Gig Economy

On May 6, 2021, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued a final rule, effective immediately, withdrawing a pro-business independent contractor rule that would have made it easier for businesses to classify workers as independent contractors, rather than as employees who are entitled to minimum wage and overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act.  Earlier…

On March 2, 2021, the United States Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced that it is officially delaying the effective date of the rule titled “Independent Contractor Status under the Fair Labor Standards Act.” The effective date for the rule has now been delayed 60 days from March 8, 2021, to May 7, 2021.

As we …

On February 19, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) withdrew two FLSA opinion letters, further signaling a return to more employee-friendly policies.

The first, FLSA2019-6, addressed the status of independent contractors for an unnamed virtual marketplace company (VMC) and took a more expansive view of independent contractors than the WHD’s…

On February 4, 2021, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) reintroduced federal legislation designed to significantly expand the rights of workers to unionize and enhance protections to employees whose efforts to do so are impeded by employers, or who are retaliated against for engaging in protected activity. The bill, known as…

When someone should be treated as an independent contractor has huge implications for companies under a variety of state and federal laws that have their own standards.  Unfortunately for employers, the DOL’s view of how the so-called economic reality test under tCathe FLSA should be interpreted is in flux, making compliance very challenging.

In 2016,…