Monday, October 02, 2017

Maryland Misclassification Cases Often Start with a Claim for Unemployment

Where can Maryland employees misclassified as independent contractors go to file a claim?  The unemployment office is one place they can go (after they are terminated from the job).

Maryland's unemployment law has a restrictive test for employment status.  You are a presumed to be an employee unless:


  • You are free from direction and control;
  • You are engaged in an independent business that is of the same nature as the work your are performing; and
  • You are performing the work is outside the usual course of business of the person for whom it is performed OR the work is performed outside any place of business of the person for whom it is performed.
A 2016 law, called the "Recovery of Benefits and Penalties for Fraud Act," provides for penalties if an employer knowingly misclassifies an employee.    In addition, the Act requires that if Maryland's Unemployment Office finds that an employer has misclassified an employee it must notify the tax collector (the Comptroller) and the Workers Compensation Commission.  

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