On Oct. 11, the U.S. Department of Labor announced a new proposal to rescind and replace a commonsense, ABC-supported 2021 final rule on independent contractors. The proposed rule would unnecessarily complicate the test for determining whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act, which would cause confusion, increased litigation and additional administrative burdens for contractors.

Help ABC push back against this harmful proposal by submitting to the DOL a pre-generated comment opposing the proposed rule by the Dec. 13 deadline!

Background

ABC issued the following statement in response to the DOL’s announcement on Oct. 11:

“ABC is deeply disappointed that the Biden DOL is moving forward with a proposed rule that will disrupt legitimate independent contractors, which are an essential component of the construction industry,” said Ben Brubeck, ABC vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs. “Independent contractors provide specialized skills, entrepreneurial opportunities and stability during fluctuations of work common to construction. Rescinding the commonsense 2021 final rule will increase the confusion and litigation chaos that has bedeviled the regulated community for years. Any effort by DOL to undermine the use of independent contractors in the rulemaking will likely be challenged by ABC and other stakeholders.”

ABC is one of the co-plaintiffs that successfully sued the Biden administration’s DOL for attempting to delay and rescind the commonsense 2021 independent contractor final rule. Under the March 2022 decision issued by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, the 2021 final rule went into effect as scheduled on March 8, 2021, and is still in effect.

To learn more about the DOL’s new proposed rule, see ABC general counsel Littler Mendelson’s analysis.