NJ Records List 14,446 Misclassified Workers in 2025

Records obtained by GetTaxReliefNow from the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development and attributed to Government Records Request #W255834 list 14,446 workers as misclassified in calendar year 2025.

The released annual summary cited by GetTaxReliefNow lists:

• 3,125 total employer audits
  
  
• 2,225 change audits
  
  
• 14,446 workers listed as misclassified
  
  
• $32,728,119.51 in contributions underreported
  
  
• $1,323,444,348.73 in gross wages were underreported
  
  

These figures are from the Division of Employer Accounts report titled "All Audits Change Audit By Assignment Type," produced in response to Government Records Request #W255834.

Based on the totals cited in the released report, change audits accounted for approximately 71.2% of all audits reported for 2025.

GetTaxReliefNow is using the agency terminology shown in the records. The report identifies workers as misclassified, and lists underreported contributions and wage totals, but the records reviewed for this article do not establish that every listed figure became a final determination following an appeal, hearing, adjustment, or other administrative review.

‍

What is the 2025 Records List

‍

Source: New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Division of Employer Accounts, All Audits Change Audit By Assignment Type (Jan. 1–Dec. 31, 2025), produced in response to Government Records Request #W255834.

The figures provide a statewide summary of employer-account audit activity as reported in the released records. They describe audit counts, workers listed as misclassified, and amounts identified as underreported for employer-account purposes.

They should not be interpreted as proof that every listed audit resulted in a final assessment, penalty, collection, or sustained worker-classification finding.

‍

What Does “Change Audit” Mean?

The released records use the term "change audit," but the documents reviewed for this article do not provide a complete definition of that category.

Until the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development provides additional clarification, the term should be treated as an agency reporting classification.

It should not automatically be interpreted to mean:

• a final violation
  
  
• a final assessment
  
  
• a sustained penalty
  
  
• an admitted employer error
  
  
• a completed collection action
  
  

‍

What Does “Misclassified Workers” Mean in These Records?

The annual audit summary contains a field for workers identified as misclassified.

For that reason, this article refers to workers listed or reported as misclassified in the records obtained by GetTaxReliefNow.

The released summary does not show whether every individual worker count was later:

• sustained
  
  
• revised
  
  
• withdrawn
  
  
• appealed
  
  
• resolved through settlement
  
  
• incorporated into a final agency determination
  
  

Worker-classification disputes may involve whether a worker should have been treated as an employee rather than an independent contractor for unemployment insurance, payroll reporting, and related contribution purposes.

‍

What Do the Underreported Amounts Represent?

The records separately list:

• contributions underreported
  
  
• gross wages underreported
  
  

These are the labels used in the released report.

The amounts should not automatically be interpreted as:

• money collected by the state
  
  
• penalties paid
  
  
• final employer liability
  
  
• unpaid employee wages
  
  
• amounts sustained after appeal
  
  
• amounts recovered through enforcement
  
  

Gross wages underreported do not necessarily mean wages were withheld from workers or never paid to them. In this context, the term appears to refer to wages identified as underreported for employer-account or contribution-reporting purposes.

‍

Public Enforcement Announcements Use Different Figures and Timeframes

The 14,446 figure in the released 2025 audit summary should not be confused with figures published by the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development in separate public enforcement announcements.

In July 2025, NJDOL stated that its worker-misclassification penalty had assessed nearly $11 million involving approximately 13,000 misclassified workers since September 2021.

In April 2025, NJDOL stated that the penalty had assessed more than $10.6 million involving more than 12,500 misclassified workers since September 2021.

Those public figures involve a different scope and timeframe from the calendar-year 2025 audit totals attributed to Government Records Request #W255834.

The figures should therefore not be treated as interchangeable or directly compared without additional agency clarification.

‍

Audit Activity Listed for 2021 and 2025

According to the same report series cited by GetTaxReliefNow, total audits were:

• 1,007 in 2021
  
  
• 3,125 in 2025
  
  

That represents a substantial increase in the number of audits listed in the report series.

However, the records also contain unusually large worker and dollar totals in 2023 and 2024.

GetTaxReliefNow’s review of assignment-category records suggests that much of the increase in those years was concentrated in categories labeled:

• BC131
  
  
• Prior Assignment Reaudit
  
  

Because those totals appear concentrated in specialized categories, GetTaxReliefNow is not treating the 2023 and 2024 figures as ordinary year-over-year growth in routine audit findings without further explanation from the agency.

A separate article may examine the audit-volume trend and the assignment categories in greater detail.

‍

A Separate 2025 Report Uses Different Totals

A separate document cited by GetTaxReliefNow, titled Auditors Audit Report By Assignment Type, appears to list:

• 3,176 assignments
  
  
• approximately $34.2 million in contributions underreported
  
  

Those figures are similar to, but not identical with, the totals listed in the All Audits Change Audit By Assignment Type report.

The two reports may use different count units or scopes, based on GetTaxReliefNow’s comparison of the released documents.

For consistency, this article uses the annual totals in the All Audits Change Audit By Assignment Type report as its primary dataset.

