Employers face penalties for intentionally misclassifying employees as independent contractors

California Labor Code Section 226.8 provides that employers can be penalized $5,000 to $25,000 “per violation” for intentionally misclassifying employees as independent contractors.  When employees are misclassified and employers do not provide wage deduction statements to the misclassified employee, then the employer will be subject to additional penalties under Labor Code section 226.3.  Section 226.3 provides for penalties “in the amount of two hundred fifty dollars ($250) per employee per violation in an initial citation and one thousand dollars ($1,000) per employee for each violation in a subsequent citation, for which the employer fails to provide the employee a wage deduction statement or fails to keep the records required in subdivision (a) of Section 226.