Letter from CEO of Language Line Services to VP Reveals Millions of Dollars in Lost Tax Revenue Yearly Due to Violations in Language Access Industry
MONTEREY, Calif., Sept. 27, 2011 — Louis F. Provenzano, Jr., President and CEO of the global leader in interpretation and translation services, Language Line Services, highlights the pervasive problem of employee misclassification in a letter to U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and asks him to suspend government contracts to language access providers under investigation for violations.
Non-compliant companies fail to pay state and federal taxes, workers compensation premiums and social security contributions. They also deny their employees benefits and compete unfairly with other providers that do play by the rules by offering lower prices through unfair cost savings.
"Studies estimate that misclassification is costing the federal government alone at least $3-4 billion each year," writes Provenzano, whose company employs more than 5,000 interpreters and pays millions in annual payroll taxes. "During this time of economic crisis, while federal and state governments face such shrinking budgets, there is simply no excuse for allowing so many businesses to cheat the system."
Provenzano cites a conservative estimate by the U.S. Department of Labor that shows 10 to 30 percent of all employers misclassify their employees. Senate Bill 770, which is making its way through Congress, would make worker misclassification a felony and fine firms up to $5,000 per worker for violations.
Language Line Services is consulting with officials at the Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service to open investigations of industry abusers. Provenzano also intends to testify in an upcoming hearing in front of the U.S. Congress on the pervasive misclassification by language access providers and the need for immediate government and civil enforcement.
"The money they [state and federal agencies] save by awarding contracts to low-priced providers … almost always costs governments in the long run," writes Provenzano. "Those small savings pale in comparison to the sizable tax revenues that could be collected from those providers."
"We have been fighting this payroll fraud battle on Capitol Hill for years and we need more leaders like Mr. Provenzano in all industries that come forward to assist us with this national problem," said Dana Thompson, Assistant Director Legislative Affairs for the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors' National Association (SMACNA).
Read the complete letter from Language Line Services CEO Louis F. Provenzano, Jr. to U.S. Vice President Joe Biden.
About Language Line Services
Language Line Services, the global leader in telephone interpreting and language solutions, serves clients in government, healthcare, telecommunications, financial services, utilities, insurance and many other industries by quickly connecting them to their customers, patients and sales prospects in more than 170 spoken languages as well as American Sign Language (ASL) and Mexican Sign Language (LSM). Language Line Services is recognized as a trusted partner to thousands of public and private organizations throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, providing easy access to the industry's fastest language interpreting service at highly competitive rates.
For more information about Language Line Services' suite of telephone, on-site and video interpreting, document translation, interpreter assessment and training programs, please call (800) 752-6096 or visit http://www.languageline.com.
Contact:
Carla Collado
Olmstead Williams Communications
310.824.9000
Email
http://www.olmsteadwilliams.com
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