NC Policy Watch presents a Crucial Conversation luncheon —
Crucial Conversation luncheon – Fraud in the workplace: How numerous North Carolina employers are cheating their competitors and stealing from employees and taxpayers (and what should be done about it)
There’s a multimillion dollar crime spree underway in North Carolina. Unfortunately, save for the efforts of a few intrepid journalists and lawyers, it’s a problem that’s mostly being ignored and swept under the rug. The issue is wage theft and the “misclassification” of workers by employers. As Raleigh’s News & Observer reported in a special report last fall entitled “Contract to Cheat”:
“Employers treat many of these laborers as independent contractors. It’s a tactic that costs taxpayers billions of dollars each year. Yet when it comes to public projects, government regulators have done nearly nothing about it, even when the proof is easy to get.
The workers don’t have protections. The companies don’t withhold taxes. The regulators don’t seem to care.”
Please join us as we explore this huge and poorly understood problem and how state lawmakers and regulators might properly address it with the lead author of the “Contract to Cheat” series, investigative reporter Mandy Locke.
Since joining the N&O in 2004, Locke has written extensively about the legal system, child welfare and hospital disputes. Her investigative work has been honored nationally by the Michael Kelly Award and the Gerald Loeb Award for business reporting.
Locke will be joined by Raleigh businessman Doug Burton, President and Owner of Whitman Masonry. Burton is one of the numerous North Carolina employers who treats his workers fairly, plays by the rules and is regularly disadvantaged as a result of the state’s lax law enforcement in this area.
When: Wednesday, January 28th, at noon — Box lunches will be available at 11:45 a.m.
Where: Center for Community Leadership Training Room at the Junior League of Raleigh Building, 711 Hillsborough St. (At the corner of Hillsborough and St. Mary’s streets)
Space is limited – preregistration required.
Cost: $10, admission includes a box lunch.
Questions?? Contact Rob Schofield at 919-861-2065 or rob@ncpolicywatch.com