Julie Su – How Coronavirus Lockdown Will Affect California’s Economy (NPR Interview)

Original Media

…Misclassification of workers – meaning people who should be employees but were called independent contractors – have been a longstanding problem. It affects, you know, many, many industries.

And the issue there is that you have people who were trying to cut corners or cut costs and therefore take employees who were entitled to labor law protections like minimum wage, overtime, a meal and rest break and pull them out of those protections – to remove that floor and make them independent contractors.

The reality is that if you are a misclassified employee – meaning you were called an independent contractor, but you should have been an employee – you can still apply for unemployment insurance.

MARTIN: OK.

SU: And so we’re trying to make sure that people know about that right. But obviously, those employers who were breaking that law are putting – we now see the additional strain on the system when that happens…

MARTIN: OK.

SU: …Right? Because they haven’t paid into unemployment insurance.