The US Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service on Thursday renewed a memorandum of understanding and added a streamlined process for joint referrals and closer coordination to stop businesses from misclassifying workers and denying them their full wages, benefits and protections under the law.

“We are determined to identify and resolve labor violations by employers who benefit by misclassifying employees as independent contractors and deprive them of the protections of the labor standards laws we enforce,” said Principal Deputy Wage and Hour Administrator Jessica Looman. “Renewing our memorandum of understanding with the IRS strengthens our existing partnership by improving referral processes and information sharing to help us better serve the nation’s workers.”

The updated MOU will help the department’s Wage and Hour Division share information and work with the IRS to strengthen the enforcement of federal and state laws that protect workers’ rights.

The Wage and Hour Division and the IRS first previously signed an MOU in 2011 to enable both agencies to use their resources to promote employer compliance with obligations to pay employees and related employment taxes.