Being offered a job that pays you in cash may seem like a bonus, but in addition to being illegal most of the time, there are other risks to the employee. Here are three reasons you should run from any employment offer where the employer wants to pay you in cash.

You Value Your Freedom

An employer can technically pay you in cash, however they must provide a payroll statement as well as end-of-the-year earnings report. If they aren't doing this, you are said to be "working under the table," and you are both complicit in breaking the law as the government will interpret your actions as avoiding paying taxes. Tax evasion is punishable by fines and prison time, a huge risk to take just to avoid a few extra dollars going to Uncle Sam.  

You Could Lose Workers Compensation Protection

When someone is injured on the job, the workers compensation insurance program can mean the difference between getting by while you recover from your injury and financial disaster. In order to file a workers compensation claim, you have to prove you worked for the company you got injured at. You also need to prove how much your earned as your workers compensation benefit will be based on your wages.

This is pretty difficult to do if there is no legal record and paper trail of you having worked there. While an attorney skilled in workers compensation law may be able to successfully fight this for you, you also run the risk of getting in trouble with the Internal Revenue Service. Additionally, you may be in legal hot water if your student loan repayments, child support, or alimony payments are based on your income and you are found guilty of hiding it. If you lied about your income in order to receive benefits such as state-sponsored health insurance or food stamps, you could get in trouble for fraud.

Another danger comes into play for tipped employees. Your employer may be paying your wage legally, but if you don't report all your cash tips and slip and fall at work, your workers compensation will be considerably lower than if you had reported all your earned income. Talk to an attorney, like those at Prediletto, Halpin, Scharnikow & Nelson, P.S., if you have questions about a workers comp claim when working for cash.

You'll Risk Your Social Security Benefits

When it comes time to retire, your monthly benefit payments will be based on a formula that looks at how much you have earned over your lifetime. This complicated formula also looks at the last five years of the past 10 years you worked. If you have no legal record of working or grossly under-reported your earnings, you will likely be in for a big surprise.

If you have been injured on the job while working for cash or haven't been reported your income as you should, it's imperative you speak with an attorney immediately for help rectifying the situation. You want to be on the right side of the law for your own protection.