DoL Looks to 'Economic Reality' to Define Independent Contractors

摘要

For the first time, the U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) has proposed a rule to clarify when a worker is an independent contractor versus an employee. Despite the importance of resolving the employee-independent contractor dispute and its implications for employers, the federal government up to now has relied on a combination of agency guidance and judicial opinions to resolve the question. Misclassification of employees as independent contractors is a major source of disputes under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which the government has a vested interest in resolving - after all, fewer employees means less tax revenue for state and federal coffers.