Articles Discussing Independent Contractors.

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

On January 7, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published a final rule in the Federal Register that clarifies how to determine who is an independent contractor and who is an employee for purposes of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

On September 8, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York vacated the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) final joint-employer rule, which limited when multiple businesses involved in an employment relationship could be liable for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

On August 13, 2020, we reported on the San Francisco Superior Court’s granting of a preliminary injunction ordering Uber and Lyft to re-classify their California drivers from independent contractors to employees and to comply with the California Labor Code, the Unemployment Insurance Code, and the Industrial Welfare Commission wage orders.

By: Uber and Lyft Ordered to Reclassify Their Drivers as Employees

As we recently reported, the State of California, joined by the cities of San Francisco, San Diego, and Los Angeles, recently filed a lawsuit against Uber and Lyft in San Francisco Superior Court, alleging that they unlawfully persist in classifying

Executive Summary: Applying the “economic realities” test, the Fifth Circuit (with jurisdiction over federal courts in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas) recently held that a consultant for an oil and gas company was not subject to FLSA overtime requirements because he was an independent contractor.

Virtual marketplace companies such as Uber, Lyft, and Handy are receiving a boost in their quest to classify workers as independent contractors. The U.S. Department of Labor issued a new guidance opinion about whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor. This guidance, issued April 29, 2019, is the first issued during the Trump era. It discusses the hot-button topic of employee versus independent contractor classification involving a virtual marketplace company.

Citing the interest expressed by “law firms, unions, and advocacy organizations, among others,” the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has extended the period for public comment on recently-issued Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding amendments to the regulations concerning determination of the “regular rate” of pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and to amendments clarifying what constitutes a “joint employer” under the Act.

he United States Department of Labor has provided good news for gig economy employers, telling one unidentified “virtual marketplace” employer that its service providers are properly classified as independent contractors. While advisory and non-binding, the April 29, 2019, Opinion Letter FLSA2019-6 provides insight into how the current DOL views independent contractor (mis)classification, and continues this administration’s departure from the DOL guidance under the Obama administration that assumed most workers are employees and not independent contractors.

Yesterday, the Ninth Circuit issued its decision in Vazquez v. Jan-Pro Franchising, Inc., holding that last year’s California Supreme Court decision in Dynamex Operations West v. Superior Court applies retroactively. This is the first published decision addressing the retroactivity of the Dynamex decision.

In its first substantive guidance on independent contractors, the Trump Administration has targeted misclassification in the healthcare industry.

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.”1 Although this FAB focuses on the caregiver registry industry, it provides the new administration’s first substantive guidance on independent contractor classification.