Bill S.B. 968
This bill would generally require that failure of an employer to withhold taxes on wages or contribute to the Unemployment Compensation Fund may result in a stop work order and civil penalties. The bill also would provide that in addition to being subject to civil penalties, an employer who fails to withhold taxes on wages as required by this chapter or knowingly misclassifies employees, to avoid withholding taxes on wages, will be immediately debarred from bidding or participating in any state or municipal funded contracts for a period of three years and shall, when applicable, be subject to penalties.
The bill would also provide that any person or firm that loses a competitive bid for a contract including but not limited to construction, repair, remodeling, alteration, conversion, modernization, replacement or renovation of a building, roadway or structure may bring an action for damages against another person who is awarded the contract for which the bid was made, if the other person was awarded the contract because of cost advantages achieved by the deliberate misclassification of employees for the purpose of avoiding contributions to the Unemployment Compensation Fund.
In addition to being subject to the civil penalties provided by the bill, an employer who fails to contribute to the Unemployment Compensation Fund as or knowingly misclassifies employees, to avoid contributions to the Fund, will be immediately debarred from bidding or participating in any state or municipal funded contracts for a period of three years and shall, when applicable, be subject to penalties.
