DOL Issues Final Rule on Independent Contractor Classification under the FLSA

On January 10, 2024, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced its final rule and guidance on how the DOL will analyze if a worker is an employee or independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).  The final rule, which becomes effective on March 11, 2024, will be published in Title 29, Chapter V of the Code of Federal Regulations parts 780, 788, and 795.  This 2024 rule rescinds prior guidance from the DOL issued in 2021 and...
read more

The Independent Contractor Conundrum: Make Sure Your Workers Are Classified Correctly

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
11/04/2023
A few claims have come across my desk lately that boil down to one issue: misclassified independent contractors.  In each case, the employer has classified a worker as an independent contractor but the realities of the relationship show the worker should have actually been classified (and paid) as an employee.  The result is a claim of unpaid wages and/or overtime.  The issue often arises after a seemingly happy worker leaves the business or...
read more

NLRB Clarifies (Again) NLRA Independent Contractor Test

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
06/16/2023
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has revisited the standard under the National Labor Relations Act for determining whether a worker is an independent contractor.  The Atlanta Opera, Case 10-RC-276292 (NLRB June 13, 2023). First, a little background.  In its 2019 SuperShuttle DFW decision, the Board made it easier for companies to establish that their workers are independent contractors (rather than employees) by clarifying and emphasizing...
read more

Injured Workers’ Personal Injury Claims Not Precluded By Workers’ Compensation Statute

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
12/01/2022
The classification of workers as employees or independent contractors has a number of implications regarding liability for workplace related actions, including those under discrimination, wage and hour, tax, unemployment, and workers’ compensation laws.   The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals recently addressed the issue in the context of state tort law claims brought by three individuals working for Eastman Chemical Co. in South Carolina. Zeigler...
read more

DOL Unveils Revamped Independent Contractor Test

The United States Department of Labor has issued a proposed rule that will significantly impact worker classification under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).  The proposal, released Tuesday, October 11, 2022, is a departure from the standard adopted during the Trump administration. The FLSA generally requires covered employers to pay nonexempt employees at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked and at least one and one-half times an...
read more

Texas Federal Court Reinstates Trump Independent Contractor Rule

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
03/19/2022
On September 21, 2020, the Trump administration Department of Labor (DOL) announced a notice of proposed rulemaking related to worker classification. The proposed rule set forth a new test for determining a worker’s status as an independent contractor or an employee. The changes overall would have made it easier for businesses to classify workers as independent contractors under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).  My colleague blogged about...
read more

California Voters Declare Gig Economy Drivers Are Independent Contractors

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
11/04/2020
In a reversal of fortune for gig economy workers in California, voters in that state said ‘yes’ to Proposition 22,  which classifies app-based transportation and delivery drivers as independent contractors.  Proposition 22 was put on the ballot in response to a California law, AB5, which required gig companies like Uber and Lyft to treat drivers as employees and provide them protections like unemployment insurance, healthcare, breaks,  and...
read more

DOL Proposes New Independent Contractor Rule

Darrell VanDeusen
Darrell VanDeusen
09/22/2020
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced on September 21, 2020 a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that re-defines “employee” under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) as it relates to independent contractors.  https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/flsa/2020-independent-contractor-nprm.  The  NPRM is available for review and public comment for 30 days after it is published in the Federal Register. The issue of who qualifies as...
read more

California Judge Rules that Rideshare Drivers Should be Considered Employees

Vincent Jackson
Vincent Jackson
08/18/2020
In the ongoing battle over the classification of gig workers, a California state court judge recently ruled in favor of workers being classified as employees, as opposed to independent contractors.  The California Attorney General had filed suit against Uber and Lyft in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco, seeking an injunction that would force the two rideshare companies to classify its drivers as employees.  The...
read more

California Court Rejects Challenge to New Independent Contractor Test

Vincent Jackson
Vincent Jackson
03/24/2020
In the midst of the ongoing debate over the appropriate employment classification of workers traditionally considered to be independent contractors, California has served as a laboratory of evolving law.  Its State Supreme Court (in Dynamex Operations W. V. Superior Court, 4 Cal. 5th 903, 232 Cal. Rptr. 3d 1, 416 P.3d 1 (2018)) and State Legislature (through Assembly Bill 5) both recently have adopted a new definition of “independent...
read more
Email Updates

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Loading