There are only 41 days left for anyone to try to change the Biden Labor Department’s mind on a proposal outlining the legal test that would make it easier for workers to be classified as employees rather than independent contractors under federal wage and hour law.
With the growth of contractor relationships in the economy over the past several decades, the question of who’s an employee with protections and benefits under labor law and who is a contractor not covered by those laws has become paramount for big companies to answer, such as Uber Technologies Inc., Lyft Inc., Instacart, and others.
Unions, Democrats, and some workers say businesses are wrongfully classifying their workers as independent contractors to avoid the tax and legal liabilities that come along with employment. Businesses, Republicans, and some contractors, though, say these relationships are squarely within the law and provide more flexibility for the modern economy.
The DOL moved forward with its proposal to stymie what it perceives to be misclassification abuses.
“While independent contractors have an important role in our economy, we have seen in many cases that employers misclassify their employees as independent contractors, particularly among our nation’s most vulnerable workers,” Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh said when the proposed rule was released earlier this month. “Misclassification deprives workers of their federal labor protections, including their right to be paid their full, legally...
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