We’ve written before about the “tennis match” that describes how, with changes in presidential parties, the Department of Labor (DOL) has proposed different tests to determine whether workers are “employees” covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) or “independent contractors” who are exempt from FLSA coverage. Indeed, with the new administration taking office last month, the DOL looks to be setting up a new volley in this ongoing match.
The Trump 2.0-era DOL had been slated to defend the Biden-era DOL Independent Contractor Rule (the “2024 Independent Contractor Rule”) in oral arguments before a federal appeals court in early February 2025. See Frisard’s Transp., LLC v. United States DOL, No. 24-30223.
But the DOL secured a postponement to decide how to proceed and is now due to provide the court a status update by March 25, 2025. (Frisard’s is one of five lawsuits challenging the 2024 Independent Contractor Rule.)
We can expect that the DOL will drop its defense of the 2024 Independent Contractor Rule, which had rescinded the Trump 1.0-era test for independent contractor classification under the FLSA (the “2021 Independent Contractor Rule”).
Incoming DOL leadership might restore the 2021 Independent Contractor Rule or might just let courts analyze classification questions without agency guidance.
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