On Jan. 9, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division announced the final rule on Employee or Independent Contractor Classification Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, which rescinds the ABC-supported 2021 final rule and replaces it with a confusing multifactor analysis to determine whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor. The final rule takes effect on March 11. Learn more about the 2024 final rule.

Immediately following the release of the 2024 final rule, ABC issued a statement opposing it, saying "it will cause workers who have long been properly classified as independent contractors in the construction industry to lose opportunities for work."

On Jan. 10, ABC, its Southeast Texas chapter, the Coalition for Workforce Innovation and the Financial Services Institute filed a motion in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5h Circuit requesting that it lift the stay of appeal and remand the case to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Beaumont Division so that the district court may consider whether the 2024 final rule complies with the Administrative Procedure Act in its attempt to rescind and replace the current 2021 final rule. In 2022, the district court found that the DOL violated the APA when it first attempted to delay, and later attempted to withdraw the 2021 final rule; the court vacated these efforts and held that the 2021 final rule has been and remains in effect since March 8, 2021.

“The Biden administration cannot be allowed to undermine flexible work opportunities for millions of Americans who choose to work independently,” said Ben Brubeck, ABC vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs.

Read the business coalition’s statement.