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Title: Employment Arrangements: Improved Outreach Could Help Ensure Proper Worker Classification
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Government Accountability Office
Employment Arrangements: Improved Outreach Could Help Ensure Proper Worker Classification
GAO-06-656, Government Accountability Office, Washington DC, July 11, 2006.
Also: http://www.gao.gov/docsearch/abstract.php?rptno=GAO-06-656
Cohort(s): NLS General, NLSY79
Publisher: Government Accountability Office (GAO), since July 2004
Keyword(s): Benefits, Fringe; Benefits, Insurance; Child Labor; Insurance, Health; Part-Time Work

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Millions of U.S. workers participate in "contingent" employment, such as temporary or part-time work, and not in permanent or full-time jobs. The Department of Labor (DOL) enforces several labor laws to protect these and other workers, including the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which provides minimum wage, overtime pay, and child labor protections. In June 2000, GAO reported that contingent workers lagged behind standard full-time workers in terms of income, benefits, and workforce protections, and that some employees do not receive worker protections because employers misclassified them as independent contractors. GAO was asked to update this report by describing (1) the size and nature of the contingent workforce, (2) the benefits and workforce protections provided to contingent workers, and (3) the actions that DOL takes to detect and address employee misclassification. We analyzed DOL survey data on contingent workers and interviewed DOL officials. Contingent workers constituted a relatively constant proportion of the total workforce from 1995 through 2005 and had diverse characteristics. While the population of the contingent workforce grew by an estimated 3 million workers during this time period, the proportion of contingent workers in the total workforce remained relatively constant at about 31 percent. In 2005, there were about 42.6 million contingent workers in the workforce. Contingent workers vary in terms of their demographic characteristics, industries, and occupations. For example, on average, contingent workers range in age from about 35 years for one category of temporary workers to about 48 years for self-employed workers. In addition, contingent workers are employed in a wide range of industries and occupations, including the services industry, construction, and retail trade. A smaller proportion of contingent workers than of standard full-time workers has health insurance or pension benefits, or is protected by key workforce... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(4) hoped the job would lead to permanent employment.8 Studies using data from the BLS National Longitudinal Survey of Youth show that events such as the birth of a child or a change in marital status affect the likelihood of entering different types of employment arrangements and prompt some workers to enter contingent work arrangements.9

Bibliography Citation
Government Accountability Office. "Employment Arrangements: Improved Outreach Could Help Ensure Proper Worker Classification." GAO-06-656, Government Accountability Office, Washington DC, July 11, 2006.