to misclassify employees in violation of this act, shall be subject to the same penalties, remedies or other actions as the employer found to be in violation of this act.
(f) Defense.--It shall be a defense to an alleged violation of this section if the person for whom the services are performed in good faith believed that the individual who performed the services qualified as an independent contractor at the time the services were performed.

Credits

2010, Oct. 13, P.L. 506, No. 72, § 4, effective in 120 days [Feb. 10, 2011].

Footnotes

1
77 P.S. § 1 et seq.
2
43 P.S. § 751 et seq.
3
43 P.S. § 933.7.
4
43 P.S. § 933.6.
5
43 P.S. § 933.2.
43 P.S. § 933.4, PA ST 43 P.S. § 933.4
Current through Act 10 of the 2024 Regular Session. Some statute sections may be more current, see credits for details.
End of Document