Cleveland Independent Contractor Misclassification Attorneys

Misclassified Employee Lawyers

While there may be definite advantages and disadvantages that accompany the classifications of different employees, it is essential that the classifications be correct and reflective of the actual work that an employee does. If an employee is misclassified, as a manager or independent contractor for example, employers may be penalized and the employee may be missing wages and benefits that he or she deserves.

At the Cleveland, Ohio, office of Novak & Pavlik, our lawyers stand up for the rights of employees who believe that they have been misclassified. We work hard to see that employees are correctly classified and are paid the wages and benefits that they would have received if they had been initially classified correctly. Our firm has over 75 years of experience handling misclassification and incorrect employee categorization cases. Clients trust our experience and zealous pursuit of justice and compensation on their behalf.

Misclassified as Management

To be classified as a manager, there are certain criteria that must be met. For instance, an employee must be supervising or managing a minimum number of other employees and have a certain percentage of job duties considered managerial. If this is not the case, but an employee is classified as a manager, then he or she may have been intentionally misclassified in order for the employer to have them do more work than described in the job description but without the proper level of compensation.

Misclassified as an Independent Contractor

Since employers have fewer obligations to independent contractors, they may attempt to classify an employee as such in order to avoid responsibilities. Employers do not have to pay insurance premiums or unemployment benefits to independent contractors, therefore seeing it as a beneficial move for their business. However, government agencies are cracking down on this type of classification in order to see that employers are paying what they need to pay and employees are getting the wages and benefits they deserve. When an individual is classified as an independent contractor, it is the employer who benefits, not the employee.

Employer Penalties

If an employer is found liable for intentionally misclassifying an employee, the employer may be facing serious penalties, such as a costly audit by a state agency, assessments for unreported wages and other civil or criminal sanctions.

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E-mail us or call us at 866-400-6637 today.