Articles Discussing Independent Contractors.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) when it withdrew a Trump-era Independent Contractor Final Rule (ICFR), a Texas federal court has held. Coalition for Workforce Innovation et al. v. Walsh, No. 1:21-cv-00130-MAC (E.D. Tex. Mar. 14, 2022).

On March 14, 2022, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas ruled that the Biden Administration’s attempt to rescind the Trump Administration’s rule “Independent Contractor Status under the Fair Labor Standards Act” (the “Independent Contractor Rule”) violated the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”).

At its current growth rate, the majority of the U.S. workforce will be freelancers by 2027.¹ Between federal and state case, statutory, and administrative law, there are too many tests to count for determining whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor. Even within the same jurisdiction, an organization may face different tests depending on the court or administrative agency making the assessment.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) unlawfully delayed and then withdrew the Independent Contractor (IC) Final Rule, published in the waning days of the Trump Administration, a federal court in Texas has held.

On March 14, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas delivered a victory for businesses that utilize independent contractors, and for independent contractors themselves, when it held that the Department of Labor’s 2021 delay and ultimate withdrawal of regulations governing independent contractor status under the

Andrew Maunz discusses the practical, compliance and enforcement implications of worker misclassification and related litigation issues to watch as the EEOC considers addressing challenges facing potentially misclassified workers in “Gig Work, Contractor Status Land on EEOC’s Anti-Bias Radar,” published by Bloomberg Law.

On May 6, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor formally withdrew final regulations promulgated earlier this year under the prior administration which set forth, for the first time by way of an Administrative Procedure Act rulemaking, the analysis the Department would use to determine whether a worker was an

Effective May 6, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) withdrew the agency’s Trump-era rule that for the first time established a test for independent contractor status in a federal regulation.  The Trump rule was published on Jan. 7, 2021, and was set to go into effect on March 8, 2021.  (See our prior articles explaining the Trump rule here and here).  However, the DOL under President Biden proposed to delay the rule from taking effect, and on May 5, 2021, announced its withdrawal.  

On May 6, 2021, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) withdrew proposed rules set by the Trump Administration, which were originally intended to revise the test for classifying workers as independent contractors at the federal level for wage and hour purposes under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced two proposals last week to modify its current regulations.

First, the DOL has proposed to withdraw its January 6, 2021 rule, which we summarized here, that provides a test to determine whether a worker is an employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act

On March 11, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRMs) to withdraw the Joint Employer and Independent Contractor Final Rules published during the previous administration.

The Joint Employer Final Rule

The Joint Employer Final Rule went into effect in January 2020 and addressed the

On March 2, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) formally delayed the effective date of the Independent Contractor Final Rule, from March 8, 2021 to May 7, 2021. The Final Rule, published during the last two weeks of the prior administration, provides that “an individual is an independent contractor,

On February 5, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published notices in the Federal Register of its proposed delay of the effective dates of the Trump administration’s regulations addressing independent contractor classification and tipped workers. The DOL’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) indicates that the delay is necessary to

On Jan. 7, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published a new test to determine whether workers are independent contractors or employees under federal law. For the first time, the DOL’s independent contractor test is stated in a federal regulation so that employers, workers, the DOL, and courts alike can rely on the same test. The big question is whether the Biden administration will prevent the new rule from going into effect as scheduled on March 8, 2021. 

On January 6, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) finalized its highly anticipated independent contractor rule.  The rule delivers on the DOL’s promise to simplify, clarify and harmonize the factors for determining when a worker is an independent contractor versus an employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act