Illegal and unprotected - The Boston Globe
A study done for the Construction Policy Research Center at Harvard Law School estimates that 14 to 24 percent of employers within the construction industry in Massachusetts misclassify workers as independent contractors. Other industries may not be so bad, but the report still finds 13 to 19 percent of employers at fault. Besides depriving the state of revenues, misclassification denies workers the protection of state labor laws. If an employee is not counted in the workers compensation system, for instance, he or she won't be covered for injuries on the job.
Native-born workers and legal immigrants can also be misclassified, but the waves of undocumented immigrants in recent years make it easy for employers to cut corners.