The American Staffing Association has released new guidance aimed at helping staffing agencies and their clients stay informed about the risks of misclassifying workers—and encouraging enforcement action to investigate potentially unlawful practices.
 
A growing number of app-based online job platforms that place health care workers may be avoiding payroll taxes and other employee-related costs by misclassifying the nurses and nurse aides they place as independent contractors instead of as employees. This practice exposes the caregivers, and the health care facilities to which they are assigned, to significant liability for unpaid taxes and other obligations. 
 
In the paper, ASA outlines recent legal developments regarding misclassification at the state and federal level and discusses the potential liabilities if workers are misclassified as independent contractors.  The guidance also includes checklists clients can use to determine whether an online platform provider is properly classifying workers.
 
“Worker misclassification poses a serious threat to health care facilities and caregivers,” says ASA senior counsel Ed Lenz. “ASA is encouraging all health care staffing agencies to help spotlight this pernicious problem.”