{"id":1330,"date":"2019-11-21T15:40:24","date_gmt":"2019-11-21T15:40:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/faqs-what-to-do-if-you-receive-a-dol-wage-and-liability-inquiry-form\/"},"modified":"2019-11-21T15:40:24","modified_gmt":"2019-11-21T15:40:24","slug":"faqs-what-to-do-if-you-receive-a-dol-wage-and-liability-inquiry-form","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/faqs-what-to-do-if-you-receive-a-dol-wage-and-liability-inquiry-form\/","title":{"rendered":"FAQs: What to do if you receive a DOL Wage and Liability Inquiry Form?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>If you engage workers as independent contractors, you may be faced with\na Department of Labor (DOL) Wage and Liability form one day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Engaging workers as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/new-independent-contractor-test-under-the-nlra\/\">independent\ncontractors<\/a> can be risky. In recent years, there has been increased\nscrutiny over independent contractor classification at both the federal and\nstate levels. &nbsp;It is not uncommon, for\nexample, for Georgia companies to be challenged by the Georgia Department of\nLabor (\u201cGADOL\u201d) about their use of independent contractors.&nbsp; A critical part of the GADOL\u2019s audit is the\nuse of the <a href=\"https:\/\/dol.georgia.gov\/sites\/dol.georgia.gov\/files\/related_files\/document\/dol2349cfillable.pdf\">Wage\n&amp; Liability Inquiry form<\/a>, which many companies are not familiar with.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This FAQ helps explain the purpose of the Wage &amp; Liability Inquiry\nform and why it is important that a company receiving the form complete it properly.&nbsp; As discussed below, if your company receives\na Wage &amp; Liability Inquiry form, it is prudent to get some sound legal\nadvice before submitting the completed report form.<strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q:&nbsp; Why did our company receive a\nWage and Liability Inquiry form?&nbsp; <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your company received a Wage &amp; Liability Inquiry form because the GADOL\nis investigating whether your company properly classified an independent\ncontractor or group of independent contractors. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Wage &amp; Liability Inquiry form is designed to provide relevant\ninformation to the GADOL to help its initial determination as to whether a\nworker is properly classified as an independent contractor (as opposed to an\nemployee) for unemployment insurance (\u201cUI\u201d) tax purposes.&nbsp; The claimant also is required to complete a\nWage &amp; Liability Inquiry form.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q:&nbsp; Why\nis the GADOL conducting an investigation about independent contractors?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Typically, an investigation arises because an independent contractor\nfiles for unemployment benefits. The GADOL must then determine the claimant\u2019s\nstatus as either an employee or an independent contractor. &nbsp;Employers are not required to pay UI tax for\nindependent contractors but must pay UI tax for employees.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q: Why Does Classification matter?&nbsp;\n&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Money, money, money!&nbsp; The\ngovernment wants the taxes that it is rightfully owed. Employers that hire\nindependent contractors rather than hiring employees are not subject to UI tax.\n&nbsp;Likewise, independent contractors are\nnot eligible for unemployment benefits when the relationship ends.&nbsp; It\u2019s important that you do not misclassify an\nemployee as an independent contractor. &nbsp;If\nyou do misclassify an employee, you could be subject to penalties or\nfines.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q: What is the Wage and Liability Form really\ntrying to prove? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The wage form seeks information to show whether the company can prove\nits case that the worker was engaged as an independent contractor.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Georgia Code Section 34-8-35(f) provides that services performed by\nan individual for wages shall be deemed to be employment subject to unemployment\ninsurance tax unless the company shows that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(1)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; (A) Such individual has been and will continue to be free from control or direction over the performance of such services, both under the individual&#8217;s contract or service and in fact; and<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(B) Such individual is\ncustomarily engaged in an Independently established trade, or occupation,\nprofession, or business; or<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(2) Such individual and\nthe services performed for wages are the subject of a SS-8 determination by the\nlnternal Revenue Service, which decided against employee status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The questions contained\nin the Wage &amp; Liability Inquiry form seek information about these two\nrequirements: (1) the degree of control the company has over the worker; and (2)\nthe extent the worker operates as an independent business.&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q: &nbsp;&nbsp;Why\nis the Wage &amp; Liability Inquiry Form so long? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Determining proper classification is made on a case-by-case analysis and\nis based on a multitude of factors.&nbsp; For\nexample, factors to be considered in determining the degree of control include,\nbut are not limited to: the existence of a written contractor agreement; the\namount of daily supervision, the form of compensation; the provision of health\ninsurance and workers compensation benefits, expense reimbursement, and training;\nreporting requirements; scheduling and the ability to accept or reject\nassignments; and the equipment used, to name&nbsp;\na few.&nbsp;&nbsp; The Wage &amp; Liability Inquiry\nform seeks information about all of these factors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; If the\nclaimant signed an independent contractor agreement isn\u2019t that enough to prove\nmy case? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>No.&nbsp; As stated above, whether a\nworker is properly classified as an independent contractor is based on several\nfactors, and not one single factor is determinative. &nbsp;The existence of an independent contractor\nagreement can be very helpful, but an agreement standing alone is not\nsufficient to prove independent contractor status. Also keep in mind that the\nterms of the independent contractor agreement are very important.&nbsp; If not properly drafted, the independent\ncontractor agreement could actually work against you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q:&nbsp; Should\nI seek legal help in answering the Wage &amp; Liability Inquiry form?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes.&nbsp; How you answer the questions in the Wage &amp; Liability Inquiry Form can have significant financial and legal ramifications.&nbsp; In addition to answering specific questions, the form allows you to provide any additional facts, elaboration of attached documentation or commentary that you would like to have considered in making the determination.&nbsp; An experienced attorney can help ensure that you communicate the relationship between the company and the worker accurately and thoroughly.<br><br>As always, please <a href=\"mailto:https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/attorney\/kenneth-n-winkler\/\">let me know<\/a> if I can help. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you engage workers as independent contractors, you may be faced with a Department of Labor (DOL) Wage and Liability form one day. Engaging workers as independent contractors can be risky. In recent years, there has been increased scrutiny over independent contractor classification at both the federal and state levels. &nbsp;It is not uncommon, for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1331,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_mo_disable_npp":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,10],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>FAQs: What to do if you receive a DOL Wage and Liability Inquiry Form? - Berman Fink Van Horn P.C.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This FAQ explains the purpose of the DOL Wage and Liability Inquiry form and why it is important that a company receiving the form complete it properly.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/faqs-what-to-do-if-you-receive-a-dol-wage-and-liability-inquiry-form\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"FAQs: What to do if you receive a DOL Wage and Liability Inquiry Form? 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