The more than 160-page proposed rule on defining independent contractors now up for comment by the Department of Labor has a few provisions that transportation attorneys believe could be a problem for transportation companies.
While the proposed rule may be hefty in size, it does not include a great deal of specificity. (The words “truck” and “trucking” only appear once each.) This new DOL rule would replace a Trump administration rule still in effect after a court decision reinstated it after the Biden administration tried to yank it.
But a discussion of where the DOL stands on two particular issues — regulation compliance and equipment — could be seen as having potential impacts that may end up favoring a conclusion that a driver is an employee rather than an independent contractor in actions before the Wage and Hour Division of the DOL.
Greg Feary, a partner with the trucking-focused Scopeletis law firm, said the DOL’s comments on aiding regulatory compliance is “the big ticket item” for trucking and transportation.
“They don’t specifically say that they think if you’re an operation in a highly regulated environment that your workers can’t be independent contractors,” Feary said. “But they are leaning in that direction.”
The DOL wrote in explaining its views that “an employer’s compliance with legal obligations, safety or health standards, or requirements to meet contractual or quality control obligations, for example, may in some cases indicate that the employer is...
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