The newly created Labor Enforcement Task Force (LETF), which will be headed by the DIR, launched on Jan. 1, 2012, and will be a collaborative effort along with the Attorney General, Employment Development Department, Contractor’s State Licensing Board, Board of Equalization, the Bureau of Automotive Repair and local district attorneys.
“I am pleased to join this collaborative effort to protect California workers,” said Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones. “I am committed to fair competition for honest business owners.”
The Department’s focus in this collaboration will be on those unscrupulous employers who under report payroll or misclassify employees in order to obtain a lower rate for workers’ compensation coverage, thus committing premium fraud. This gives business owners, operating illegally in the underground economy, an unfair advantage over honest and law abiding employers when competing for business.