A joint report by the University of Massachusetts Boston, Harvard Law School and the Harvard School of Public Health looks at the social and economic costs of employee misclassification. Employers may classify workers as independent contractors or self employed, rather than as waged or salaried employers, in order to avoid paying insurance premiums for worker compensation.

Between 125,725 to 248,206 workers across the Commonwealth are misclassified, meaning a loss of individual unemployment insurance, and a loss for MA of between $12.6 million to $35 million in unemployment insurance taxes. Based on the higher estimate that 50% of misclassified worker income goes unreported, the state loses roughly $152 million in income tax revenue.

Click here to read the full report.
"The Social and Economic Costs of Employee Misclassification in Construction." December, 2004.

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