Florida signed a memorandum of understanding to crack down on misclassification of employees as independent contractors, the US Department of Labor reported yesterday.

Florida is the 17th state to sign a memorandum of understanding with the DOL as part of its misclassification initiative. Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New York, Utah and Washington state agencies have signed similar agreements.

“Working with the states is an important tool in ending misclassification,” said Wayne Kotowski, the Wage and Hour Division's regional administrator for the southeast. “These collaborations allow us to better coordinate compliance with both federal and state laws alike.”

The department said its wage and hour division regularly finds large concentrations of misclassified workers in low-wage industries; in fiscal year 2013, the division’s investigations resulted in more than $83 million in back wages for more than 108,050 workers in industries such as janitorial, food, construction, day care, hospitality and garment.

“By partnering with the US Department of Labor we are actively working to level the playing field for Florida’s businesses to stop the misclassification of workers,” said Florida Department of Revenue Executive Director, Marshall Stranburg. “Businesses that misreport workers obtain an unfair advantage over other law-abiding businesses.”