A Common Definition for Independent Contractors
The 2011 legislative session priorities were focused around health care reform, but the Vermont Chamber managed to shift focus briefly in Montpelier and started a discussion surrounding workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance reform.
Several Vermont Chamber members and other employers met with the Department of Labor (DOL) Commissioner Annie Noonan during the session to discuss developing a common definition for independent contractors under workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance laws. Two different definitions of independent contractor cause confusions, and often overlap.
Working with Reps. Heidi Scheuermann (R-Stowe) and Chip Conquest (D-Wells River), the Chamber spent the weeks before adjournment organizing the discussion to ensure a clean path for independent contractors to continue work in the state.
It was discovered at these meetings that the DOL had turned their focus to auditing and enforcement; as a result businesses were being audited for using practices they thought were within law. Over the past year employers have raised concerns with the DOL and these new interpretations.
Initial conversations were had, and the DOL has agreed to continue them in the upcoming 2012 session. The Vermont Chamber remains committed to continuing these conversations and eventually assisting in the drafting of legislation that will set a clear and common definition.
Read more about the Chamber's position on independent contractors: