The hiring of subcontractors wouldn’t let companies off the hook for unpaid wages, taxes, or worker’s comp claims for contingency workers under a bill in the California legislature. Under the recently revised Assembly Bill 1897, employers would have to pay wages, taxes, and workers compensation on behalf of a subcontractor’s workers if the subcontractor reneges on that responsibility.
Any employer who does business with an entity that uses contingency workers would be subject to the law.The law would impact the construction industry and all other industries that use subcontractors and temporary help.
A lobbyist for the National Federation of Independent Business called the bill “a huge overreach,” and said that the primary reason companies subcontract work is to avoid those obligations.
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