‍

Industry Files Did Not Fully Reconcile

GetTaxReliefNow also reviewed separate industry files included in the agency response.

Those files did not fully reconcile with the annual summary reviewed for this article.

As a result, this article does not present a definitive ranking of industries by audit activity, worker misclassification, wages underreported, or contributions underreported.

Additional clarification from the agency would be needed before presenting those files as a complete or authoritative industry comparison.

‍

What the Released Records Do Not Explain

The records reviewed for this article do not fully explain:

• the Department’s formal definition of a change audit
  
  
• whether every listed finding became final
  
  
• how many unique employers were audited
  
  
• why total audit volume increased
  
  
• why certain 2023 and 2024 categories contained unusually large totals
  
  
• how many findings were modified or overturned
  
  
• how much money was ultimately collected
  
  
• how many cases resulted in penalties
  
  
• how many employers entered payment arrangements
  
  
• how many matters resulted in liens, levies, or other enforcement actions
  
  
• which industries had the highest confirmed misclassification rates
  
  
• whether assignment totals and audit totals use the same counting method
  
  

These limitations are important because the records summarize agency activity but do not provide the full procedural outcome of each case.

‍

Why This Matters for New Jersey Employers

New Jersey employer audits may review:

• payroll records
  
  
• unemployment contribution reporting
  
  
• worker classification
  
  
• payments made to individuals outside payroll
  
  
• exclusions claimed by an employer
  
  
• employer-account reporting
  
  
• business records supporting reported wages and contributions
  
  

An employer receiving an audit notice, proposed assessment, or classification finding should review:

• the exact agency issuing the notice
  
  
• the tax or contribution period involved
  
  
• the workers or payments being questioned
  
  
• the records requested
  
  
• the deadline for responding
  
  
• the appeal or protest instructions
  
  
• whether a representative should be designated
  
  

Employers should not assume that an informal discussion, document request, payment, or phone call automatically extends an appeal deadline.

The statewide figures in this article do not determine the correct outcome for any specific employer or worker.

‍

New Jersey Audit and Worker-Classification Rules

New Jersey Department of Labor guidance states that employer audits may verify whether payroll and contribution reporting was accurate and whether payments to individuals not listed on payroll were properly classified.

New Jersey generally applies its statutory ABC test when determining whether services are performed by an employee or an independent contractor for applicable state labor and unemployment purposes.

The classification analysis depends on the facts and circumstances of the working relationship.

Employers may also have the right to designate a representative, raise disagreements during the audit process, and appeal an agency determination within the applicable deadline.

‍

Official Resources

• New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development
  https://www.nj.gov/labor/
  
  
• IRS Worker Classification Overview
  https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/independent-contractor-self-employed-or-employee
  
  

Related GetTaxReliefNow Resources

• New Jersey Employer Audit and Worker-Misclassification Data: 2021–2025
  
  
• Understanding New Jersey Tax Enforcement Data
  
  
• Resolving Payroll Tax Debt in New Jersey
  
  
• Understanding New Jersey Payrol Tax Penalties
  
  

Methodology

This article is based on records attributed to the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development and produced in response to Government Records Request #W255834.

The primary figures are taken from a Division of Employer Accounts report titled All Audits Change Audit By Assignment Type, covering January 1 through December 31, 2025.

GetTaxReliefNow also reviewed related assignment-category and industry files included in the records response.

Where separate reports used different totals or appeared to use different counting methods, the article identifies those differences rather than treating the figures as directly interchangeable.

Percentages were calculated from the figures listed in the released records and rounded to one decimal place.

Certain files supplied in the response contained employer-level identifiers, including fields labeled Federal Employer Id. GetTaxReliefNow did not publish or distribute those records and relied only on aggregate statistics for this article.

Sources

1. New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Division of Employer Accounts, All Audits Change Audit By Assignment Type, calendar year 2025, produced in response to Government Records Request #W255834.
   
   
2. New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Auditors Audit Report By Assignment Type, calendar year 2025, reviewed for comparison of scope and totals.
   
   
3. New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development public employer-audit guidance.
   
   
4. New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development public worker-classification and ABC test guidance.
   
   
5. New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development public enforcement announcements dated April 28, 2025, and July 15, 2025.
   
   
6. Internal aggregate tables prepared by GetTaxReliefNow from the released records.
   
   

Disclosure

GetTaxReliefNow publishes original analysis of government records for public education and news reporting.

The figures attributed to Government Records Request #W255834 are presented as reported in records obtained by GetTaxReliefNow. They are not represented as independently corroborated public online statistics unless otherwise stated.

This article does not provide legal, tax, accounting, employment, or worker-classification advice for a specific employer or worker.

Outcomes depend on the applicable notice, records, facts, agency procedures, and New Jersey and federal law.

GetTaxReliefNow is operated in connection with a tax-resolution practice led by William J. McLee, EA, MBA, MBT.

Employers seeking assistance reviewing a New Jersey employer audit, payroll-tax assessment, or worker-classification dispute may visit the contact page or call (888) 260-9441.