DOL to publish new independent contractor rule

Acting director of the Wage and Hour Division, Jessica Looman, announced the agency will issue a new final rule defining who is an independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This long-delayed announcement seeks to end the administration’s halting efforts to repeal and replace the last-minute Trump administration independent contractor regulation.

Battle over Trump rule

The Trump administration rule on independent contractors was issued on January 7, 2021. The Biden administration first delayed and then withdrew the rule in May 2021. Eight months later, a district court vacated the efforts to supplant the Trump rule, deciding it became effective on its original effective date, March 8, 2021, and remains in effect. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) appealed that ruling, and the appeal is currently pending.

Many observers believed a new regulatory process would be announced immediately, as a new rule was to be a linchpin in the President Joe Biden’s proworker, prounion agenda by significantly expanding the number of workers able to join unions and/or gain the protections of federal labor, pension, and civil rights laws.