The Unicameral Appropriations Committee heard testimony February 24 on a bill that would provide funds for bilingual investigators to enforce the Employee Classification Act (ECA).
Omaha Sen. Tony Vargas, sponsor of LB416, said employee misclassification happens when an employer improperly paid workers as independent contractors rather than as employees. The result, he said, is that those workers are ineligible for benefits including employee-sponsored health insurance, workers’ compensation and unemployment benefits.
Misclassification often occurs when a worker does not speak English as their first language, Vargas said, adding that the state Department of Labor (DOL) currently is reactive in its enforcement of the ECA in part because it has only one bilingual employee who serves as an investigator.
LB416 would provide $250,000 in fiscal year 2017-18 and FY2018-19 from the Employment Security Special Contingent Fund to the DOL to employ two more bilingual investigators to enforce the ECA. The committee took no immediate action on LB416.
FUNDS SOUGHT FOR BILINGUAL LABOR INVESTIGATORS
