CWC has filed comments with the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division supporting proposed revisions to the agency’s interpretive worker classification rule under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act. In the comments, CWC urges DOL to adopt a clearer and more predictable framework for determining whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor.
The proposal rolls back the Biden-era worker classification rule and proposes reviving a more streamlined economic reality analysis grounded in federal court precedent.
Through its comments, CWC highlights that the proposal appropriately focuses on five factors, while placing greater weight on two “core” factors: (1) the nature and degree of the individual’s control over the work, and (2) the individual’s opportunity for profit or loss. The comments emphasize that this approach offers employers a more practical and workable framework, promoting good-faith, prospective compliance.