Joint Employer and Independent Contractor Regulations to Be Reviewed by the Biden Administration

On March 11, 2021, the Department of Labor (DOL) indicated it would review the previous Administration's worker classification regulation of determining independent contractor relationships.  The Wage and Hour Division will allow a 30-day comment period on its proposal to repeal the Trump rule, which had made it easier to classify workers as independent contractors rather than employees.  On the same day, the DOL announced that it is seeking public comment on whether to repeal the Trump Administration Joint-Employer Rule, which went into effect last year but is currently in litigation in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.  Industry groups intervened in the litigation to defend the Trump rule knowing that a new Administration might try to rescind it.

In both cases, DOL has not announced what independent contractor or joint-employer standard will be followed in the future.  However, the circumstances indicate that the Biden Administration will return to the Obama-era enforcement approach. 

This is part of our April 2021 Newsletter.

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