DOL Issues Guidance: It Will Not Enforce Independent Contractor Rule

The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) issued a Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) explaining that the WHD will not enforce the Biden-era independent contractor rule that made it harder to classify construction workers as independent contractors. Per the FAB, while a number of lawsuits challenging the legality of Biden’s independent contractor rule are pending, the WHD will no longer apply the rule’s analysis when determining independent contractor status in Fair Labor Standards Act investigations. Instead, the WHD said it will rely on longstanding principles outlined in Fact Sheet #13 and further informed by the reinstated WHD Opinion Letter FLSA2019-6, which addresses classification in the context of virtual marketplace platforms. –SWACCA