Whitmer to tighten state contracting policies to curb payroll fraud
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is tightening state contracting policy to prevent businesses that commit payroll fraud from earning Michigan contracts.
Whitmer's plan would zero in on the misclassification of workers, which occurs when a contractor classifies an employee as an independent contractor in order to avoid paying health benefits, workers compensation, payroll taxes or overtime — an occurrence that some contractors say has increased since the Legislature repealed the state's prevailing wage law in 2018.
Whitmer's new policy would require the state's contracting agency, the Department of Technology Management and Budget, to mandate bidders complete a vendor question worksheet. The worksheet will include disclosures of a bidder's environmental and labor compliance record and Michigan-specific economic impact as well as a certification that a business has properly classified its employees.