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Independent Contractors Regulatory Reform Trump Administration

Independent contractors are individuals or entities that perform work for other individuals or entities, but are not employees of those individuals or entities. Whether a worker is an employee or an independent... more +
Independent contractors are individuals or entities that perform work for other individuals or entities, but are not employees of those individuals or entities. Whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor is not always an easy determination. However, due to differences in tax and liability treatment, misclassifying an employee as an independent contractor can have serious consequences. Autonomy is the defining feature of independent contractor arrangements. Independent contractors control the manner and method of how work is performed while payers control the desired result. Control over schedule and number of hours worked, ownership of equipment or tools, permanency of relationship, and acceptance of jobs from multiple entities are all possible factors in determining whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor.   less -
Morgan Lewis

US Department of Labor Rolls Back Biden-Era FLSA Practices

Morgan Lewis on

The US Department of Labor has recently rolled back two critical Biden-era wage and hour practices. First, the DOL has stated that it will no longer enforce the 2024 Final Rule’s framework for determining employee or...more

Venable LLP

A Glimmer of Hope for Employers Who Rely on Gig Workers: The DOL Will Not Enforce the 2024 Independent Contractor Rule

Venable LLP on

Positive news for employers: the Department of Labor (DOL) announced it will no longer enforce the 2024 Biden-era independent contractor final rule that aimed to reclassify gig workers as employees rather than independent...more

Stoel Rives - World of Employment

DOL Signals Business Friendly Independent Contractor Standard: What Employers Need to Know

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently stated that it will not enforce an employee-friendly independent contractor rule implemented by the Biden administration in 2024 (“Biden Rule”). The Biden Rule made it more...more

Littler

DOL Reinstates Virtual Marketplace Platform Opinion Letter Signaling Return to Relaxed Independent Contractor Test and Acceptance...

Littler on

In recent months, the Department of Labor (DOL) has seen an overhaul of its agency leadership. First, President Trump appointed Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer and Deputy Secretary Keith Sonderling, and more recently,...more

McAfee & Taft

Gavel to Gavel: It just got easier to classify workers as independent contractors

McAfee & Taft on

Surging changes to workplace laws understandably have employers suffering from whiplash. Historically, employment laws have shifted when presidential administrations have changed. A May 1 announcement by the U.S. Department...more

McAfee & Taft

DOL signals return to employer-friendly worker classification standards

McAfee & Taft on

Surging changes to workplace laws understandably have employers suffering from whiplash. Historically, employment laws have shifted when presidential administrations have changed. A May 1, 2025, announcement by the U.S....more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

DOJ Retracts Biden-Era Independent Contractor Classification Rule

On May 1, 2025, the United States Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) Wage and Hour Division announced it would not enforce or apply the Biden-era 2024 Final Rule regarding independent contractor classification (“2024 Rule”)....more

Amundsen Davis LLC

DOL’s Announcement Pausing Enforcement of 2024 Independent Contractor Rule Signals Future Change to Come

Amundsen Davis LLC on

On May 1, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced it is reconsidering the 2024 Independent Contractor Rule (2024 Rule), which made it more difficult for businesses to classify independent contractors under the Fair...more

Kelley Drye & Warren LLP

DOL Signals Abandonment of Current Independent Contractor Rule

No one should be surprised that the independent contractor pendulum—which swings towards making that classification harder in Democratic administrations and easier in Republican ones—is now tilting towards making it easier....more

Akerman LLP - HR Defense

DOL Signals Changes to Independent Contractor Rule

On May 1, 2025, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) issued a Field Assistance Bulletin, announcing that it will no longer enforce a 2024 Biden-era independent contractor rule under the...more

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

U.S. Department of Labor Pauses Enforcement of Worker Classification Guidelines

On May 1, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (“DOL”) issued a field assistance bulletin on “how to determine employee or independent contractor status,” effectively pausing the implementation of its...more

Lathrop GPM

U.S. DOL Likely to Alter Employee vs. Independent Contractor Classification Rules Under FLSA

Lathrop GPM on

Newly published guidance may mean it will be easier for employers to classify workers as independent contractors under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)....more

Keating Muething & Klekamp PLL

The Independent Contractor Tug-of-War: Navigating the Latest DOL Shifts

Classifying a worker as an independent contractor rather than an employee can be one of the more complicated—and risky—decisions an employer can make, as misclassification can lead to serious legal and financial consequences....more

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

DOL reinstates Trump’s standard on independent contractors under FLSA

In recent years, the U.S. Department of Labor has regulated who is an independent contractor and who is an employee for purposes of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The substance of the regulations has whipsawed based on who was...more

FordHarrison

U.S. Department of Labor Announces It Will No Longer Enforce 2024 Independent Contractor Rule

FordHarrison on

On May 1, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a Field Assistance Bulletin confirming that it will no longer enforce a 2024 Biden-era independent contractor rule. The 2024 rule defined “independent contractor”...more

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP

Department of Labor Plans to Rescind Biden’s Gig Worker Rule Making It Easier for Companies to Use Independent Contractors

On May 1, 2025, the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division announced that it will no longer enforce a Biden-era labor rule that aimed to reclassify gig workers as employees rather than independent contractors....more

Littler

Policy Week in Review – May 2025

Littler on

U.S. DOL Pauses Enforcement of Biden-era Independent Contractor Rule  - On April 29, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a press release announcing new guidance on how to determine employee or independent contractor...more

Littler

DOL Hits Pause on Enforcement of Biden-Era Independent Contractor Rule, Suggests New or Changed Rule Forthcoming

Littler on

As expected with a change in the White House, and as very recently foretold in Department of Labor court filings, the Trump DOL announced via a Field Assistance Bulletin on May 1 that it will no longer enforce a 2024...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Employers Still Need to Abide 2024 Independent Contractor Rule Despite DOL Hints of Dropping It

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

In recent court filings in several ongoing lawsuits, the Department of Labor (DOL) has indicated that it will reconsider its 2024 independent contractor rule issued by the Biden Administration and may issue a new rule. The...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Final Touches: President Trump Rounds Out DOL Leadership with Two Nominees

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

President Donald Trump has nominated Andrew Rogers to lead the Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) Wage and Hour Division (WHD). He also nominated Jonathan Berry to serve as solicitor of labor. Trump sent the nominations to the...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

No Rest for the Weary: The Trump DOL Indicates Yet Another Change to Its Independent Contractor Classification Rule Is on the...

Exactly a year ago, we wrote about the final rule issued by the Biden-era U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) regarding the test for determining whether a worker is an employee covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), or an...more

Proskauer - Law and the Workplace

White House “Regulatory Freeze” Directive Pauses Most Federal Rulemaking

As expected, the White House issued a directive to the heads of all executive departments and agencies within the first few hours after President Trump’s inauguration on January 20, requesting that they halt all non-emergency...more

Robinson+Cole Manufacturing Law Blog

Thought The Government was Closed? The Manufacturers’ Smorgasbord!

This week’s post is somewhat breathless because so much happened or is about to happen. You may have thought the government has been closed for the past 35 days. But just like great magicians who get you to watch their right...more

Mintz - Employment Viewpoints

Association Health Plan Perspectives (Part 2): The Look-Through Rule and the Limits of State Regulatory Power

In a summary of the recently issued Association Health Plan (AHP) final regulations, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) rightly observed that AHPs are a species of multi-employer welfare arrangements, or MEWAs, that are...more

Littler

Trump Administration DOL Issues First Substantive Guidance on Independent Contractors

Littler on

The Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) on Friday, July 13, 2018, titled “Determining Whether Nurse or Caregiver Registries Are Employers of the Caregiver.”...more

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