Nike may have misclassified workers and could face over $530m in tax fines

Exclusive: Sporting goods company may have misclassified thousands of temporary office workers, according to documents

Nike may have misclassified thousands of temporary office workers and faces potential tax fines of more than $530m, according to documents obtained by the Guardian.

The sporting goods company employs more than 79,000 people worldwide and like many large corporations relies on an army of independent contractors to do much of the work, includingbusiness consulting, T-shirt graphics, photography and event planning.

Last year Uber agreed to pay $100m after an audit in New Jersey concluded the ride-hailing company had misclassified its drivers as independent contractors.

In 2016 FedEx agreed to pay drivers in 20 states $240m to settle lawsuits claiming the parcel delivery company misclassified them as independent contractors.

In 2000 Microsoft paid $97m to settle claims that workers had been classified as “temporary” workers for years, denying them standard benefits such as health insurance and participation in the employee stock purchase plan.