#WorkforceWednesday: New AB5 Exemptions, EEOC COVID-19 Updates, Joint-Employer Rule Partially Struck Down - Employment Law This Week®
Episode 13: NYC's New Freelancer Protection Law And The Future Of The On-Demand Economy
On April 3, 2025, the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (“DOL”) filed proposed new rules codifying its interpretation of the statutory ABC test to determine whether an individual is considered an...more
Last month, the most significant legal development in the area of independent contractor (IC) compliance and misclassification was on Capitol Hill. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a Senate Republican who chairs the Senate Health,...more
The U.S. Department of Labor re-issued an Opinion Letter on the issue of independent contractor (IC) status of an on-demand virtual marketplace company (VMC) that refers end-market consumers to service providers who offer...more
Businesses that rely on freelancers or the “gig economy” have cause for optimism now that the Department of Labor just announced it will no longer enforce a Biden-era final rule that made it harder to classify workers as...more
The New Jersey Department of Labor and Industry (the Department) announced on April 28, 2025, that it was filing a notice of a proposed regulation addressing the test for independent contractor (IC) status under New Jersey...more
The European Union took a big step last year towards regulating digital labor platforms – and member states will need to adopt the new directive before the end of 2026. The directive seeks to curb worker misclassification,...more
The most significant development last month in the law of independent contractors was not one of the four cases we summarize below but rather a bill passed by the New York Senate. ...more
Few federal regulations over the past five years have produced more needless concern by stakeholders than the independent contractor rules under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) issued by the different...more
Seattle continues to expand protections for app-based workers (sometimes referred to as “gig workers”) working within the City of Seattle with its new App-Based Worker Deactivation Rights Ordinance....more
Recent amendments to the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) establishing a new "whole-of-relationship test" increase the likelihood that Australian businesses will face claims of "sham contracting" by misclassifying employees as...more
In the spirit of the season, we are using our annual "12 Days of California Labor and Employment" blog series to address new California laws and their impact on employers. On the fifth day of the holidays, my labor and...more
The gig economy continues to prosper, fueled by some recent legal wins, which have been delivered at a crucial juncture for businesses reliant on the flexibility and cost efficiencies that come with classifying workers as...more
On August 7, 2024, the City of Los Angeles unveiled its “Model Contract” under the Freelance Workers Protections Ordinance (FWPO). This ordinance, which took effect on July 1, 2023, was designed to bolster protections for...more
Governor Tim Walz has signed into law significant changes to Minnesota’s independent contractor and employment laws. Effective July 1, all employers, as well as their owners, risk significantly increased penalties for...more
Many companies with independent contractors working in Oregon recently received correspondence from the Oregon Department of Justice’s Division of Child Support (“Division”) reminding them of new reporting obligations with...more
Vetoed in 2022, subsequently signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul last year, and rolled out with a delay, New York State's Freelance Isn't Free Act (FIFA) finally goes into effect on August 28, 2024. The legislation is...more
This post is a summary of a more detailed Client Alert prepared by Gray Reed’s labor and employment practice group. Recall our recent post on the Department of Labor’s new “Economic Realities Test” for classifying...more
Introduction - After receiving over 55,000 comments regarding the proposed rule introduced in 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) finalized a new independent contractor test under the Fair Labor Standards Act...more
On January 10, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (“Department”) published a final rule (“Final Rule”) for determining independent contractor status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). The Final Rule rescinds the...more
The Department of Labor recently made key changes to its rules in a way that will affect the oil and gas sector. The new rule rescinds a Trump Administration rule that had simplified the process of classifying workers as...more
Fulfilling a campaign promise for President Joe Biden, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) sent employers New Year’s greetings by opening 2024 with a new final rule on independent contractor classifications, revising...more
On January 9, 2024, the United States Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) announced a final rule regarding how to determine whether a worker qualifies as an employee or may be considered an independent...more
The Department of Labor’s final rule for classifying independent contractors replaces the previous Trump-era rule that emphasized two factors – control over the work performed and the worker’s opportunity for profit or loss –...more
The nation continues to move to less-traditional employment relationships. As a consequence, the importance and impact of freelance workers (i.e., “independent contractors” or those compensated on an IRS 1099 Form) should not...more
The new Department of Labor (DOL) Final Rule provides the following non-exhaustive six-factor test regarding whether a worker should be classified as an employee or an independent contractor for wage payment purposes...more