Legal experts and roofing contractors alike are concerned that upcoming legislation in Minnesota could change how contractors do business forever.

In this video chat, learn about HF 4444 and its companion, SF 4483, from roofing contractors in Minnesota as well as legal experts, and why contractors should be paying attention.

“Oftentimes, contractors are just focused on keeping the lights on. There's stuff like this that can, you know, completely shut their doors and it may fly under the radar,” said Trent Cotney, partner at Adams and Reese and RC’s Legal Insights expert. “It's important to highlight this, especially as these things kind of come up in different areas.”

The bills were drafted with the intent of combatting employer misclassification fraud by expanding the investigative authority of enforcement agencies. It would also create additional penalties for violations as well as more remedies for misclassified workers.

Subcontractors are an integral part of the roofing industry — as much as 90% of all residential roofing contractors use sub-labor and up to 60% of commercial contractors use sub-labor — so legislation like this could create massive problems for the industry if adopted in Minnesota and elsewhere. Legislators hope to implement it as soon as May 20.

Contractors like Tony Wells, president of Ashton McGee Restoration in Minneapolis, and Dan Lillestol, CEO of Minnesota Restoration Contractors in Burnsville, Minn., are concerned about the speed in which it’s set to be voted on, giving little time for people to voice their opposition.

“Minnesota currently has nine requirements for 1099 classification. This bill [as written] introduces five more for a total of 14 and in those classifications, all must be met,” said Lillestol. “So that, in addition to the timeline of those requirements needing to be met in the middle of a construction season, in a state like Minnesota, when we have so little time to complete the work that we're planning to work, is really impactful to the industry itself.”

View the full conversation here, or visit our podcast page to download and listen to the interview on the go.